NCIS: Origins Cast Debrief

“There is no such thing as a clean slate,” Mark Harmon‘s older NCIS special agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs said on Monday’s two-episode series premiere of NCIS: Origins. “They’re always there. They’re always with you. The stories you’ve told. Hell, even worse — the ones you never could. This is a story I don’t tell.” The Harmon-narrated story begins in 1991, when newly minted Special Agent Gibbs (Austin Stowell) starts his career at the fledgling NCIS Camp Pendleton office, where he forges his place on a gritty ragtag team.

But there is a clean slate for the NCIS prequel series. Just as the NIS (Naval Investigative Service) won’t become the Naval Criminal Investigative Service until 1992, the pre-NCIS NIS includes younger versions of characters like Special Agent-in-Charge Mike Franks (played by Muse Watson in the original series), Jethro’s father, Jackson Gibbs (Robert Taylor, replacing the late Ralph Waite), and NCIS Special Agent Vera Strickland (Roma Maffia in the original series).

Meet the cast of NCIS: Origins below:

Austin Stowell as Young Gibbs

Stowell’s television credits include A Friend of the Family, The Hating Game opposite Lucy Hale, and Breathe. He starred opposite George Clooney, Chris Abbott and Hugh Laurie in the limited series Catch 22, in Steven Spielberg’s anthology series Amazing Stories, and in Public Morals, which was also executive produced by Spielberg and Ed Burns.

Stowell’s feature film credits include Battle of the Sexes alongside Emma Stone, Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks, 12 Strong opposite Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon, as well as the Academy Award-winning Whiplash.

Kyle Schmid as Mike Franks

Schmid is best known for his leading roles as Alex Caulder in History Channel’s military drama Six, Robert Morehouse in BBC America’s historical epic Copper, Henry Durham in Syfy’s Being Human, and Moses in the Netflix science fiction miniseries The I-Land. In 2021, he was tapped to portray the recurring character John Wayne Kleinsasser on the ABC drama Big Sky.

Mariel Molino as Cecilia “Lala” Dominguez

Molino was recently seen in Tyler Chipman’s horror feature The Shade, which was released in September, and she’s set to star in the upcoming second season of Max’s VGLY in 2025. Previously, Molino starred in Freeform’s The Watchful Eye, opposite Warren Christie and Kelly Bishop, after making her U.S. television debut as a series regular in Promised Land. Beginning her career in Mexico City, Molino’s previous television credits include El Vato, Netflix’s Luis Miguel: La Serie, Narcos: Mexico, Amazon’s Juego de las Llaves, El Candidato, Imagen TV’s Muy Padres, and La Negociadora.

Tyla Abercrumbie as Mary Jo Hayes

Best known for playing Nina Williams over six seasons on Showtime’s The Chi, her other notable television credits include recurring roles on Low Winter Sun, The Mob Doctor and The Chicago Code, as well as appearances in Justified, Empire, Shameless, The Big Leap, Utopia, Chicago PD/MED, Shrink, and Detroit 187, among others.

Caleb Foote as Bernard “Randy” Randolf

Foote was most recently seen on HBO Max’s highly acclaimed dark comedy series Made for Love. Based on Alissa Nutting’s novel of the same name, Foote starred as Bennett, the sprightly accomplice to a controlling tech billionaire. He played Eddie Cleary opposite Mary McCormack and Michael Cudlitz in Tim Doyle’s comedy series, The Kids Are Alright, and recurred on the Emmy Award-winning limited series American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, as well as on Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story: Cult, and he has guest-starred on 9-1-1, All Rise, NCIS, and Grey’s Anatomy.

Diany Rodriguez as Vera Strickland

After starring in a national tour of the Dora the Explorer stage show, Rodriguez appeared in the multicultural comedy film The Valet opposite Eugenio Derbez, Samara Weaving and Max Greenfield. Additional film credits include The In Between, Night Teeth, The Suicide Squad, and Pitch Perfect 3. In television, Rodriguez starred on the long-running crime-drama series The Blacklist alongside James Spader as Weecha Xiu. Rodriguez’s other TV credits include roles as Amer Rose on Twisted Metal, starring Anthony Mackie, ADA Maria Delgado on NBC’s Law & Order: Organized Crime, CBS’ Bull and NCIS: New Orleans, HBO’s The Outside, USA Network’s The Purge, AMC’s Lodge 49, and Showtime’s Ray Donvan.

New episodes of NCIS: Origins air Mondays at 10:00 PM ET/PT on CBS.