Though she may be behind the feisty Kensi Blye on NCIS Los Angeles, Daniela Ruah wasn’t always as self-assured as her CBS counterpart. When Daniela Ruah began acting more than 20 years ago, she was afraid she would be fired from her role on NCIS LA.
When actress Ruah joined NCIS Los Angeles in 2009 as Agent Kensi Blye, she leapt into the mainstream of television. She had primarily worked in Portuguese television before the CBS police drama, though, having made her significant television debut as Sara in the soap opera Jardins Proibidos for a whole year.
She then went on to appear in other dramas like Filha do Mar, Dei-te Quase Tudo and Tu e Eu. It were these shows that helped the 39-year-old get noticed in the first place but it wasn’t always the most stress-free experience.
Opening up on The Wayne Ayers Podcast, Ruah discussed working on Portuguese soap operas and how keen newcomers were to stay on the show.
“It felt very difficult in the beginning and then you’re just happy to be there”, she said.
“And this is a good lesson to pass on to any youngsters who want to be actors is you’re always going to say yes to everything.
“Because one, you’re like ‘I don’t want to be difficult, oh I don’t want to get fired’.
“You always feel like you could lose your job for being difficult, but it’s important to stick to your principles in some situations.”
“Like, don’t be late, that’s basic,” she went on. Get up and head to set whenever they knock on your trailer or the green room, depending on where you’re waiting.
“You don’t want to be the reason for any delay when there is a group of individuals waiting to go home that day.
You can decline their offer, though, if they ask if you wouldn’t mind working 15, 16, or even 17 hours and returning tomorrow at 7 a.m.
“Because that is not humanly healthy and you’re not going to do your job the best the next day when you’ve just done that.
“I can’t speak for movies but everyone is going to ask everything of you and you really need to filter what you are OK with and what’s going to destroy you in the long run.”
NCIS Los Angeles ended after 14 seasons earlier this year but Ruah has continued to keep busy away from the show. She has already starred in the Netflix Portuguese series Turn of the Tide as the character Fatima.
Ruah will also be starring in a project called Luso as Maria Francisco which is currently in post-production. NCIS Los Angeles is available to watch on CBS.