Following the long-running original NCIS, which debuted in 2003, the spin-offs NCIS: Los Angeles (which ended this year after 14 seasons), and NCIS: New Orleans (which ended in 2021 after 7 seasons), NCIS: Hawai’i is the fourth series in the NCIS franchise.
NCIS: Hawai’i, like the previous NCIS programs, centers on a group of detectives that work for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service and investigate crimes involving the sea, this time out of Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor office. Vanessa Lachey portrays Special Agent Jane Tennant in the drama series, which also stars Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, and LL Cool J beginning with season 3.
Read on for everything you need to know about the cast of Paramount+’s NCIS Hawai’i.
Vanessa Lachey plays Jane Tennant
Who is Jane Tennant? Jane holds the distinction of being the first female Special Agent in Charge at the NCIS Pearl Harbor field office. A divorced mum of two (son Alex and daughter Julie), she worked for the CIA before joining NCIS.
What else has Vanessa Lachey been in? Lachey began her career appearing in beauty pageants, before hosting TV shows for MTV and Entertainment Tonight, and co-hosting the Netflix series Love Is Blind alongside her husband, singer Nick Lachey. She also acted in episodes of How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, Hawaii Five-O and CSI: NY before winning the role of Jane in NCIS: Hawaii.
Alex Tarrant plays Kai Holman
Who is Kai Holman? Born in Hawai’i, Kai joined the United States Marine Corps following his mother’s death and only returned to the islands when he learned that his father was ill.
What else has Alex Tarrant been in? Fans of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power may recognise New Zealand actor Tarrant as Valandil, one of the Númenórean sailing cadets in the Amazon Prime series. He also appeared in the Australian drama series SeaChange, and as drug-addicted doctor Lincoln Kimiora in the long-running New Zealand soap opera Shortland Street.
Noah Mills plays Jesse Boone
Who is Jesse Boone? Jane Tennant’s second-in-command is a father of three who worked as a police officer in Washington DC. He moved to Hawai’i with his family to take up the job of special agent at Pearl Harbor, and has fallen in love with surfing and hiking since moving to the islands.
What other roles has Noah Mills had? Former male model Mills, who has modeled for brands including Dolce & Gabbana, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, and The Gap, was named one of the best 10 male models of all time by Vogue in 2014. Along with featuring in the music video for Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” Mills also made brief appearances in the Marvel TV series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and the second Sex and the City movie as Samantha’s younger love interest.
Yasmine Al-Bustami plays Lucy Tara
Who is Lucy Tara? The junior member of the team, Lucy disappointed her Texas parents when she walked away from the family oil business to pursue a career in law enforcement. She is the girlfriend of Kate Whistler.
What else has Yasmine Al-Bustami been in? Al-Bustami made her TV debut in The Vampire Diaries spin-off The Originals as villain Monique Deveraux, and also starred as Ramah, one of Jesus’s followers, in the Christian historical drama series The Chosen.
Jason Antoon plays Ernie Malik
Ernie Malik: Who is he? After his father abandoned the family, Ernie was raised by his mother. He then worked at the NSA building criminal profiles before relocating to Hawai’i and joining the NCIS team.
What other roles has Jason Antoon held? Antoon was chosen by Steve Spielberg for his sci-fi movie Minority Report in 2002 after seeing him in the Broadway play Contact. Since then, Antoon has co-starred in episodes of Fresh Off The Boat, Grey’s Anatomy, New Girl, and Modern Family, as well as movies including Two Weeks Notice and the musical adaptation of The Producers.
Tori Anderson plays Kate Whistler
Who is Kate Whistler? Kate is a special agent with the FBI who is a liaison between the Feds and NCIS. She is dating Lucy Tara.
What else has Tori Anderson been in? Canadian actress Anderson is best known as Blake Crawford, the wealthy socialite who murders a key character in the FBI thriller series Blindspot. She’s also starred in TV movies including the seasonal A Chance For Christmas, Campfire Christmas and Return To Christmas Creek.
LL Cool J plays Sam Hanna
Sam Hanna, who is he? Sam served as a senior NCIS field agent headquartered in Los Angeles. He was a former US Navy officer and Navy SEAL with a passion for origami, classic cars, and vinyl record collecting. He was last seen in NCIS: Los Angeles traveling to Morocco with Callen (Chris O’Donnell) to find his missing colleague Hetty (Linda Hunt), who had been murdered. He is a widower with two children. In the season 2 finale of NCIS: Hawai’i, he helped Jane after that assignment.
What else has LL Cool J been in? Rapper, songwriter and record producer LL Cool J (real name James Todd Smith) has acted in numerous movies including The Hard Way alongside Michael J Fox, Charlie’s Angels, Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday and the sci-fi action adventure Deep Blue Sea with Samuel L Jackson.
On TV, he starred as Sam Hanna in NCIS: Los Angeles for 14 years before reprising the role for the season 2 finale of NCIS: Hawai’i (and returning for the upcoming season 3).