Cote de Pablo Recalls Goodbye to Michael Weatherly When She Left ‘NCIS’

Cote de Pablo recalled saying goodbye to costar Michael Weatherly when she left ‘NCIS’ in 2013.

The actress, 45, joined the procedural drama as a series regular in 2005’s season 3 as Special Agent Ziva David – who was formerly a liaison for the Israeli government. Her character had a friendly and often flirtatious relationship with Weatherly’s Anthony “Tony” DiNozzo.

She departed the show in 2013 before returning for a brief run of episodes six years later. 

De Pablo and Weatherly are now reuniting for the Paramount+ spin-off NCIS: Tony & Ziva, which sees their characters on a run across Europe after finding out that someone is targeting them and their daughter.

At a screening event in New York City on Wednesday, Sept 3, the actress shared that saying goodbye to Weatherly upon her initial exit was an emotional affair.

“It was a really sad day,” de Pablo admitted during a panel moderated by TVLine’s Matt Mitovich. “I don’t think Michael [Weatherly] and I have really talked much about that day. It was really heartfelt.”

The actress continued to share that a person snapped a photo of them walking back to the trailer after their final scene together in season 11, which saw Ziva telling Tony that he is “so loved.” In the photo, she says, “We were holding hands and my head was sort of resting on his shoulder.”

“I remember sort of saying these really beautiful things, like, ‘Thank you so much, and you were such a great partner, and you’ve been such a great friend and you’ve been such a great teacher.’ Little did I know that you would keep teaching me,” de Pablo said. 

The hit TV series, which will premiere its 23rd season in October, premiered on CBS in 2003. The original cast included Mark Harmon, Sasha Alexander, Weatherly, Pauley Perrette, Sean Murray and the late David McCallum. De Pablo joined the cast following Alexander’s exit. 

Weatherly, meanwhile, left the show in 2016. He later returned for a guest appearance in 2024.

De Pablo gave insight into her exit from the show in a 2016 Q&A, saying, “I love this character. I worked eight years crafting this character and loving her. When I felt or I perceived the character was not being treated with the respect she deserved, all the money in the world couldn’t buy me. They were going to send her back to Israel and make her an unfortunate, miserable woman.”

Tony & Ziva teases in the synopsis that the titular characters – and fan-favorite couple – may “learn to trust each other again so they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after” as they go on their action-packed journey. 

Starring alongside de Pablo and Weatherly are Amita Suman, Maximilian Osinski, Lara Rossi, Isla Gie, Nassima Benchicou, Terence Maynard, Julian Ovenden and James D’Arcy.

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John McNamara serves as showrunner and executive produces alongside de Pablo and Weatherly. 

NCIS: Tony & Ziva premieres on Sept. 4 with three episodes on Paramount+. New episodes will drop weekly on Thursdays until the season finale on Oct. 23.