For over fifteen years, fans have known actress Cote de Pablo as Ziva David on NCIS, but there's
much more to her than that.
From her time spent studying musical theater at Carnegie Mellon to her activism on behalf
of homelessness, let’s take a look at Cote de Pablo’s complete transformation.
When Cote de Pablo was 10 years old, her mother got a call that would change both of their
lives forever.
She was offered a job to host a television show in Miami, Florida — which meant de
Pablo and her two siblings had to pack up their bags and leave their hometown of Santiago,
Chile.
Luckily, she quickly found a place for herself at her performing arts high school.
De Pablo told Prevention:
"I missed my country and my friends terribly […] I had always been interested in the
arts, but performing became even more important because it was a way to communicate with people
in my new country.
It wasn't till I got to the United States that I learned to speak English."
It was also what would eventually help send her off into stardom.
As Cote de Pablo's mother was busy making moves with her new talk show, the world of
entertainment began taking notice of her young daughter, too.
After a producer saw a photo of de Pablo on her mother's desk, he asked if the teenager
would be interested in being on television.
At the time, de Pablo had no interest in ever appearing on the small screen, but producers
wouldn't stop asking.
Eventually, de Pablo agreed to come in to screen test to be a host for the Spanish-speaking
magazine show "Control."
As soon as casting directors saw her, she was immediately offered the job alongside
Carlos Ponce.
She was just 14 years old.
Presumably it was then that the performing bug bit her hard.
She told Carnegie Mellon Today,
"If I could make a living by singing and acting and doing musicals, that's what I wanted to
do."
While Cote de Pablo was busy attending high school and hosting a national television show,
she was also focused on finding the perfect place to attend college.
After researching practically every musical theater program in the country, she discovered
Carnegie Mellon.
Immediately she knew there was something special about it.
She told Carnegie Mellon Today,
"I said, 'That's my school, that's where I'm going,'"
De Pablo realized that she had really found her place around other people who were interested
in theater — particularly her professors.
"They could see things in me I may not have seen at the time.
I always felt like they understood me.
I was pretty complex: I was an immigrant, and my family was very far away."
Her school's support system made her certain that she wanted to tackle theater professionally.
In 2000, de Pablo graduated with her degree in musical theater.
Once Cote de Pablo graduated from college, landing a role on Broadway was her next big
goal.
While she waited for her big break, she took up small roles on various television shows.
In 2005, de Pablo was one step closer to making her dream of being on Broadway a reality when
she was cast in "The Mambo Kings."
Unfortunately, as it was about to hit the road, the show quickly came to a close.
De Pablo said during an interview with Front Row Features,
"It never ended up going to Broadway.
We went to the Golden Gate theater and there were too many things that the musical needed
so we took a break."
Yet, as upset as she may have been, taking time off from Broadway was exactly what she
needed to secure herself a place in the spotlight.
The same year that the musical officially ended its run, de Pablo got a call to screen
test for a starring role in a new television show called "NCIS."
When Cote de Pablo first walked into her audition for "NCIS," she was asked to read with another
actor on the show named Michael Weatherly — who played Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo.
While she was eventually cast in the successful series, her audition with him wasn't as seamless
as fans may have expected.
During an interview with "Entertainment Weekly", De Pablo revealed,
"During the audition, he grabbed my hair.
He would not follow the lines.
He totally went off script and started improvising, and this was my final audition with the heads
of CBS.
I thought, 'This guy is sabotaging my audition.'"
In order to make an impression on the casting director, de Pablo began to swat away at Weatherly
— much like her character Ziva David has done on the show.
De Pablo said,
"That relationship was established the moment that we met."
Once de Pablo found out that she had landed the role of Ziva, she was ecstatic to get
started.
However, the character she had originally auditioned for with a Czechoslovakian accent
had suddenly been changed into someone new.
She told "CBS This Morning”,
“Within 48 hours of actually getting the part, they changed the part to an Israeli
woman, and then within 48 hours of that, I had to shoot."
After booking her breakout role on "NCIS," Cote de Pablo realized she had to do a lot
more than just act on the show.
She had to do her own stunts, too.
She recalled to "CBS This Morning",
"Was I nervous?
That's an understatement."
In order to prepare for the role, de Pablo spent time at a local shooting range.
Funnily enough, she had never even held a gun before becoming Ziva.
She admitted to the outlet,
"And I remember holding the gun and just trembling."
While we've watched Ziva maneuver all kinds of crazy stunts over the course of 12 seasons,
there was one in particular that ended with a serious neck injury.
De Pablo explained to "Prevention,"
"It was a very simple stunt.
I had to say one line, turn around, and then there would be explosions, gunshots, all sorts
of things.
But we had never rehearsed it, so I had no idea what it was going to be like."
As the actress tried to focus on perfecting her single line, debris came flying from all
around her and bruised her entire body.
A couple of days after shooting the scene, she shared,
"I woke up in horrible neck pain."
Luckily, all her injuries have since healed completely.
To start off Season 6 of "NCIS," the writers had a special surprise in store for Cote de
Pablo.
They wanted her character to sing a song called "Temptation" on the show.
The musical theater graduate was excited for the opportunity to showcase her voice, but
not as Ziva David.
During an interview on "BUILD Series", de Pablo admitted,
"I remember I fought it a little bit.
I was like, 'Really?
I mean, she's really good at, like, kicking butt, but singing?
Like, really singing?'"
After a bit of back and forth, de Pablo decided to make the most of the opportunity she had
been given.
She said,
"It turned out to be a really fun moment.
I enjoyed it tremendously, and the fans really liked it."
She later went on to show off her voice in the film "The 33".
In 2013, Season 11 of "NCIS" made its debut — and that's when the writers threw Cote
de Pablo's character quite a curveball.
During a 2016 Q&A, the actress revealed,
"They were going to send her back to, you know, Israel and make her an unfortunate,
miserable woman."
After all these years of playing such a strong female character, de Pablo didn't think it
was right for audiences to see Ziva essentially giving up on her dreams.
She said,
"I felt, or I perceived, the character was not being treated with the respect she deserved."
De Pablo then left the show altogether and went on to take roles in different kinds of
projects, appearing in movies like "The 33" and "Seneca”.
She also appeared in a short film called "The Crossing."
When it came to television, however, de Pablo was excited to make an entrance on "The Dovekeepers",
which was completely different from "NCIS".
On "Extra", she said,
"In this particular story, I am not doing stunts, which is very good.
I am actually exercising my emotions, which is really fun."
While it seemed as though her days doing stunts were behind her, de Pablo was still willing
to appear as Ziva on "NCIS" if the right script came along.
She said,
"They never killed her, so you never know what can happen."
After years away from "NCIS," Cote de Pablo got a call that changed her entire career
trajectory when it came to television.
It was one of the show's writers who wanted to chat about her character Ziva.
The two got into a deep conversation about what they both thought the special agent had
been up to, and that's when it all clicked for de Pablo.
She told KTLA,
"The fans have been waiting for this.
I think there's a part of my heart that's been waiting for this."
De Pablo's return in the Season 16 finale was such a secret that many of the cast and
crew had no idea she would be coming.
The actress explained in an interview with BUILD,
"It was like a top secret operation."
She was nervous to be returning after years of being away, but the moment she set foot
on set, she knew she had made the right decision.
She said,
"As soon as I walked in, you know, the crew started clapping, and I felt, 'Oh, I'm home.'"
De Pablo only returned for five episodes, but fans were still freaking out.
According to TVLine, her comeback episode drew in 11.9 million viewers.
Spending all those years playing Ziva David taught Cote de Pablo a lot of life lessons.
The actress told "American Latino,"
"Mark Harmon said to me once that it's a privilege to get the attention of people."
With all of the attention that she now had, she decided to shine her spotlight on important
issues that were near and dear to her heart.
De Pablo has partnered with various organizations like Un Techo Para Mi Pais.
This organization helps to provide temporary housing for the homeless in Chile.
She said,
"If I can talk about it and shed some light, then I'm doing my part."
In the States, she's worked with Feeding America.
She has also created a public service announcement to make sure people are regularly meeting
with their doctors to help detect cancer.
De Pablo told Prevention,
"Cancer runs in our family.
I lost my grandmother to it."
Bringing attention to important causes is what makes being on TV all the more special
to de Pablo.
What exactly has Cote de Pablo been up to ever since she left "NCIS"?
No one really seems to know.
She once admitted on BUILD Series,
"I'm an incredibly private person, so, you know."
Without any social media accounts, it's hard to keep up with the actress' day-to-day life
off screen.
De Pablo may have largely disappeared from the spotlight in 2020, but she could be returning
to television a lot sooner than we think.
Fans are even speculating that Ziva David will be making a return in the new spin-off
series "NCIS: Hawai'i."
So far in Season 1, Leroy Jethro Gibbs has already been name dropped.
Even Wilmer Valderrama's character, Special Agent Nick Torres, will make an appearance
during the first season.
When it comes to de Pablo's return as Ziva, never say never.
After all, she never dreamed that she would come back to "NCIS."
She once admitted to "USA Today,"
"When I walked out, I thought it was over and that was it."
Fans everywhere can still hope that perhaps we'll be able to see Ziva David again very
soon.
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