What Happened To Linda Hunt's Hetty On NCIS: Los Angeles?

While the producers of "NCIS: Los Angeles" managed to weave the story of Hetty's absence into the general plotline without too many jarring bumps, it turns out there are multiple reasons for Linda Hunt's absences on the show.

The first reason was a car crash, which occurred in 2018. Though she wasn't seriously injured in the incident, the actress required recovery time. She told TV Line that she'd hoped to be back filming the series earlier, but the timetable for her rehabilitation proved to be slower than anticipated. "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," her statement read in part.

Then the COVID-19 pandemic occurred, and Hunt's age (75 at the time) forced the producers to use her sparingly until a vaccine could be distributed. Even with Hunt back working full-time, the actress wasn't available to shoot much during the show's final season. Thus, Hetty appeared at Callen's wedding via a letter in the series finale.

"It wouldn't have been a series finale without some element of Hetty, and we felt like she — being all knowing and all seeing — would have known about the wedding somehow," showrunner R. Scott Gemmil told TV Line in May 2023. He added that if the show had received one more season, it would have seen the "NCIS: Los Angeles" gang go on a rescue mission to retrieve Hetty from Morocco. Perhaps that's something fans can look forward to in a reunion movie someday.