NCIS fans have a soft spot for Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo, but they might not know that actor Michael Weatherly tried to throw Cote de Pablo off during her initial audition. The flirtatious dynamic between Ziva (played by de Pablo) and Tony (Weatherly) was a significant reason why the CBS police procedural became a global hit. Their will-they, won’t-they relationship kept viewers hooked, culminating in Ziva reuniting with Tony and their daughter Tali in Paris off-screen.
However, landing her career-defining role wasn’t guaranteed for de Pablo, especially since Weatherly deliberately attempted to unsettle her during the audition. In an episode of the NCIS: Off Duty podcast, de Pablo recounted the experience of auditioning in front of executive producers, including NCIS creator Don Bellisario. “I don’t think there were more than six people, and I just walked in and remember walking into what I perceived the character to be,” she said.
She continued, “So not laughing, not extra – and that’s usually what I do nowadays – I walk in centered and in the character or at least what I think the energy that I’m supposed to bring into the room is. So I’m sitting in this energy, the other girl leaves, and I go ‘break a leg,’ and I walk in and I’m like, ‘I’m just going to do this thing,’ and all of a sudden, I meet you [Michael Weatherly].”
Unaware of who Weatherly was or his character, Tony DiNozzo, de Pablo began the scene. Midway through, Weatherly deviated from the script, touching her face and saying, “Oh, you’re so pretty, you remind me of Salma Hayek.” While this might have thrown off other actresses, it spurred de Pablo to up her game. “At that moment, I clocked something. And I was like, ‘Oh, this guy’s trying to sabotage my audition.’ I immediately perked up, and there was a moment there where I was like, it was rage against the machine. It was that moment, and then it got really serious for me.”
Following that moment, de Pablo noticed a shift in the room’s energy. “Whatever was going on, they thought it was really funny. They were genuinely laughing. Before, what I was hearing was you and the girl they were auditioning laughing, you guys were having fun. This time, everything switched. They were laughing at the dynamic that was absolutely established by you doing something that sent me into a frenzy of anger.”
This unexpected interaction ultimately contributed to de Pablo’s successful audition and the memorable chemistry between Ziva and Tony that fans cherished. NCIS is available to watch on CBS in the US and Disney+ in the UK.
