Guide Note

Cote De Pablo is a Chilean stage and television actress who can be seen portraying Ziva David, the Israeli Mossad operative on the hit CBS show NCIS. She first appeared on NCIS in 2005, during its third season. She replaced Kate Todd after she was killed. Before joining the cast of NCIS she had roles in The Education of Max Bickford and The Jury.

Fast Facts

1. Full Name: María José de Pablo
2. Born: November 12, 1979
3. Birthplace: Santiago, Chile
4. Raised in Miami, Florida
5. Graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in 2000 with a degree in musical theater
6. Joined NCIS in 2005

1. "Completely different from anyone else on the show. she's been around men all her life; she's used to men in authority. She's not afraid of men."— Cote De Pablo on her character Ziva David
2. "Coming from the theater I love the adrenalin rush from working on NCIS. You get home and you're exhausted, but you feel like you've really worked. It's such a masochistic thing. In one episode we were shooting boxed in a container from 7 in the morning to 12 at night. There's gunfire in the container. We had to pretend the truck was moving so we had to keep ourselves moving the whole time. I remember my knees were all bruised up because I had to fall so many times. That was taxing on the body." — Cote De Pablo on performing stunts
3. "Most of the time I rest, try to do a movie or just watch them at home. I'm into watching old movies I haven't seen like Roman Polanski's Macbeth. Occationally I go out with friends, but there's no time to really go clubbing like I used to... I have to take care of myself because if you get sick you still have to work. I'm not much a party animal anyway. I lay low. I like to be grounded by nature, go hiking... go to an isolated island that's not glamorous and touristy at all." — Cote De Pablo on free time