Vanessa Lachey (Call Me Kat) is slated to star in the NCIS franchise’s newest addition NCIS: Hawaii, becoming the franchise’s first female lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Yasmine Al-Bustami (The Chosen, The Originals) and Jason Antoon (Claws) previously signed on as series regulars.
The spinoff was given a straight-to-series order by CBS on April 23, followed by news of cancelation for NCIS: New Orleans. New Orleans veteran Jan Nash (Rizzolo & Isles) and Matt Bosack (SEAL Team) will executive produce the series alongside Larry Teng (Nancy Drew), who will also serve as director. Lachey is set to play Jane Tennant, the first woman to be named special agent of NCIS’ Pearl Harbor location. Jane exhibits both confidence and strategy when thriving in a male-dominated field while having to balance her duties as a mother and special agent.
Al-Bustami will play Lucy, an eager yet inexperienced member of Jane’s team, while Antoon has taken on the role of Ernie, the NCIS team’s cyber intelligence specialist who has taken a particular interest in history, literature, and Hawaiian culture. The NCIS franchise, first introduced in 2003, consists of various spinoffs of the original NCIS series, including NCIS: Los Angeles and NCIS: New Orleans. However, NCIS: Hawaii is breaking barriers as the first show of the long-running franchise to feature a female lead. NCIS is currently on its 18th season, while Los Angeles is on its 12th and New Orleans is set to conclude with its seventh.