Star of NCIS: Los Angeles LL Cool J stops by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to teach Stephen some stuff about making it, cooking turkey and America.

Let’s get this out of the way: in case you didn’t know, the initials in LL Cool J’s name stand for Ladies, Love and James. So his full name is Ladies Love Cool James. Which is amazing.

With American Thanksgiving happening this weekend, it’s all a lot of American shows are talking about. It’s a really big deal for them! And LL Cool J is excited for that turkey – because it’s pretty much the only food he can cook.

So he doesn’t know how to cook. It’s LL Cool J, not LL Cook J.

Alright, so LL Cool J is the star of the hugely successful NCIS spin-off NCIS Los Angeles. It is currently in its 11th season, making it tied for the most successful spin-off series not about a Seattle-based radio psychiatrist.

Meanwhile, Cool J is living the acting life. But it hasn’t always been that way: for you young’uns, LL Cool J got his start as a hip hop artist in the 1980s. Which wasn’t easy – not only was the genre at the time a niche market just barely breaking into the mainstream, that niche market was over-saturated with artists. But Cool J stood out. And he made it. He’s recognized as one of hip hop’s major influencers – all because he kept at it.

And thankfully he didn’t stop at hip hop. LL Cool J didn’t want to be put into a box. He conquered the music industry. What was next for him was film and television.

He started in film in the early 1990s. But that was spotty at best: with critical flops like Toys, Halloween H20 and Deep Blue Sea under his belt, he decided to best move onto television. And it’s the small screen that has made it to his “conquered” list as well, starring in In the House and moving onto the NCIS franchise.

But it’s not all fun and games for Cool James. He needed to get real for a second on The Late Show. A lot is being said about America. Most of it critical. Most of it correct. But LL Cool J just wanted to put down a reminder for everyone about the America he knows and loves.

You can watch LL Cool J on NCIS: Los Angeles on Global! New episodes air Mondays at 9.00 et/pt.

And catch more of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert airing weeknights at 11.35 et/pt on Global, and watch the latest episodes online here on GlobalTV.com!