NCIS Los Angeles’ Daniela Ruah may be behind the feisty Kensi Blye but she wasn’t always as confident as her CBS counterpart.

NCIS LA star Daniela Ruah feared she was going to get fired when she first started acting more than 20 years ago.

Actress Ruah was catapulted into the world of mainstream TV when she joined NCIS Los Angeles as Agent Kensi Blye way back in 2009.

Prior to the CBS police drama though, she had worked mostly in Portuguese television, with her first major break in the soap opera Jardins Proibidos as Sara for a year.

She then went on to appear in other dramas like Filha do Mar, Dei-te Quase Tudo and Tu e Eu.

It were these shows that helped the 39-year-old get noticed in the first place but it wasn’t always the most stress-free experience.

Opening up on The Wayne Ayers Podcast, Ruah discussed working on Portuguese soap operas and how keen newcomers were to stay on the show.

“It felt very difficult in the beginning and then you’re just happy to be there”, she said.

“And this is a good lesson to pass on to any youngsters who want to be actors is you’re always going to say yes to everything.

“Because one, you’re like ‘I don’t want to be difficult, oh I don’t want to get fired’.

“You always feel like you’re going to get fired at any minute for being difficult but it’s really important that you stand your ground on certain things.”

She continued: “Like don’t be late, that’s basic. When they knock on your trailer or the green room, wherever you’re waiting, get up and go to set.

“It’s a team of people who are waiting to go home that day and you don’t want to be the cause for any delay.

“But if they’re like ‘hey, do you mind working 15, 16 hours and coming back tomorrow at 7am, you can say no to that.

“Because that is not humanly healthy and you’re not going to do your job the best the next day when you’ve just done that.

“I can’t speak for movies but everyone is going to ask everything of you and you really need to filter what you are OK with and what’s going to destroy you in the long run.”

NCIS Los Angeles ended after 14 seasons earlier this year but Ruah has continued to keep busy away from the show.

She has already starred in the Netflix Portuguese series Turn of the Tide as the character Fatima.

Ruah will also be starring in a project called Luso as Maria Francisco which is currently in post-production.

NCIS Los Angeles is available to watch on CBS.