Why Linda Hunt's Hetty Left NCIS: Los Angeles

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Any show that makes it to 300 episodes is on a relatively small list in the grand scheme of TV history, especially if we take out the likes of unscripted and talk shows from that list. In the realm of scripted television, it's truly rare air, and it's even rarer when a spin-off manages to accomplish such a feat. Such is the case with "NCIS: Los Angeles," which lasted a whopping 14 seasons spanning 323 episodes. It's even more amazing given that the flagship show "NCIS" was, itself, technically a spin-off of the oft-forgotten "JAG."

The first spin-off in the larger "NCIS" franchise has a great many characters that fans came to know and love over the years, including Chris O'Donnell's Callen and LL Cool J's Sam Hanna. But at or right near the top of that list is Linda Hunt, who won an Oscar for "The Year of Living Dangerously" and played Henrietta "Hetty" Lange, the Supervisory Special Agent and Operations Manager of the Office of Special Projects.

For 12 seasons, Hetty was a staple of the series. However, as the show dragged on, fans started to see Hetty less and less. Why was that, exactly? Why did Hunt decide to leave the show? Was it her decision? Or was it the network? The answer is a little bit complicated, with no single factor leading to the actor's somewhat unceremonious departure from the series.

It's worth remembering that Linda Hunt had already been acting for decades by the time "NCIS: Los Angeles" came about, dating back to the '70s and '80s when she was starring in movies like David Lynch's ill-fated "Dune," among many other projects. Come 2009, when this show first hit the airwaves, Hunt was already well into her 60s. That was a big factor.

In a 2011 interview with The Daily Beast, Hunt explained that she wasn't looking to be part of an ongoing TV series at that point in her career. "I wasn't looking for anything," Hunt said at the time. "I'm now 66. At this time in my life, that this has come along, feels just like a gift. The heavens opened up and just handed me a little something to get me into my 70s."

Mind you, this was in 2011, and Hunt was 66 then. By the time season 9 rolled around in 2017 and Hetty was showing up less frequently on the show, she was already into her 70s. In that same interview, Hunt made it clear that she wasn't one of those actors that wanted to work until she was dead, either:

"Acting gave me a sense of purpose, but it also gave me a sense that I would survive, that I would find my place. I've never learned how to do it without a lot of stress or anxiety. For that reason, at this time in my life, I'd rather just not do it ... I'd rather be the person who has more time to stretch, more time to think, more time to reach out to other people. I'd rather do that for the rest of my life. I'm not one of those people that wants to die on the stage."

By "NCIS: Los Angeles" season 10, Hetty was nowhere to be found, with the show largely proceeding without her. She did appear in the season 10 premiere, but from then on out, the fan-favorite character was absent.

That's because Hunt was in a car accident in the summer of 2018, which prevented her from filming. While Hunt didn't suffer any major injuries, it did prevent her from performing her regular duties. This isn't too surprising, given that she was 73 at the time. In a statement made to TVLine in November 2018, Hunt thanked fans for their support in the aftermath of the accident:

"I first want to say how much I appreciate the outpouring of support from the NCIS: Los Angeles fans following my car accident this summer. Though I had hoped to return to playing Hetty at the start of the season, I had to take some additional time to recover. I look forward to returning later this season."

Unfortunately, Hetty never returned as a series regular after that. "NCIS: Los Angeles" went off the air after season 14 in 2023, and that was that. The problem is that even after the car accident was in the rearview mirror, the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at the beginning of 2020, which once again made it challenging for Hunt to be a part of the show. As showrunner R. Scott Gemmill explained to TVLine in April 2022:

"Linda was away a lot more this season because of COVID and us trying to keep her safe.... And then finally, Linda had both her vaccines, she was feeling great, and she came back [for the finale]. And she was so happy to be back. She had been gone for so long and hadn't really interacted with anyone, so she was just so thrilled to be back on set."

Hetty only appeared in one episode in season 13, with Hunt also lending her voice to the series finale to offer her character a send-off. So, at the very least, this wasn't a situation like Breena Palmer on "NCIS" where the character was killed off. It was, more than anything, a matter of circumstance, both tied to Hunt's age and what was going on in the world as the show was coming to a close.

You can grab "NCIS: Los Angeles: The Complete Series" on DVD from Amazon.