“You Were Protecting Me”. Cote de Pablo Was Only Able to Survive a Intimate Scene on NCIS Thanks to Michael Weatherly and She Thanked Him 19 Years Later
Cote de Pablo is grateful to Michael Weatherly for how he helped her survive her love scene in NCIS. The actor made sure she was comfortable during the filming.
There have been many romantic relationships on NCIS, but not all of them have captured viewers the way the relationship between Ziva David and Tony DiNozzo, played by Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly and called Tiva by fans, did. The characters, whose relationship began with innocent flirtation and cooperation, went through a long road together at the beginning of which they went undercover together.
In the 8th episode of the 3rd season of NCIS, Ziva and Tony pretended to be married and, in order to fool people who might be watching them, they kissed and then pretended to make love. It's a scene that Cote de Pablo remembers fondly because of the way she was taken care of during the filming by Michael Weatherly, who appeared to be very caring towards her. The actors talked about it in the Off Duty: An NCIS Rewatch podcast they host.
Well, I just remember this particular moment showing up the set, and then you were so worried about how you smelled. I remember this because I remember it was very cute. I remember thinking, “Oh my God, he really cares”. And you're like, “Oh, is this ok? Is this deodorant ok?” And I was like, “Oh my God!” I kind of loved you because we're going to be having these very intimate [scenes]… and I'm saying it like you were very considerate and you were like, “Did you like this deodorant?” You were very sincere about this particular exploration of intimacy between these two characters… And I remember thinking, “Michael, you always smell great, that's not a problem”.
This may seem like a trivial thing, but it shows how much Weatherly cared about the comfort of his co-star, who was to spend the next few hours close to him. And that's not the only thing the actor did for de Pablo. During filming, he made sure that Ziva's actress looked good, taking care of details that she hadn't thought of.
You did something that was so kind, which is you grabbed my hair and you were holding onto my head, and you lifted me ever so slightly so I was in a good angle so that I looked good. I remember thinking, “What is he doing?” Cause I wasn't used to that. I was used to doing stuff on in the theatre or whatever where you're not really thinking about those things. Like weight, the angle and is going to be flattering and am I going to see a double chin or whatever? And you were just very much aware of that, and without me knowing, you were protecting me. You were making sure that I was looking good.
It seems that the cooperation of these actors went very well. And they are certainly happy that the characters they play will soon get their own spin-off, allowing them to continue working together. De Pablo and Weatherly are set to return years later in a yet untitled 10-episode NCIS spin-off as Ziva and Tony, to show their continued lives after they break free from the woman Ziva had to hide from.
