ET Online: 'NCIS: LA' Star Linda Hunt AKA Hetty Is Back in Action for Season 12 of the CBS Series

"NCIS: LA" fans can look forward to seeing actress Linda Hunt back in action at the head of the team after a shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The feisty head of the fearless "NCIS: LA" team, Hetty, played by the brilliant Academy Award-winning actress Linda Hunt is back, and ready to lead her people into new, hair-raising adventures.

Fans of the series were understandably disappointed when "NCIS" Season 11 was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the filming of Season 12 is now underway, under stringent health precautions.

BACK FOR SEASON 12

Season 12 is due to premiere on November 8, 2020, and the fans' expectations are already at fever-pitch, especially since stills have been released showing filming Hunt in camouflage gear, which means that the normally reclusive Hetty might be going back into action.

The diminutive character is a powerful and intimidating presence and her broad experience often guides the team, but she is usually seen driving a desk, not out in a war zone.

There have been rumors that Hunt, now 75, was thinking of leaving the show.

The filming of the new season is being done with full consideration for the health and welfare of the cast and the staff, and the director gives the actors his instructions from a safe distance.

While the cameras are not rolling, everyone is donning masks, and making sure that the OVID-19 safety protocols and guidelines are followed to the letter. The cast has even shared snaps on Instagram advocating the use of masks.

There have been rumors that Hunt, now 75, was thinking of leaving the show, but the actress admitted that even though she would eventually retire, she hadn't made that particular decision yet.

Hunt started acting in 1976, and in 1980 landed a part in director Robert Altman's "Popeye." Two years later she was cast in a male part as a photographer, Billy Kwan, in "The Year of Living Dangerously" opposite Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson.

Her portrayal of the tormented Kwan won her an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in 1983, the only time the award was attributed to an actress playing a male role.

Since then, Hunt has worked in a series of hit movies, such as the iconic "Dune", "Silverado," "She-Devil," "Kindergarten Cop," and "Solo: A Star Wars Story," in which she played Lady Proxima.

Hunt has been married to therapist Karen Kline since 2008, but the two women met and fell in love decades earlier. The couple don't talk about how they met, but they started living together sometime in the 80s.

The two have no children but do have furbabies that they spoil shamelessly. Hunt is devoted to animals and an ambassador for the Best Friends Animal Society, a no-kill shelter and sanctuary.