CCH Pounder On Season 7 Of 'NCIS: New Orleans': 'We Couldn't Just Pretend COVID-19 Didn't Happen'

(CBS Local)-- Season seven of "NCIS: New Orleans" premieres Sunday, November 8 on CBS and actor CCH Pounder is excited for fans to see another great season of the show. Pounder plays coroner Dr. Loretta Wade and the show has exceeded her wildest expectations.

Initially, Pounder thought "NCIS: New Orleans" was going to be the type of formulaic show that was going to wrap everything up at the end of the episode. However, the drama has been quite the opposite of that and that's why Pounder thinks the series has resonated with people across the country and the city of New Orleans.

"Just like the city that I'm in New Orleans, it's is different and the show is different," said Pounder, in an interview with CBS Local's DJ Sixsmith. "New Orleans is a character that creates different types of characters and beings and this show has paid attention to where they are. I'm able to be a sassy coroner and a woman who adopts two kids because they need a home. There is a humanity in her [Dr. Wade] that is not so easy to see. In other shows you are relegated to a box, you're the doctor, the nurse, the lawyer. So far it has been an exciting journey."

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Pounder has been an actor in Hollywood for several decades and she has been in many big projects like "The Shield," "ER" and "Avatar." While "NCIS: New Orleans" has taken many twists and turns during its first six seasons, Pounder believes season seven stands in a category by itself because of the way it addresses the COVID-19 pandemic.

"COVID-19 is so huge that we really couldn't avoid it," said Pounder. "We couldn't just pretend it didn't happen and run and catch another criminal and lock him up. It affected New Orleans a great deal and it was one of the cities at one point that had very high numbers and they were rapidly increasing. A huge part of this city is tourism. Bourbon Street was closed down and the French Quarter was closed down and people were getting very anxious about when they would go back to work. We are focusing on the anxiety of our city and how COVID-19 is affecting each and every one of us. Particularly, Wade who has the most dead bodies around her as a normal thing and now she is impacted by a wave of death."

Watch "NCIS: New Orleans" Sunday, November 8 at 9:30 p.m. EST/PST on CBS and CBS All Access.