‘NCIS: Hawai’i’: Vanessa Lachey Wants to See Mega-Crossover (Exclusive)

Crossovers are everywhere, especially in the NCIS universe. Surprisingly, the franchise has never done a crossover involving three shows though, and that’s something NCIS: Hawaii star Vanessa Lachey would love to see. In an exclusive interview with PopCulture.com, Lachey said it would be exciting for the NCIS Pearl Harbor office to open its doors to NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles agents.

NCIS: Hawaii Season 1 already featured a crossover with the mothership series, with Wilmer Valderrama, Katrina Law, Diona Reasonover, and Gary Cole all making appearances on the young NCIS show. There’s no word on a possible crossover with Los Angeles, but Lachey said she would “for sure” love to work with LL Cool J and his crew. “They have to write something where there’s a national security moment and both the D.C. office and the L.A. office need to come to Hawaii. And we all need to figure out what’s going on at Pearl. So, maybe from your mouth to the writers’ ears,” Lachey told us.

Before we spoke with Lachey, NCIS: Los Angeles executive producer R. Scott Gemmell told TVLine there have been talks of a big crossover. “It’s only a matter of logistics. If we were going to do it, we’d want to do it over all three series. Doing one crossover with one show sort of feels like you’re leaving somebody out,” Gemmell said. “I’ve already talked to the other showrunners, everyone’s sort of up for it. It’s just the practicality of pulling it off is a little tricky.”

The three NCIS shows all have a different style and feel thanks to the family of agents that make up their core. “Everyone’s so different and unique and offers such different storylines,” Lachey told us. “But we do have the luxury of the island of Hawaii and the islands of Hawaii, specifically of Oahu and Pearl. And just the military there has been so gracious to us and the people there on the island have been so welcoming and kind to us, but I think there’s definitely a mutual respect.”

They also have their own advantages, and NCIS: Hawaii has its island setting.”So that’s to our advantage, but the LA one has theirs as well. They’ve got their thing going on,” Lachey said. “And we call the D.C. one, the mothership. It’s the original, the OG. So they set the bar.”

Lachey’s Hawaii character Jane Tennant also holds the position of the first female leader of an NCIS squad in the franchise. It’s a title Lachey doesn’t take lightly. “I think that there’s a beauty to what a man can do, and there’s a beauty to what a woman can do,” Lachey said. “Being a woman, I found the strength in the fact that I can command attention, respect, and the honor of not only the Navy and my coworkers but of my family. So I really try to marry the two – love of country, love of family.”

“When I got the job, my favorite thing to think about was that she can be a badass with a warm heart,” Lachey continued. “You don’t always have to come in hot… You can massage the situation and assess what’s going on. And how would you handle it as a mother and as a woman? And then get it done.”

NCIS: Hawaii Season 2 debuts on Monday, Sept. 19 at 10 p.m. ET, following the NCIS Season 20 premiere. While she waits to celebrate the new episodes, Lachey is working with Dairy Queen to promote DQ Miracle Treat Day on Friday, July 28. Participating Dairy Queen locations will donate $1 to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals for every Blizzard treat a customer buys.