#Hawai’i’ Sets Vanessa Lachey as Lead, Casts Yasmine Al-Bustami and Jason Antoon

The latest spinoff in the franchise, NCIS: Hawai’i, was ordered straight to series just a week ago and Vanessa Lachey, Yasmine Al-Bustami, and Jason Antoon have been cast as series regulars, Deadline reports.

As had previously been revealed, this is the first show in the NCIS world to have a female lead: Lachey’s Jane Tennant. She’s the first female Special Agent in Charge of NCIS Pearl Harbor and described as someone who “is as diplomatic as she is hard-charging.” She’s also a mother who is “mostly” raising her kids by herself and juggling her work and home lives. (Lachey actually already has a connection to the franchise, via a guest spot on Hawaii Five-0, which crossed over with NCIS: LA.)

Al-Bustami plays the junior member of the team, Lucy, described as “confident in the way that reflects a lifetime of achievement and youthful enthusiasm.” She’s also “eager to be the first one to find that key piece of evidence, create a workaround in the bureaucracy, or tackle a suspect down a flight of stairs.”

Antoon’s Ernie is the Cyber Intelligence Specialist. He’s the go-to for tracing IP addresses and profiling suspects based on social media postings. He’s “a polyglot with a keen mind for technology, history, literature and all things Hawaiian.”

NCIS: Hawai’i is joining CBS’ primetime lineup just after the franchise says farewell to NCIS: New Orleans after seven seasons (the series finale is set for May 23). NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles will be back for the 2021-2022 season for their 19th and 13th seasons, respectively. We’ll have to wait to see if there will be any crossover; that’s pretty rare, especially compared to other franchises currently on-air, like One Chicago and Law & Order on NBC.

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NCIS: Hawai’i, TBA, CBS