Inside Kensi & Deeks’ Wedding: ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Cast Teases Huge Surprises, Action and More
In the NCIS universe, it’s nearly impossible to get hitched without a few hitches. A prime example: the long-awaited wedding of Los Angeles special agents Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) and Marty Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen).
TV Guide Magazine was on set in January at the luxurious, Spanish-style Bel-Air Bay Club overlooking the Pacific for the surprisingly action-packed “Densi” nuptials. (It only took nine years for the two to get here!) We scoped out the stunning decor, saw surprises that made us drop our champagne flutes and gawked at one seriously damaged wedding dress.
“You can’t have a Kensi-Deeks wedding that goes completely smoothly from beginning to end,” a laughing Ruah says during a break from shooting, pointing to a diagonal tear in her gown that took the hemline from maxi to mini. “Kensi rips it herself so she can kick someone! I actually asked for that. I said, ‘We have to have Kensi fighting in the wedding dress.’” Olsen’s tux looks tidier but, the actor jokes, “My hair looks like a Muppet.”
Executive producer R. Scott Gemmill, who wrote the special March 17 episode, was all for a roller-coaster ride to the altar. “In our world, there’s always some sort of mayhem lurking just around the corner,” he says. Densi has weathered kidnapping, torture, a helicopter crash and even a near-breakup.
“Deeks once described Kensi as smelling like sunshine and gunpowder. [‘Two of my favorite things,’ the character explained.] It’s an apt description of the wedding,” Gemmill adds. It’s even the name of the event’s signature cocktail, which, by the way, consists of fresh orange juice, silver tequila and black pepper, shaken and served over ice with an orange slice.
What ignites the gunpowder March 17 is a case involving an old foe, arms dealer Anatoli Kirkin (Ravil Isyanov), and some thugs whose criminal hijinks interfere with the big day. Densi’s NCIS team, who all RSVP’d “Hell, yeah” to the nuptials, do their best to keep the couple blissfully unaware of the crashers. But, as evidenced by Kensi’s distressed dress, you can’t keep good agents out of a fight.
Besides, party crashing is hard to ignore when it’s so loud. While we’re chatting with Ruah and Olsen, a literal table-turning action scene is going down in the venue’s red-tiled courtyard. NCIS big boss Callen (Chris O’Donnell) and second-in-command Sam (LL Cool J) — dapper in tuxedoes and looking like a pair of James Bonds — dispatch a couple of heavies, then strut away, smoothing their lapels.
“It was fun to get my 007 on,” says LL Cool J. And they did it all without knocking a petal off a breathtaking floral display of hydrangeas, roses and lilies that has taken over an entire three-tiered fountain. (“The flowers here cost more than my actual wedding,” Olsen cracks.)
Although Callen isn’t injured in this particular scuffle, he does sport a black eye from another fight, and tech operator Eric Beale (Barrett Foa) has a swollen nose from his own mishap. Beale’s high-IQ partner (and crush), intelligence analyst Nell Jones (Renée Felice Smith), is unscathed — at least for now. Between takes, Smith slips off the towering heels that accessorize her finery and puts on her own comfy combat boots. “At least I’m ready for a fight between scenes,” she kids.
Seems like the organist may need to slow the tempo on the wedding march. But hey, what’s one more delay? Gemmill says the almost decade-long wait to seal the deal is completely in sync with the bride and groom: “Because of their individual backgrounds and the kind of dangerous work they do, they never would have rushed into this.”
And let’s not forget Densi’s bosses weren’t always pro-coupledom. “Initially, Sam felt like the relationship could blur the lines [between professional and personal priorities] and put lives in danger,” says LL Cool J, whose character’s marriage ended in tragedy when his wife died at the hands of terrorists in Season 8. “He ultimately has accepted it. They’ve proven they can think objectively in a tight spot. But anybody who’s lost [a spouse] in that tragic way, like Sam, is gonna have concerns.”
