Claire Forlani Cast on NCIS: Los Angeles; Will She Replace Linda Hunt Next Season?

Veteran actress Claire Forlani has been cast on NCIS: Los Angeles in the role of operations manager for the Office of Special Projects, according to TV Line and others.

The big news here is that the role is currently occupied by Linda Hunt as diminutive taskmaster Hetty Lange, making for an intriguing and surprising plot development.

Is creator Shane Brennan planning a power struggle for the office's top spot?

Forlani joins the CBS procedural in the recurring role - her character's name is Lauren Hunter - in the penultimate episode of the spring, Tuesday, May 10.

Is Hetty going to be replaced on NCIS: Los Angeles?

Claire Forlani's character, according to reports, is described as “attractive, authoritative, cool and calculating” and in possession of “a dangerous quality that suggests she is much more than your run-of-the mill operations manager.”

That just sounds foreboding, doesn't it?

Both Forlani’s character and Hunt’s Hetty will figure into the second season finale airing May 17, raising the question of who will run the team come September.

We've seen several shakeups at the top on NCIS over the years, so it wouldn't exactly be unprecedented for LA's producers replace pint-sized powerhouse Hetty.

But will they? Should they? And if so, how?

Steve Marsi is the Managing Editor of TV Fanatic. Follow him on Google+ or email him here.