While most of the world refers to him as LL Cool J, the veteran actor-slash-rapper is simply known as Todd to his close friends and associates, including Daniela Ruah, who recalled how he recently helped her through a self-doubting rough patch on the "NCIS: Los Angeles" set when she was directing an episode.
"There was one particular day that felt almost impossible to finish," said Ruah. She explained that they had a limited window of time in which they had to capture a lot of action shots, in addition to moving all the crew and equipment to a different location during the day. "I kneeled down next to [Todd] and ... was like, 'Dude, I don't know how we're going to finish this day.' I felt worried — and this was still the morning, so it was the beginning of it. He goes, 'You underestimate your will to want to finish.' I was like, 'You're right. I am going to finish this day, dang it!'"
Ruah took that short but sweet sentiment to heart, especially considering that it came from someone she genuinely admires.
"Todd is a go-getter," she said. "He is competitive with himself, but I've never felt him being competitive with any of us in a negative sense ... He was like, 'You're underestimating yourself. You know you're capable of doing this. You've done it before, now go do it.' That was the gentle kick in the pants I needed in that moment to be like, 'Let's go. We got this.' That's why we're such a great team overall."
Ruah added, "As a director, I'm supposed to be driving that train and being the positive one ... But because I have that relationship with Todd, it was okay to show a little bit of the crack in my armor that day."
Season 14 of "NCIS: Los Angeles" airs Sundays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on CBS.
