Being a television actor is difficult. Sure, there are the long hours stretched over months at a time, but you’re also kept in the dark about certain aspects of your character. It happens most often in the drama genre, as a character’s back story is doled out in snippets over the long term.
That’s been the case for Daniela Ruah, but now she’s getting some answers.
Ruah has played agent Kensi Blye for three seasons on NCIS: Los Angeles alongside co-stars LL Cool J, Chris O’Donnell and Eric Christian Olsen, knowing a bare minimum about what makes her character tick.
Who were her parents? What made her decide to become a member of the Naval Criminal Investigation Service on the West Coast? Why does she like to put her hair in ponytails so much?
“Kensi has an arc coming up, relating to her father, and her family’s past,” the Portuguese actress told TV Guide Canada.
“All we know is that he was murdered. We don’t really know why, and she doesn’t know why. There are bits and pieces of the story, people that have shown up, that are all related to the Kensi arc. Not everything is what it seems. It’s something that will change the character forever.”
Ruah, who recently appeared in the Second World War flick Red Tails, is excited to learn more about the role she has assumed on the Top 10 CBS hit. After all, it enables her to draw on a history of feelings and knowledge and helps her understand what the writers and producer Shane Brennan have in mind.
Kensi’s history will be revealed in the upcoming “Blyke, K,” which will lead into another crossover episode with Hawaii Five-0. Kensi jetted to the big island, where she interacted with Steve McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) et al., last season. This year’s visit will be directly tied to Kensi’s family, with rumours online suggesting she will be reunited with her estranged mother.
But before we get to the May crossover event with Hawaii Five-0, Kensi, Callen, Sam and Deeks will head undercover to capture a killer who is a master of disguise. That storyline — in the Feb. 14 episode “Crimeleon” — features Kensi and Deeks assuming the role of husband and wife in order to try to collar the killer.
It’s yet another tease from producers, who continue the “will they or won’t they get together as a couple?” theme between Deeks and Kensi. The partners have been making goo-goo eyes at each other for almost a full year now, with nary a roll in the hay to show for it. Is some pillow talk in the cards for the co-workers?
Once again, the producers are pulling the strings on that one.
“(Kensi and Deeks) genuinely care about each other and I think it’s beginning to be unconditional,” Ruah explains.
“There is a great positivity between them, but I don’t know how long that will last. Not only do (the producers) not tell us anything, but you also can’t reveal that stuff so early on in a show, otherwise you have nowhere to go with it. I think there will be a lot more close calls in their relationship, and then they’ll be pulled apart again.”
Guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
NCIS: Los Angeles airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Global/CBS.
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