‘NCIS: Origins’ Star Caleb Foote on the ‘Pressure’ to Get Prequel Right (Exclusive)

NCIS: Origins is coming back for a third season, and star Caleb Foote spoke to PopCulture.com about the initial pressure everyone felt to get it right.

The series, which premiered in 2024, centers on a young Gibbs as a newly-minted probationary NIS Special Agent in the ‘90s.

It is the first prequel in the NCIS franchise, and it’s included both new characters and younger versions of characters that fans know and love on top of Gibbs. Foote plays one of the new characters, Special Agent Bernard “Randy” Randolf. Working on a prequel of a beloved series and playing a new character is tough, and Foote admitted that there was “a lot of pressure to get it right.”

“And this is gonna be cliché, but pressure is a privilege,” he continued. “And to step into a universe that is so established and has so many fans, people draw a lot of comparisons. [During the first season], we were giving a bunch of outlets a tour, and people were asking me if I was more of a DiNozzo or a McGee. And at the time, I was like, ‘Oh my God. Am I more of a DiNozzo or am I more of a McGee?’

“And then, talking to [Mark] Harmon really early on, it was probably halfway through the first episode,” Foote recalled. “He told me that it’s like, I’m here on my own accord, and I’m here based on what I personally, Caleb Foote, bring to this character. So just don’t even worry about any of the comparisons. Don’t even worry about what monumental characters have left their mark. Just trust your instincts and don’t be afraid to take big swings. And I’ve been taking a lot of big swings for the last 36 episodes, and I can’t wait to keep swinging next season. It was really good advice from Harmon, kinda giving me permission to be myself and to trust my instincts the very Gibbs way.”

Even despite the pressure, it seems like fans are enjoying it. NCIS: Origins is confirmed to be returning for a third season this fall on CBS. Foote has certainly come into his own as Randy, and it sounds like that advice from Mark Harmon himself has worked. What will be in store next season, though, remains to be seen. Tune in to the Season 2 finale of NCIS: Originson Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on CBS, streaming the next day on Paramount+.