NCIS: Los Angeles is going through a lot of changes when it returns for Season 9 on Sunday night. After the death of his wife Michelle (Aunjanue L. Ellis), Sam (LL Cool J) is adamant that Callen (Chris O’Donnell) find a new partner; Hetty (Linda Hunt) turns in her retirement papers and disappears; Granger (the late Miguel Ferrer) is being replaced by Executive Assistant Director Shay Mosley (Nia Long), who will oversee the team but definitely has different ideas than Hetty on how to run one; and then there is the matter of Kensi (Daniela Ruah) and Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) now being officially engaged.

At a CBS Studios party this summer, Parade.com spoke to Ruah about the changes coming up for Season 9 of the CBS series and how she is handling work now that she has two children.

When we come back, there’s so much that’s different. What are you allowed to tease about the new season?
I can tease only what I know, which is not much. As it stands, Sam is not back from his mourning process, from losing his wife last season. That was heavy on everybody, obviously, particularly for him, and then the loss of Granger, which was never really officially stated as a loss, but he left and, in reality we know why, so we know he’s not coming back.
But I guess I can tease we have a new character who’s going to fill the assistant director position, her name is Nia Long, so we’re pretty excited to have somebody bring in a new dynamic.

In the season finale, Kensi proposed to Deeks.
Surprise! I bet nobody expected that. I kept saying, “Oh, there’ll be a proposal but nobody’s going to expect how.” So, yeah.

So is it going to be a long engagement or might they get married quickly?
I would love to answer that question. I asked [showrunner] Scott Gemmill if we were going to get married this season and he goes, “Probably not,” and then I heard somebody ask LL that question and he said, “Yeah, I heard that we will have a wedding,” and so I don’t know what to tell you.
Evidently, they’re giving us different information so I don’t know. Maybe they’ll plant the seed and then they’ll just prolong it so we have something to work towards in the future.

So when Sam comes back, is he going to be different? How do you see that?
I can only imagine that things would be different for him. I personally can’t even imagine what it’s like to go through that. Not only are you missing your other half, the person that you’ve created a home with, but now he’s a single dad. Although we know his son is older and just graduated from military school, he still has a young daughter to take care of, so now he’s a single father doing all of that. We don’t really know what his extended family’s like, if his parents are still alive.
I think his head’s probably going to be in a different space, but he’s such an amazing agent and former Navy SEAL, I’m sure that when he’s focused on something, he’s going to be focused on it. It’s just a question of pulling him out of his mourning process, letting him heal, and then bringing him back.

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