Arrow star Stephen Amell has opened up about his audition for the role of young Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the upcoming NCIS: Origins, which eventually went to Austin Stowell
Stephen Amell, star of Suits LA, has expressed his frustration after allegedly being “c***-blocked” from the NCIS franchise. He believed he was in line to play a young Leroy Jethro Gibbs (a role made famous by Mark Harmon) in NCIS: Origins, but the part ultimately went to Austin Stowell.
Despite a lengthy audition process and positive feedback from producers, communication abruptly ceased and he never heard back about the role. Stephen, who is set to lead the new spin-off from the popular USA Network drama Suits as LA lawyer Ted Black, shared on the Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast that he auditioned for the NCIS role the same week as his Suits audition.
“I got great feedback… We think this is actually gonna move forward,” he recalled, only to find out later that the opportunity had evaporated.
Despite his optimism about landing the role of young Gibbs, the producers eventually chose 39-year-old Austin over 43-year-old Stephen.
“And I felt like someone, somewhere along the line, had, like, c***-blocked me… So I didn’t know what was going on, and I was really frustrated,” he admitted.
Austin is well-known for his roles in Catch-22 and the romantic comedy The Hating Game. Stephen, famous for playing Oliver Queen aka Green Arrow on The CW’s hit series for nearly ten years, shared a personal moment of vulnerability when heading to an audition for Suits: LA, reports the Express.
“I called my wife on the way to the audition… and I got a s***ty phone call about a personal business thing,” he disclosed.
Amid hardships at home with his children and feeling slighted by NCIS, Stephen confessed: “Combine that with being solo with both kids all week [and] my perceived NCIS slight, and I had a full f***ing breakdown in the car, emotional, screaming.”
However, once Stephen stepped into the audition space, he maintained his composure, asserting that he faced the challenge with “no fear”.
“Went in, read the audition, tried to be a lot looser and more spontaneous than I think probably a lot of other people were, because this guy’s a lawyer,” he elaborated.
With a strategic move, Stephen aimed for a lighter tone in the audition, saying, “This guy’s supposed to be the smartest guy in the room. But, concurrently, I just figured everyone was going to be stone-cold serious, so let’s just have a little bit of fun.”
Despite not landing NCIS, Stephen emphasized looking at the bright side, stating: “Retrospectively, I got the job that I was supposed to get, and everything does work out for a reason.”