NCIS: Origins star Kyle Schmid teases how the upcoming Christmas episode will be crucial for Franks and Gibbs. Schmid plays Special Agent Mike Franks in the first NCIS spinoff that’s also a prequel, focusing on the early years of Leroy Jethro Gibbs (played by Austin Stowell) as he attempts to assemble a team in the very early 1990s. He accomplishes this with the help of Franks, his mentor, who Muse Watson played in the main NCIS series.