“Going back to Hawaii was so great,” she tells Parade.com in this exclusive interview. “I had a beautiful experience on Hawaii Five-O and the majority of the crew on NCIS: Hawai’i is the same crew from Hawaii Five-O. As soon as they found out that there was a crossover, I got about 20 phone calls and text messages saying, ‘Are you going to be a part of it?’ Just to know that they were excited for the possibility of me coming back to the island and working together validated my feeling of how much I loved them and how great an experience it was.” Truth be told, Law believes that she wasn’t part of the original crossover story, but with a little persistence and pestering on her part, she made it happen. “As soon as I found out that there was going to be a crossover event, I kid you not, I incessantly nagged my producers and showrunner and basically said, ‘I volunteer as tribute to go to NCIS: Hawai’i to represent the team,’” she says. “In order to get me to shut up, they eventually said, ‘Fine.’” The original plan was for Nick Torres (Wilmer Valderrama) to go solo when he receives a call from NCIS Special Agent Jane Tennant (Vanessa Lachey) to come to Hawaii when a key witness in one of their old cases has turned up with crucial evidence. It’s a case that was never resolved to Torres’ satisfaction, and this call from Tennant is his chance to get to the bottom of it, find out what the truth really is and hopefully put the case to bed. “My character goes over there at the request of Parker (Gary Cole) to bring over some information, but also just to watch Torres’s back and make sure that he comes back to D.C. alive and well, and without bullet holes,” Law explains her addition to the story. But in the meanwhile, viewers will also get to see some amazing chemistry between Ernie (Jason Antoon) and Jessica. According to Law, “The two of us hit it off in real life, and then I think on screen it’s going to be a lot of fun to watch us together.” Law talked to Parade.com about so much more than just the crossover, so keep reading to also get her take on working with Mark Harmon, how Gary Cole is filling the big shoes left by Harmon’s departure, how the fans are reacting to Jessica Knight, and why she thinks NCIS still keeps viewers tuning in during its 19th season. You were lucky enough to join the cast in time to get to work with Mark Harmon on his final episodes. What was that like? Working with Mark Harmon was the best. What a papa bear he is. I didn’t know he was leaving when I first got cast, so when I found out that he was for sure leaving on episode four of season 19, I was just as bummed as a lot of the fans were when they found out. I was like, “No! I just got here; what do you mean you’re leaving?” But he was great from day one. I really hit the jackpot when I got cast on NCIS. From day one the casting process was so easy and supportive and just went fluidly. Then when I got there, the producers were basically trying to set me up for success. They wanted to make sure I met the cast before my first day on set, they wanted to make sure they had a read through, which they normally had done for essentially 17 years on that show. But then because of COVID protocols, they weren’t doing them anymore. But they thought it was important enough with my character coming in that they had a cast read through. It’s such a beautiful thing to be able to say the words out loud with people and not have it be when the camera’s rolling. It’s just priceless. My first day on set, I was running around meeting producers, the director, and doing costume fittings and stuff like that and Mark Harmon kept apologizing. He was like, “I feel like I’m stalking you,” and he kind of was. Because every place that I went, he ended up being there. But he just kept checking in, asking me if I needed anything, if I was feeling OK, if I felt comfortable, to just make sure that if I needed anything to reach out to him, his trailer’s always open, to call him at any time. He was just there to make sure that the new girl felt comfortable. And, again, to set me up for success on his show that he had worked so hard to build up into what it is. To have that from your lead is unusual, amazing and above and beyond. I think that’s why NCIS is the No. 1 show in the world because Mark Harmon cares that much. I thank him for that legacy and for allowing me to join the party. When you were saying that they were setting you up for success, I thought, “How can they do that?” I know when Emily Wickersham came in to play Ellie Bishop the fans had a hard time accepting her. Have you had any backlash at all? I’ve had a little bit of backlash. I think there’s always going to be some sort of backlash. Emily was on the show for eight years and people loved her character. Then before Emily there was Ziva. Ziva’s one of my personal favorites. Then before Ziva there was Kate. The beautiful thing that I see starting to happen, which I was kind of hoping it would, is that now when people say we love the females of NCIS, I’m starting to be included with Kate and Emily. You walk into these situations and it’s always hard being the new kid at school. You hope that the writers have written something for you that is juicy and fun and you hope that your delivery as an actor makes it charismatic and interesting for the audience to watch. And that someone out there relates to you or wants to continue watching your character. There are a lot of factors that go into it, but I think overall the fans have been really wonderful and open and accepting and willing to see where this new team will take them in the show. To all the fans out there who made NCIS No. 1, who were huge fans of Mark Harmon and Ziva and Kate and Ellie, I just want to thank them, to be honest, for allowing me to come play in their world and for their continued faith in the show and their transfer of loyalty over to the new characters in the hopes that we continue on with the greatness that is NCIS. Jessica Knight seems to have a lighter attitude than either Ziva or Ellie. She’s more of a fun person. Do you see that? And what’s her approach to solving crimes? I think there is a lightness to Jessica Knight that is a new version of a female. I think that’s also what’s refreshing for a lot of the fans is that Jessica isn’t trying to be a new Bishop or a new Ziva or a new Kate. She’s her own new character. Her approach is very much go by the book as much as you can and if you have to go off, do it and ask forgiveness later, a little bit Gibbs-like. I found out just recently in one of the episodes that Knight’s dad is also part of NCIS, so I think there’s a comfortableness and familiarity that she grew up with around this organization that has bled into her. This is her world; this is where she’s supposed to be, and this is where she belongs. She’s very comfortable in these shoes. There’s nothing else that she would rather do. So, while I think that she is competitive and extremely hard on herself and a bit of a perfectionist, at the same time, she is guarded in a sense. She doesn’t allow that to make her bitter or jaded towards other people, it’s just something that she keeps to herself. I’m still waiting to find out why she doesn’t like her food touching each other or why she thinks that she would never get married, and if she did get married why she would never share her bank account. There are a lot of questions to Jessica Knight that will be answered in hopefully the next several years of NCIS continuing in an epic run. We will find out. Gary Cole is running the team now. He has big shoes to fill. Do you think that that change will keep the show on the air? I personally love Gary Cole as an actor, I love him as a cast mate, I love him as a human being. He is just wonderful all around. And, yes, I do think it was extremely hard for the fans, especially people who have been watching since day one, to have their father figure, Gibbs, leave the show. And then even harder to watch somebody else come in to replace him in a way. That being said, I think the writers are doing a really great job of not making the Cole character be a 2.0. He, again, is his own unique version. I think at the end of the day it makes it easier for the fans to swallow. Some of the best parts of Gibbs, caring for the family and making sure that he’s protective of his team, I think the writers are slowly building that in, as they would anybody who’s forced into this situation. It takes time to really care about your team and to really have that loyalty that goes beyond what’s part of the job description, but to actually have them in your heart and care for them. I think as the season has gone on, you’ve seen that from all of the team members, everybody just readjusting to the Jessica Knight character and to the Gary Cole character, and then the two new characters trying to figure out the Torres and the McGee character and where everybody fits. I think we’re finally starting to see them go, “Oh, I’ve figured out my place." Now I think you’re seeing the team really start to click and work together, which is what makes NCIS magical and special. Why do you think people keep tuning in to NCIS? I’m also a fan of NCIS. I never used to watch it, but then when I was shooting Arrow in Vancouver, on television they would have a 2-hour marathon of NCIS and a two-hour marathon of Hawaii Five-O back-to-back. I used to make sure when I was shooting up there that I would watch all four hours. I remember thinking, “Wow, this is a great show!” I think the biggest part about why it’s so successful is it’s character driven. It’s about family and it’s about teamwork. I think NCIS has found a beautiful blend of having enough mystery and drama with the weekly cases and enough heart that makes you care genuinely about what happens to these characters. You want to see how they interact with each other. But then also at the end of the day, you leave it still feeling good. It’s not such a heavy-handed drama that you walk away and you’re like, “Oh, God.” It’s a light enough show mixed with drama, and the characters just being who they are and how everybody has their own niche and there’s enough lightness and humor to the show, I think that’s what keeps people coming back. At least that’s what kept me coming back. Is there a type or role you haven’t played yet that you would love to get a shot at? I’d love to do it all. Maybe a period piece, maybe a Victorian period piece. That’s something I’ve never done. I never thought I was up for it until Bridgerton. I used to think they’re never going to want a half-Asian girl in one of those roles, but now that that show’s on I’m like, “Maybe it’s a possibility that I could pop into a corset and be totally accepted.” The world seems to be opening up. But I feel as an actor and as an artist you just want to do it all. You want to have a chance to become different characters and you want to expand and you always want to explore. As much as I’ve done procedurals and crime shows, if another one came around and I loved the character, I would totally jump at the chance to do it again. But I’ve done my Hallmark romantic comedies and I loved those just as much. And I’ve done shows like Arrow, where it’s genre, and Spartacus where there’s a lot of action. I love them all equally. I think they all have their own merits and creativity that go along with it. NCIS airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on CBS. Next, Where’s Gibbs? Everything We Know So Far About NCIS Season 19
