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Kyle Schmid has fully embraced his role as “hippie cowboy” Mike Franks on NCIS: Origins, thanks to advice from both Mark Harmon and Muse Watson.
“When I got the role, Mark Harmon reached out to me and I was lucky enough to get to know him pretty well,” Schmid, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly. “He put me in touch with Muse, and Muse and I clicked.”
Watson, 76, appeared on NCIS as the original Mike Franks, who is Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ mentor. Harmon, 73, portrayed Gibbs on the flagship series from 2003 to 2021, while Watson had a recurring role from between 2006 to 2017.
Schmid has now filled Watson’s shoes as the “gruff” character on the prequel series, which premiered in October. NCIS: Origins transports viewers back in time to the ‘90s when Gibbs (Austin Stowell) first starts working at NIS — which later becomes NCIS — in California under the guidance of Franks.
“There was something about who [Muse] was as a person that really resonated with me. I think we kind of see the world in the same way,” Schmid told Us of his connection to the OG Franks. “I got a big heart. Muse has a big heart. The reason I came to Hollywood was to try and do good work and approach everything with integrity and pride. And that’s the way that Muse worked and continues to live his life.”
The actor noted that he thinks Franks also has a lot of those qualities despite being a “dinosaur” in many ways. “There’s nothing he does half-ass. Everything’s a hundred percent. You see him take on the weight of everybody around him,” Schmid said of the young Franks. “You see the way that he drives through these cases, they mean something to him. They are not light.”
To successfully portray Franks, who he describes as an “old school” man with a “big heart,” Schmid looked to Watson.
“Muse said to me, he goes, ‘You know what? Just do good work. Believe in yourself and believe in the character,’” he recalled. “And outside of that, all I needed to do was grow a mustache and work on the dialect with Muse. It was easy enough to chat with him and talk to him, pick up certain inflections.”
Harmon — who is an executive producer and the narrator on NCIS: Origins — has also been hands-on in Schmid’s evolution as the show’s leader.
“Mark’s involvement in the show has really been to make it the best that it can be. He always says, ‘Trust your gut. You’re here for a reason. You got the role, now just run with it,’” Schmid told Us. “Mark was just always very encouraging. Which I think, oddly enough, was exactly what I needed coming into the franchise.”
He recalled hearing Harmon’s words as he took on the challenge of playing a well-known character in a new light.
“[I thought], ‘All right, you got it. You’re here for a reason, man. You don’t need to do anything else. You need to buckle your seatbelt, you know? ‘Cause we’re going on a ride and it’s gonna be a good one,’” Schmid explained, noting, “Mark recognized for me somebody who is a good person who was lucky enough to just kind of earn my place in a great cast.”
Schmid confessed he “wasn’t sure” what he was getting into doing a procedural, but he has since embraced portraying Franks, who struggles with his emotions and apologizing.
“It’s hard for him to say the right things and not be so blunt sometimes. But at the same time, for me, in this hippie cowboy way, Mike has the biggest heart in the room, at all times, and he loves courageously,” he said. “He takes on the weight of other people’s lives, and he trusts. That’s kind of like the hippie in him. That loving human with this gruff exterior, this rusty armor.”
While Schmid does feel connected to Franks in many ways, he is much more vocal about his emotions. In fact, Schmid is teaming up with Movember — keeping Franks’ mustache — and Gillette this month to help get rid of the stigma surrounding mental health.
“I work in an industry where we are celebrated for being vulnerable. And in wearing our hearts on our sleeve, we leave ourselves very open to emotional ups and downs,” Schmid explained, sharing that he’s been sober four years after losing friends to substance abuse and suicide.
He continued, “I’ve seen how all the other hurdles with people in my life have trickled down and affected [my family]. I have a daughter [and] I don’t want her to grow up in the same environment that I did. And a big part of changing that is shedding the light on mental health, making it a conversation that is much more commonly had and celebrated.”
Schmid is hoping to help people understand that it’s “OK to not be OK” by working with friends and family, including his acting pals, to “raise money, raise awareness.”
The actor, who told Us he is now “fulfilled” and “happy” to be working on a great show like NCIS: Origins, added that there are prizes available for those who donate.
“I’d love to have people out to the Paramount lot and show them around and give them a private tour,” he said. “There’s a signed pair of Mike Franks’ cowboy boots that is up for grabs and signed scripts. We’ve got people coming out of the woodwork to support this. And I can’t tell you how grateful I am to them.”
For more information about Schmid’s Movember mission for mental health awareness, click here.
NCIS: Origins airs on CBS Mondays at 10 p.m. ET.
