NCIS: Hawai’i Cast 2021: Actors and Characters Explained

NCIS: Hawai’i launched in 2021 with a tight-knit ensemble led by Vanessa Lachey as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant. The Season 1 lineup also introduced Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson, Kian Talan and Mahina Napoleon, with a handful of memorable recurring players rounding out the Pearl Harbor field office.

Main Cast and Characters

Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant

Vanessa Lachey, a TV mainstay who moved effortlessly from hosting to leading dramas, made franchise history as the first woman to front an NCIS series. Audiences already knew her from hosting Netflix’s Love Is Blind and appearances on scripted comedies, but 2021 marked her seamless pivot into weekly procedural stardom. In recent years she has continued to anchor Love Is Blind while balancing acting projects and philanthropic work.

Jane Tennant is the first female Special Agent in Charge at NCIS Pearl Harbor, a driven leader who juggles national security with parenting two kids. In Season 1, Jane guides her team through high-stakes cases that touch the Navy, local communities and federal partners. She is strategic under pressure, tough when needed and unwaveringly loyal to her people. The season also peels back layers of her personal life, from her co-parenting dynamic with ex-husband Daniel to complicated ties with mentor Maggie Shaw and a tentative spark with Navy Captain Joe Milius.

Lachey previously starred in the Fox sitcom Dads and headlined a string of holiday movies. Her pop-culture profile skyrocketed with Love Is Blind, and NCIS: Hawai’i cemented her as a credible leading actor in primetime.

Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman

New Zealand actor Alex Tarrant arrived in 2021 with a grounded, quietly intense presence. He later appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 2, showcasing versatility across genres. Before his U.S. breakout, Tarrant was familiar to Australasian viewers from the hit drama 800 Words and other regional series.

Kai Holman is a local son of Oahu who returns home and joins Tennant’s team as a field agent. Season 1 positions Kai between worlds, navigating loyalty to his father and community while embracing the precision and discipline of federal work. He brings cultural fluency, empathy and a fearless streak to the job, often acting as a bridge between the squad and the islands they protect.

Tarrant’s post-2021 profile rose fast thanks to Rings of Power, where he drew notice for an athletic, emotionally aware turn in a sprawling ensemble. His NCIS: Hawai’i work highlights the same strengths, adding procedural chops to his résumé.

Noah Mills as Jesse Boone

Noah Mills transitioned from a top modeling career to acting with steady, character-forward roles. Before NCIS: Hawai’i he proved his action credentials on NBC’s The Brave and popped up across film and TV, building a reputation as a dependable ensemble player with easygoing charm.

Jesse Boone is Jane’s right hand, the team’s seasoned second-in-command who leans on old-school detective instincts and a quiet, dad-energy steadiness. In Season 1, he handles logistics in the field, reads crime scenes with ease and tempers risk with experience. He trusts Tennant’s calls, challenges the team to think smarter and keeps the group’s tone humane, even on tough days.

Mills accumulated a steady slate of credits ahead of 2021, including action television and comedies, which fed naturally into Boone’s blend of physicality and levity. On NCIS: Hawai’i he turned that skill set into a fan-favorite presence.

Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara

Yasmine Al-Bustami broke out well before NCIS: Hawai’i with roles that highlighted both steel and vulnerability, notably in the global hit The Chosen. Her genre roots and sharp timing made her a natural fit for a fast, clue-driven procedural.

Lucy Tara is the team’s whip-smart junior agent, relentless in pursuit and nimble with both forensics and fieldwork. Season 1 charts Lucy’s climb as she learns to trust her instincts, takes on risky pursuits and builds a reputation for doing the work no one else wants to do. Her relationship with DIA liaison Kate Whistler adds emotional texture, creating one of the season’s most-watched romantic arcs.

Beyond NCIS: Hawai’i, Al-Bustami is known for The Chosen and the supernatural drama The Originals. She has continued to earn praise for roles that balance heart, humor and headstrong resolve.

Jason Antoon as Ernie Malik

Stage and screen veteran Jason Antoon brings years of character-actor seasoning to the lab. He is a Tony nominee for the celebrated Broadway dance musical Contact and appeared in Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report, a pair of credits that showcase range rare in procedural supporting roles.

Ernie Malik is the NCIS Pearl Harbor cyber intelligence specialist, a digital bloodhound with an offbeat sense of humor and a collector’s eye for obscure tech. In 2021, Ernie’s pattern recognition, database wizardry and people-reading skills solve problems brute force never could. He is also the team’s secret morale engine, always ready with a left-field reference that loosens tension at the right moment.

Antoon’s theater and film background gives Ernie an idiosyncratic rhythm that sets him apart from typical lab characters. That distinct cadence helped the show’s early episodes land a breezy, brainy tone.

Tori Anderson as Kate Whistler

Tori Anderson came to the franchise with a résumé that toggles between sci-fi, romance and character drama. She headlined the CW charmer No Tomorrow and appeared in fan-favorite genre entry Killjoys, demonstrating a light touch that plays well opposite procedural intensity.

Kate Whistler enters Season 1 as a Defense Intelligence Agency representative assigned to liaise with NCIS. Her job requires careful compartmentalization, which complicates both investigations and her budding romance with Lucy. Kate is exacting and diplomatic in equal measure, and the push-pull between duty and openness fuels some of the season’s most grounded character beats.

Anderson’s prior leads and recurring roles gave her a surehanded, emotionally readable screen presence. As Whistler, she threads precision with warmth, quickly becoming essential to the show’s personal stakes.

Kian Talan as Alex Tennant

Kian Talan made his network breakthrough in 2021 as Jane Tennant’s teenage son. The role spotlighted a fresh face with a naturalistic style, and it introduced him to a broad audience as he continued to build credits across shorts and independent projects.

Alex Tennant is a smart, sensitive high schooler who grows up fast in the shadow of federal service. Season 1 tracks his shifting relationship with his mom’s demanding post, the normal pressures of school and his bond with younger sister Julie. Alex’s storylines humanize the stakes behind Pearl Harbor’s operations and give Jane a counterweight to the job’s constant pull.

NCIS: Hawai’i served as Talan’s calling card, positioning him for larger roles and giving the series a grounded family core that fans rallied around.

Mahina Napoleon as Julie Tennant

Mahina Napoleon stepped into 2021 as the younger Tennant sibling and quickly proved she could hold her own opposite veteran leads. Later she appeared in The Walking Dead: Dead City, introduced her to genre audiences and underlined her knack for quiet, affecting work.

Julie Tennant is bright, observant and refreshingly direct. In Season 1, Julie offers a lighter touch in the Tennant household, even as she senses the risks inherent in her mother’s job. Her scenes help the show pivot from tactical intensity to intimate family comedy and back again without losing pace.

Dead City expanded Napoleon’s profile, but her earliest NCIS: Hawai’i work remains an easy showcase for a young performer with real presence.

Supporting Faces You Saw in 2021

Alongside the series regulars, several recurring players helped define the show’s first-year rhythm:

• Enver Gjokaj as Captain Joe Milius – a Navy officer whose professional respect for Jane Tennant sparked a low-key romance. Gjokaj is known for Agent Carter and Dollhouse.
• Julie White as Maggie Shaw – Jane’s mentor, whose complicated past intersects with Season 1 investigations. White is a Tony-winning stage star also seen in Transformers.
• Anthony Ruivivar as Daniel Tennant – Jane’s ex-husband and father to Alex and Julie, with storylines that explore co-parenting. Ruivivar is widely recognized from Third Watch.
• Seana Kofoed as Dr. Carla Chase – NCIS Pearl Harbor’s medical examiner, whose cool precision steadies the lab during fast-moving cases.
• Moses Goods as Wally Holman – Kai’s father, offering a personal anchor that grounds Kai’s return to the islands.

These recurring roles enriched the procedural engine with personal stakes, a key reason the 2021 episodes felt lived-in from the start.

Frequently Asked Questions

When did NCIS: Hawai’i premiere and who led the original cast?

The series premiered on CBS on September 20, 2021. Vanessa Lachey led the original 2021 cast as Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, alongside Alex Tarrant, Noah Mills, Yasmine Al-Bustami, Jason Antoon, Tori Anderson, Kian Talan and Mahina Napoleon.

Is Jane Tennant the first female lead of an NCIS series?

Yes. Vanessa Lachey’s Jane Tennant is the franchise’s first female Special Agent in Charge and the first woman to headline an NCIS show.

What is the Lucy and Kate relationship fans talk about in Season 1?

Season 1 introduces a romantic arc between junior NCIS agent Lucy Tara and DIA liaison Kate Whistler. It starts with secrecy and a few missteps due to Kate’s classified work, then evolves into one of the series’ core relationships.

Which recurring actors made a big impact in 2021?

Enver Gjokaj as Navy Captain Joe Milius, Julie White as Maggie Shaw, Anthony Ruivivar as Daniel Tennant, Seana Kofoed as Dr. Carla Chase and Moses Goods as Wally Holman each added dimension to cases and character histories throughout the first season.

Where can I watch the 2021 season of NCIS: Hawai’i?

NCIS: Hawai’i is available to stream on Paramount+ in the U.S. Following its cancellation in 2024, new episodes are no longer produced.