Although NCIS spun out of the legal drama JAG in 2003, it was able to start launching its own franchise (which has now surpassed 1,000 episodes) six years later thanks to the backdoor pilot episodes for NCIS: Los Angeles. “The two-part “Legend” introduced viewers to characters like Chris O’Donnell’s G. Caleb, LL Cool J’s Sam Hanna and Daniela Ruah’s Kensi Blye. What’s interesting about Ruah, however, is that she bombed her audition to play Kensi, but showrunner Shane Brennan had a good reason for casting her in the role anyway.

Ruah discussed her NCIS: Los Angeles history while appearing on to chat with hosts Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo, who are soon returning to this universe to lead the Paramount+-exclusive spinoff NCIS: Tony & Ziva. While opening up about how she formed Kensi as a character when Los Angeles began, she started off by saying that her first audition for the show went quite poorly:

At this point in her career, Daniela Ruah had acted in various Portuguese film and TV productions, but she was looking to score her big break on the American TV front. While it’s a shame her first attempt at trying out for Kensi Blye, it’s a good thing that casting director was looking over for her. Not only did the footage of her get cut together effectively, but she caught a break thanks to the size of the video that was sent to Shane Brennan. Ruah continued:

I wonder what would have happened if Daniela Ruah’s audition video had been normal-sized. Would Shane Brennan and his casting team still have selected her because of that “international energy and vibe,” or would they have selected someone else? Fortunately for NCIS: Los Angeles fans, that didn’t happen, and she played Kensi Blye for all of the show’s 13 seasons, plus a guest appearance in Hawaii 5-0. The spinoff allowed her to start flexing her directorial muscles, as she directed six Los Angeles episodes in its final seasons, then helmed an episode each of NCIS and the recently-cancelled NCIS: Hawai’i.

Revisit Daniela Ruah’s time playing Kensi Blye by streaming NCIS: Los Angeles with your Paramount+ subscription. In addition to the aforementioned NCIS: Tony & Ziva arriving at a yet-to-be-announced date, the procedural franchise will pick back up this fall on the 2024 TV schedule with NCIS Season 22 and the premier of the Leroy Jehtro Gibbs-focused prequel NCIS: Origins.