Everything We Know So Far About Sam Hanna's Past

NCIS: Los Angeles fans know a lot about Sam Hanna (LL COOL J) the agent—how he's a man of action, best bros with G Callen, and fluent in over half a dozen languages—but what about his past and personal life?

Now that you've seen the Season 8 finale of NCIS: Los Angeles, which was a life changing episode for Sam, here's everything we know about his past.

STREAM: Episodes Of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS All Access

Stream episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS All Access.

Sam revealed his hometown in "Borderline" (Season 2, Episode 3).

In "Special Delivery" (Season 2, Episode 4), Sam revealed that he played football in high school. While he was a wide receiver, he had aspirations to play quarterback.

Sam was sent to military school by his father, who was a USMC Colonel. He was later disappointed when Sam chose to join the Navy instead of the Marine Corps.

Sam has gone on a number of undercover missions throughout his career and is an expert on the Middle East and the Qur'an.

Along with speaking Arabic, which has helped him in numerous situations, Sam speaks Japanese, Farsi, Danish, Hebrew, Korean, and Spanish.

Sam takes everything he does very seriously, including his origami—as you can see from the handmade trinkets on his desk in "Between the Lines" (Season 5, Episode 17).

On "Search and Destroy" (Season 1, Episode 4), Callen looked at the origami and asked, "Is that a frog?" 

Sam replied flatly, "It's a swan."

Although he may be a tough guy, Sam has several fears that include clowns, hospitals, maggots, and snakes.

 

As a man of many interests, of course, Sam Hanna would appreciate some adventurous science fiction like Star Trek.

Sam was a rank E7 Chief Petty Officer when he left the Navy SEALs, where he trained with Steve McGarrett from Hawaii Five-0. 

Sam has admitted to doing a Mick Jagger impersonation and once sang "My Funny Valentine" at karaoke. He also enjoys improvisational jazz.

Sam revealed in "Lohkay" (Season 4, Episode 16) that he was once separated from his SEAL team and was hunted by the Taliban. An Afghani villager named Yusef saved his life.

Sam didn't get that physique by accident; he worked hard for it. That's why he not only hits the gym, but watches what he eats, and swears by his smoothies. He once explained why acai berries were a super food. 

When an undercover operation had the NCIS team investigating a MMA gym and its fighters, Sam Hanna was tasked with donning gloves and entering the cage for a one-on-one fight in "Hand-to-Hand" (Season 1, Episode 19). It wasn't a problem for him.

While on the mission in Sudan in the early 2000s, he killed a Janjaweed militia fighter in self-defense and brought that man's son, Mowadh "Moe" Dusa, back to the States. Moe got involved in radical Islam and later died.

Sam went undercover trying to bring down Al-Qaeda affiliated Tahir Khaled. Tahir's sister, Jada, fell in love with Sam and became a useful source of information. He ultimately told her the truth and convinced her to move to the U.S. and testify against her own brother. While Sam may have had a successful mission and has stayed in touch with Jada, he also created a nemesis who would come back to haunt him.

During his time as a SEAL, Sam served in Bosnia, Afghanistan and Iraq. While on one mission in Bosnia, Sam was captured and tortured before being buried alive.

Sam went undercover as a criminal in "Lockup" (Season 2, Episode 14) to help his friend Moe, who died during the episode.

The two worked together to stop Russian arms dealer Issac Sidorov from selling weapons to an al-Qaeda cell. Michelle later infiltrated Siderov's organization as an assassin operating under the alias "Quinn."

It was meant to be!

Being Sam's close partner, Callen knows about his son Aiden and daughter Kamran. But Sam didn't always talk as openly with the rest of the team; Kensi and Deeks long believed he only had a single child.

We met both Aiden and Kamran on a Christmas episode entitled "Humbug" (Season 6, Episode 11). 

For their five-year anniversary as partners, Sam got Callen a six-pack of beer brewed by Trappist monks living in Belgium in "Partners" (Season 3, Episode 14). As Sam's more of a champagne guy, Callen got him a vintage bottle of bubbly.

He even has a gold corkscrew pin to prove it.

Sam rebuilt his muscle car that was ultimately stolen. He upgraded to a newer version.

In the Season 8 episode "Uncaged"—Sam tried to rescue his kidnapped wife, Michelle—an act that involved the infamous terrorist Tahir Khaled. Unfortunately, Sam was unable to save Michelle's life; she died in the same episode.

Stream episodes of NCIS: Los Angeles on CBS All Access.