LL Cool J Reprising ‘NCIS: Los Angeles’ Role for ‘NCIS’

The rapper will be reprising his role of Special Agent Sam Hanna in the Apr. 21 episode of NCIS.

March 20, 2025, 4:01pm

Pictured: LL Cool J as Sam Hanna. (Photo by Karen Neal/CBS via Getty Images)

22 seasons in, and NCIS is still pulling out surprises. It’s been revealed that LL Cool J is reprising the role of Special Agent Sam Hanna for an upcoming episode.

CBS announced that the rapper will be stepping back into his NCIS: Los Angeles role for the Apr. 21 episode, according to TVLine.

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News of the guest appearance comes not long after longtime NCIS cast member Brian Dietzen previously teased a “wonderful guest star” that fans were “going to recognize.” LL Cool J will be appearing in Episode 18, the exact episode that Dietzen was talking about. As of now, what will bring Sam to D.C. is unknown, but more information on the episode should be revealed in the coming weeks.

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While NCIS: LA ended in 2023 after 14 seasons, the series finale was not the last time that fans saw Sam Hanna. LL Cool J wound up joining NCIS: Hawai’i’s third season in a recurring guest role. Sam had come to Honolulu to help Tennant and her team, while also working on a new team. Since Hawai’i was canceled in 2024, fans never got to see more of him, as well as Tennant and co. It’s possible that Sam’s appearance on NCIS will bring some updates on the Honolulu team and the OSP team, but at the very least, fans did get subtle updates on both of them and more in a recent episode of NCIS.

LL Cool J is not the first NCIS: LA star to guest star on the Mothership after the series ended. Daniela Ruah reprised her role as Kensi Blye last year for the franchise’s 1,000^th episode. It was only via video since Ruah was actually in Hawaii at the time to direct an episode of Hawai’i, but it was still nice to see her. Whether more NCIS: LA or NCIS: Hawai’i stars could appear on NCIS is unknown, but it will be fun to see LL Cool J again.

With Season 23 of NCIS confirmed, it’s possible that more special guest appearances from other NCIS franchise actors could be on the way. For now, fans should be excited that LL Cool J is coming back as Special Agent Sam Hanna in the Apr. 21 episode airing at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. All episodes of NCIS are streaming on Paramount+.