Vanessa Lachey Is the First Female Lead of an 'NCIS' Show in 'NCIS Hawai'i' and We Love It

In 2003, we were gifted with NCIS, which brought us into the fictional world of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service Major Case Response Team in Washington, DC. From there, NCIS brought us to Los Angeles, New Orleans, and on the latest show: Hawai'i. NCIS: Hawai'i premiered in 2021 with the first female special agent in charge played by Vanessa Lachey.

Hawai'i is obviously an amazing place to get to work, but sometimes Hollywood magic means you don't have to film where a show takes place. Luckily for the cast and crew of NCIS: Hawai'i, they film in Hawai'i on various islands. Most of the show is filmed on Oahu at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. And you can't go to Hawai'i without hitting the beach. In the show's case, the beach where they film the most is Waikiki. Does this mean Vanessa Lachey had to move to Hawai'i?

Vanessa Lachey is married to former member of 98 Degrees Nick Lachey, but she's been working in the entertainment industry long before Nick became a part of her life. Vanessa, born Vanessa Minnillo, is an army brat. She was born at Clark Air Force Base but moved around quite a bit as a child. It was in South Carolina where Vanessa won Miss Teen South Carolina, which led to winning Miss Teen USA. According to the Phillippine Daily Enquirer, Vanessa said, "I gained confidence and found myself."

She returned to the pageant life in the form of a backstage correspondent at the 50th annual Miss USA Pageant in 2001. She then went on to host MTV's TRL from 2003 to 2007, which is how she met Nick Lachey. During her time at TRL, Vanessa was also a correspondent for Entertainment Weekly. Her hosting roles led her to an eight-episode run on The Bold and the Beautiful, which eventually got her to bigger roles in shows like How I Met Your Mother, 30 Rock, and Psych.

Before landing the starring role on NCIS: Hawai'i, Vanessa starred alongside Mayim Bialik in Call Me Kat. In an interview with Heavy, Vanessa said her time on Call Me Kat was one of those "pinch me moments." As far as the big screen goes, Vanessa has been in a few Lifetime movies, including Once Upon a Main Street, which came out in 2020.

Immediately after finding out she landed the job, Vanessa and the entire Lachey family moved to Hawai'i. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight's Cassie DiLaura, Vanessa said, "It was a talk that I had with my husband and I said, 'What do you think?' and ... he's like, 'Hawai'i, umm, it could be worse.' And he was like, 'This is awesome!'"

Nick went on to say that Vanessa had sacrificed a lot for his career and now it was his turn to return the favor. They definitely try to split their work time. "When he's on tour, I try to be home. When I'm shooting something, he tries to be home," she explained. Sounds like a match made in Hawai'i. NCIS: Hawai'i airs every Monday night at 10 p.m. EST on CBS.