Mark Harmon has revealed that his NCIS character nearly went by another name!

The 72-year-old actor starred as Leroy Jethro Gibbs for 19 seasons, before saying goodbye to the long-running series in 2021.

Mark recently opened up about what initially intrigued him about the television role and how the series creator almost changed his character’s name to something very different.

Keep reading to find out more…

“I read ‘Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ and thought, ‘Huh, I like that name,’” he told ET of what got his interest. “And then for a brief second when I decided that I liked the idea of the project, the name changed.”

“[It was] Bob Johnson or something like that. And I went, ‘No, no, it’s gotta be Leroy Jethro Gibbs.’ The creator said, ‘No, you can’t play a guy named Leroy Jethro Gibbs,’ and I said, ‘Why not?’” Mark added. “And then it went back and I was happy about it.”

Earlier this year, a producer on the show talked about the possibility of Mark returning to the show at some point.

If you didn’t know, there were 10 big name actors who were considered for the role of Special Agent Gibbs!

Get the scoop on which stars are returning for the show’s upcoming 21st season…