NCIS: Los Angeles star Daniela Ruah steps behind the camera for the April 15 episode of Hawai’i, but before that airs, fans will get the chance to see her onscreen once again as Kensi Blye—as also glimpsed in TV Insider’s exclusive featurette for the milestone—in the franchise’s 1,000th episode, airing on the mothership.
“We actually shot that while I was in Hawai’i, beginning our shoot for my episode,” Ruah tells TV Insider. “I got the call, and they were like, ‘Would you mind shooting this? Can we just quickly shoot this while you’re there?’ And of course, I would never say no to being in the 1,000th episode of NCIS. So yeah, we just found a car that was the same as Kensi’s car and I sat in it. We had to revisit pictures of Kensi’s car to make sure it matched enough, and we just sort of shot it as simply as we could because [it was] a Zoom call, obviously, but I was just happy to be a part of it. To be able to be in the episode was fantastic. I love those guys.”
It’s impossible not to try to figure out where Kensi and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen)—who learned their family would be expanding in the LA series finale with news she was pregnant—would be currently at the time this cameo takes place. Would they be figuring out balancing home and work lives, with both a teenager and baby in the house?
“That’s why we also kept it simple and put me in the car,” Ruah laughs. “That way she could be arriving at work or she could be dropping off the baby with Mama D.”
Ruah has been part of the NCIS franchise since before LA even premiered; she appeared in the two-part backdoor pilot on the mothership. And with the NCISverse ever expanding (two more series are already coming) and her LA costar LL COOL J currently a special guest star on Hawai’i, would she rather do cameos like the 1,000th going forward or return to Kensi in another capacity, like on a new show?
“I think I’ll cross any of those bridges when they come,” she admits. “I don’t have an answer for you right now, to be honest with you. I think it all depends. It just depends on a lot of stuff.” She would also “have to see what the plan is and if it makes sense.”
Ruah does know that she wants to direct an NCIS again (after stepping behind the camera for her show, the mothership, and Hawai’i). “I’m always open to a fun challenge. I would love to direct on any of the NCISes,” she says. “I had an absolute incredible time in Hawai’i, an amazing time on NCIS, and it’s a comfort zone for me. I like to be challenged, and I like to feel comfortable. And this is a place where I am deeply, deeply comfortable and challenged at the same time.”
