Mariel Molino is pulling back the curtain on her creative process, revealing how she cut the tension before kissing her NCIS: Origins costar Austin Stowell.
“I was like a giddy little 13-year-old, and I think we were all nervous because it’s been so much leading up to this moment,” Molino, 33, exclusively told Us Weekly while walking the 2026 Tony Awards red carpet. “It’s been, like, two years, and then the final moment of season 2, we finally kiss, and I think everyone – including myself, Austin and the rest of the crew — were all nervous. It’s like the first day of camp!”
For the uninitiated, on the May 5 episode of the NCIS prequel, the Camp Pendleton office was in danger of being shut down. In an effort to save the office, members of the team considered different future possibilities, including Lala (Molino) who weighed a potential move to be closer to Manny. Her contemplation took Gibbs (Stowell) by surprise.
In the episode’s final scene, Gibbs arrived at Lala’s house, where they finally shared a kiss.
“In the foreseeable future, we can enjoy the ride a little bit and see what happens,” Molino previously teased to Us regarding her character’s budding romance. “Romantically, I would say, however, that I know the writers love a curveball.”
While taking in the 2026 Tony Awards on Sunday, Molino revealed how she got over those pre-kiss nerves with Stowell, 41.
“Oh, we both went out and had a cigarette and a Diet coke,” she said, laughing. “A cigarette and a fridge cigarette, that’s what we did. We were like, ‘Ok, this is happening, we need to, like, cut the tension here real quick.’ And then it was great. You can see it for yourself.”
Now that she has an on-screen kiss with a fellow cast member under her belt, Molino is also sharing with Us what she hopes to achieve next in her acting career.
“OK, so I got my first fight this year, which is a first for me,” she said. “I’d never done such a complicated action scene, but next year I want, like, a knife fight. Like, I want to pull out a knife from some corner of my body that you don’t see, and I want to just, like, have a knife fight.”
As for her onscreen character, Molino told Us she simply hopes Lala will have some “fun” in the upcoming season.
“She’s been through so much that I’m hoping that this next chapter in season 3 just gives her and Gibbs a very fun romantic dynamic, where maybe they’re, you know, trying to hide their relationship because it’s like, you know, will they, won’t they?”
She added, “We finally do, but they know we’re coworkers! So it’s kind of, like, not the best look. So I’m hoping to see that maybe we’re getting to hide in little closets and just make it, like, a torrid affair.”
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