For those of you who don’t know, NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service is an action show about a group of crime investigators. As one of the longest-running American primetime TV series, NCIS is loved by a wide range of generations. Casts of the three NCIS series — NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles, and NCIS: Hawai’i — all came to PaleyFest at Dolby Theatre on April 10 to celebrate the ending of the franchise. Her Campus at UCLA was lucky enough to attend the red carpet for all three series and the screening and panel for NCIS: Los Angeles.
The first ones to walk the red carpet were the cast of NCIS: Hawai’i. Executive producer Matt Bosack expressed his pride in the show. “I’m especially proud of Episode 109, which is our Pearl Harbor anniversary episode. It brings up a lot of questions about identity in this country,” he said.
Jason Anton, who plays Ernie Malik, said that his favorite part of filming the show is the action scenes. “Because my character is a computer specialist, I usually don’t get much action so when I do, I have so much fun! I even got to stop a guy trying to explode a building!”
Tori Anderson said that she learned an important lesson about relationships from her role as Kate Whistler. “I learned that communication is key,” she said. “You have to listen and you have to make sacrifices. You have to hear their side of the story and not jump to conclusions.”
Yasmine Al-Bustami, who plays Kate Whistler’s love interest, Lucy Tara, talked about the significance of her character as one of the first LGBTQ+ actors in the NCIS universe. “I didn’t understand how much of an impact it was making until people came to me and thanked me for it,” she said.
When asked about his experience playing Kai Holman, Alex Tarrant said that he especially enjoyed working with Vanessa Lachey, who plays Jane Tennant: “She’s an amazing leader. I don’t know if the show would be the same without her.”
Noah Mills, who plays Jesse Boone, hopes that young women can find their female role models in the show: “We have our amazing boss Vanessa Lachey… women can do just as great a job as men, and I think it’s awesome that our show is portraying it.”
Next up was the cast of NCIS. Brian Dietzen, who plays Dr. Jimmy Palmer, co-wrote an episode of the show. He said that it was relatively easy for him to write for the show because he has”known these people for the majority of [his] adult life.”
Diona Reasonover, who plays Kasie Hines, came in a jaw-dropping black and white dress that she retailed herself. She hopes that young women watching the show realize that “they can be whatever they want.” She added that this message especially resonated with her as she played a “young woman of color involved in hard calculus.”
Katrina Law said that Jessica Knight was one of her favorite characters to play. “She’s a badass, but at the same time, she has a lovely sense of humor… a lot of times, she’s just looking to have a good day and go home!”
Finally, we got to meet the cast of NCIS: Los Angeles. Gerald McRaney said he saw character growth in Hollis Kilbride over the seasons. “He has grown to have a grudging respect for this group of misfits,” he said. “I think, beginning with that respect, you’re beginning to see little touches of affection for the different people in the group.”
Medalion Rahimi, a UCLA graduate (class of 2014), talked about the significance of playing Fatima Namazi, a Muslim woman in STEM: “I’ve always had respect for women in STEM… it’s awesome to see a hijabi woman as well who is so smart. It’s important to represent strong minorities who are changing in their own way.”
Eric Christian Olsen, who plays Marty Deeks, is happy that there is more female representation in NCIS, such as the leading figure Daniela Ruah. “It’s really fulfilling as an artist, but also as a human being,” he said, emphasizing the importance of this to him personally as a father to a five-year-old daughter.
Daniela Ruah, who plays Kensi Blye, left a comment specifically for Her Campus at UCLA readers: “I just wanted to let you guys know that women can do anything,” she smiled. “I can be a mother, I can be on a show, I can be a businesswoman, and I can be an actor. I can be anything that I just like to be, and I wish that for every one of you too.”
After the red carpet, we transitioned to the screening and panel of NCIS: Los Angeles. With Nischelle Turner as the moderator, showrunner and executive producers Shane Brennan and R. Scott Gemmill kicked off the panel by sharing their creative insights into the production of this show. Then, Daniela Ruah also shared her creative insights in directing four of the episodes. She said she was comfortable enough to take the leap into directing because she “knew the crew’s personalities like family.”
Medalion Rahimi shared why her character’s Muslim representation was so special to her. “Growing up as a Muslim woman, I didn’t see many people who looked like me,” she said. “I’m just happy to bring this character to the mainstream audience.”
The panel ended with Caleb Castille describing an episode about racial profiling that he got to film with his sister. “It’s important to me as a young man growing up in Alabama,” he said. The screening indeed reflected this deep conflict, as well as the exciting action scenes.
If you haven’t watched NCIS yet, start watching one of the series on Hulu, Netflix, or other streaming sites! April 10 was the last day of PaleyFest 2022. Thank you PaleyFest for having us!