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‘NCIS’: Cote de Pablo Didn’t Like Michael Weatherly When They First Met

NCIS star Cote de Pablo is loved by her fans. One part of NCIS viewers most looked forward to was seeing de Pablo’s character (Ziva David) interact with Michael Weatherly’s character (Tony DiNozzo). Many fans of the show felt the on-screen couple’s antics made the series worth watching. Although de Pablo and Weatherly had a …
by Sheiresa Ngo
Published on
2 min read

NCIS star Cote de Pablo is loved by her fans. One part of NCIS viewers most looked forward to was seeing de Pablo’s character (Ziva David) interact with Michael Weatherly’s character (Tony DiNozzo). Many fans of the show felt the on-screen couple’s antics made the series worth watching. Although de Pablo and Weatherly had a great on-screen relationship, you might be surprised to learn the actors had a bumpy start when they first met. Here’s why Cote de Pablo said she didn’t like Michael Weatherly at first.

Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo as Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David | Richard Foreman/CBS via Getty Images
Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo as Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David | Richard Foreman/CBS via Getty Images

How long Cote de Pablo played NCIS’ Ziva David

Cote de Pablo played the role of Ziva David from 2005 to 2013. She then made a shocking return during the NCIS season 16 finale. Ziva was thought to be dead, so fans were surprised to see her appear in the final scene with Agent Gibbs (Mark Harmon). It has yet to be determined how many episodes de Pablo will appear in when NCIS comes back for season 17.

Cote de Pablo’s first impression of Michael Weatherly

During an interview with Entertainment Tonight, de Pablo described her audition with Weatherly as “interesting.” However, it wasn’t in a good way. The actress said she thought Weatherly was trying to sabotage her audition and she didn’t like him:

I think we had a really interesting audition. I think it totally started there. This audition, I walked in. There was another girl auditioning also. Two people were testing for the part. And she went in first and I went in second. And she was kind of flirting with you and I wasn’t.

Halfway through the audition, you leaned over and you grabbed by hand. You went off book completely, which you often do. And I did not. It was just your way of working, which is interesting. You grabbed my hand and you said, ‘You’re so pretty, you remind me of Salma Hayek.’ And I thought, ‘This guy is totally flirting with me, sabotaging my audition.’ And then I thought, ‘Oh, God.’ End of audition, I totally didn’t like you.  

Cote de Pablo thinks she and Michael Weatherly had great chemistry on NCIS

One thing NCIS fans can agree on is that de Pablo and Weatherly had great on-screen chemistry. They also seemed to get along well when they weren’t on the NCIS set. Although de Pablo and Weatherly didn’t initially have a smooth first meeting (according to her), she grew to like him, and they eventually got along. Cote de Pablo thinks she and Weatherly developed great chemistry on NCIS because of their audition.

Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly are reportedly reuniting  

A big question most NCIS fans have is when Tony and Ziva will get back together for an on-screen appearance. It’s unclear if that will happen, but it was announced last year the actors will be working together on a new CBS series titled MIA, reports TVLine.

Read more: ‘NCIS’: How Michael Weatherly Really Felt About Cote de Pablo When They First Met

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