“She’s a flawed human being”: When NCIS: Los Angeles star Daniela Ruah opened up about playing Kensi Blye

NCIS: Los Angeles star Daniela Ruah has the honor of portraying the character of Kensi Blye throughout the eleven seasons of the show. Apart from NCIS: Los Angeles, Daniela Ruah has appeared as Daniela Ruah on two other shows in the same universe, i.e., NCIS and Hawaii 5-O.

It is fair to say that since NCIS: Los Angeles star Daniela Ruah has been playing the character of Kensi for such a long time, she must have developed her own insights and nuances when it comes to delivering a compelling performance every time.

Ruah appeared in an exclusive interview with Smashing Interviews Magazine back in October 2022 and reflected at length about the show and her character. Here's everything that we know.

What did Daniela Ruah say about playing Kensi Blye on NCIS: Los Angeles?

Ruah was asked by the interviewer about the best part of playing her character on the show, and she was quick to respond:

"The best part of playing her is the fact that she’s a flawed human being like anyone is, and she grows from her mistakes. She’s intelligent. She’s fiercely independent, but after all these years, I think she’s grown to understand that it’s okay to emotionally depend on someone else. Her own traumas of losing her dad, not having a present mom, running away from home as a teenager, living on the street for a while, gave her a sense of no one’s going to give anything to you. You’ve got to go for it yourself and depend on yourself."

Ruah further added:

"After meeting Deeks, she evolves into the fact that it’s okay to emotionally depend on someone else. Not everybody’s going to leave you. So, yeah. There’s so much I love about her. At this point, I am her, and she is me getting bad guys and handcuffing people and shooting people (laughs). Taking the professional side away from her profession, we’re very similar human beings at this point. It would be difficult to play the same character for 14 years and not have something in common."

Ruah then went on to express that she is content with the character's arc and would love the opportunity to play Kelsi for as long as possible on NCIS: Los Angeles.

"I am so happy. I love the team we have. I love the cast. I love the crew. We’re a family at this point. You break bread with your cast and crew. Crew members were at my wedding. They were there when I met my husband, and they were there when I was pregnant with my kids in season five and eight. They were sending me messages when I had the kids. We’re all very, very close."

Daniela Ruah speaks about directing

Apart from being an actor, Ruah has also directed several episodes of the show. When asked about her take on directing, Ruah revealed:

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"I prefer to be not in the episodes that I direct. I’m still learning so much that while being Kensi is second nature at this point for me, you know, I call action and hurry and say cut, and I’m back to myself. I don’t have to think about that transition. I don’t have to think about her voice, how she banters when she’s upset or whatever it is. All that is second nature at this point."

NCIS: Los Angeles is exclusively available on CBS.

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