Cote de Pablo may be known for NCIS, but did you know she co-hosted a television series
at 15?
Keep watching to find out how de Pablo transformed into the artist people know and love today.
Born María José de Pablo Fernández in Santiago, Chile, de Pablo moved with her family to Miami,
Florida after her mother was hired as a talk-show host at the Spanish-language television network,
Telemundo.
While acclimating to her new surroundings, other kids had trouble pronouncing María
José, so de Pablo told them to call her Cote, a traditional nickname for her given name.
As a child, de Pablo developed a love of music and entertainment, but her drive for the arts
didn't really start until she attended an elective drama class in middle school.
Speaking with Carnegie Mellon Today in a 2010 interview, de Pablo reminisced about a pivotal
moment during this class, saying,
"I remember, I was on stage in a scene and something happened, and I called somebody
'a b-----d' [...] my teacher took me offstage, gave me detention.
I said to myself, 'There's something very wrong with this class' [...] I knew I just
needed to find the proper class."
After middle school, de Pablo attended New World School of the Arts, pursuing her newfound
passion.
At 15 years old, de Pablo worked as a co-host for the Latin-American talk show Control from
1994 to 1995.
She hosted episodes alongside CarlosPonce, who was – at the time – a rising star
in Latin American telenovelas .
After high school, de Pablo was driven to continue her formal acting education.
She told Carnegie Mellon Today of how she knew that Carnegie Mellon University – known
for its fantastic music theater program – was the right place for her.
Recalling,
"I always felt like they understood me.
I was pretty complex: I was an immigrant, and my family was very far away.
I was both incredibly fragile and incredibly strong, and I think they could see that, and
I will always be grateful for that."
While at CMU, de Pablo participated in many notable university musicals, which included
And the World Goes 'Round, The Fantasticks – the longest-running musical in history
– and the late, great Stephen Sondheim's 1973 musical, A Little Night Music.
Upon graduating in 2000 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater, de Pablo joined
the ranks of other famous actors who've made it through Carnegie Mellon University.
This list includes the likes of Ted Danson, Holly Hunter, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and
Ethan Hawke.
After college, de Pablo determined her best move was to relocate to New York City and
start auditioning for roles.
So, she did exactly that.
In a 2007 interview with the Jewish Journal, de Pablo spoke about working as a waitress
in Manhattan and Brooklyn to pay the bills, while performing in William Shakespeare's
Measure for Measure at the New York City Public Theater.
Her first screen appearance came in a Volkswagen commercial, which was succeeded by minor work
in single episodes of the television series The $treet and The Education of Max Bickford,
as well as a voice role in the 2002 racing video game, TOCA Race Driver.
"Yeah, maybe, later on, you could take me out-"
"Hey you cut this crap and get the hell up there."
During this time, de Pablo's passion for music was also thriving, and she snagged a supporting
role in the stage adaptation of the 1992 Academy Award-nominated feature film The Mambo Kings,
which was based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,
by Oscar Hijuelos.
While the musical's trial run in San Francisco was staged with the hope that it would soon
move to Broadway, poor reviews canceled any further production plans.
De Pablo subsequently would star in the only season of the 2004 law drama The Jury, in
which she played her first major recurring role.
While de Pablo was working on The Mambo Kings, she submitted a videotape audition for the
role of Special Agent David for NCIS, a series at the time known mainly as a growing spinoff
of the popular television series, JAG.
After sending in her tape, de Pablo was called into Los Angeles for a screen test with Michael
Weatherly, one of her future NCIS co-stars.
"What are you saying?”
“She's saying you're a car killer.”
“What?”
“A car killer.
Everyone needs a hobby."
In an interview with TV Fanatic in 2009, de Pablo spoke about her experience when Weatherly
decided to start improvising,
"I just thought 'Oh my God, this guy is sabotaging my audition!
[...] I will not allow this actor to do this to me.'
So what people saw in the audition room really was a person fighting the other person back
and refusing to give even an inch.
[...] It was just all the things that I think later on translated to the relationship that
Ziva and Tony had and still have."
Despite throwing de Pablo off her game, Weatherly's move — and de Pablo's response — seemed
to work, as the actress was offered the part.
De Pablo's character of Mossad Agent Ziva David filled the spot left by Sasha Alexander's
Special Agent Kate Todd, who was brutally killed in the Season 2 finale of NCIS.
Originally designed to be European, the writers and producers of NCIS changed David's backstory
to be Israeli.
De Pablo put a lot of effort throughout her time on NCIS into making her character feel
as authentic as possible, despite the fact that the actress isn't Jewish herself.
She learned how to speak Hebrew realistically very early on, and de Pablo went even further,
studying the history of Jewish civilization and culture.
Her devotion to her performance has kept David a fan-favorite character and has netted de
Pablo numerous award nominations, and an ALMA Award in 2011 for Outstanding Actress in a
Drama Television Series.
After eight seasons on NCIS, de Pablo decided to leave the show.
CBS claimed to have offered de Pablo a considerable contract to entice her to stay, but she explained
in a 2016 Q&A, which was quoted in a 2019 article by Vanity Fair,
"I worked eight years crafting this character and loving her.
And so when I felt or I perceived that the character was not being treated with the respect
that she deserved, no money in the world [would make me stay]."
Luckily for fans, de Pablo wasn't done with David just yet, returning in season 17 for
a five-episode arc, helping out Mark Harmon's character Agent Gibbs, and finishing up her
character's storyline.
"And when they called you, and said, 'Hey, you wanna come back?'
what did you say?"
"I said yes.
Write a really nice storyline and why not.'"
Outside of NCIS, de Pablo gained acclaim and accolades for her performance in the feature
film The 33, and though she was possibly executive producing a television series with Weatherly,
it seems to have stalled.
Her last on-screen credits were in the 2018 short film, The Crossing, and the 2019 indie
feature film Seneca, with nothing currently set for the near future.
Check out one of our newest videos right here!
Plus, even more Looper videos about NCIS are coming soon.
Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.