Most actors spend their entire lives waiting for a breakout role, and the sad truth is that many never get one. That’s why actors who do manage to break out often stick with those roles for a very long time, trying to make sure they have more than 15 minutes of fame. Not all actors do this, though. In fact, one of TV’s most popular actors left her iconic TV show at what was arguably the height of her fame.
We’re talking about Cote de Pablo, someone who rose to worldwide fame thanks to her role in the long-running crime procedural NCIS. She played Ziva, one of the most popular characters, before departing the show back in season 11. The actor came back before and now has her own NCIS spinoff show. Since that show premiered, though, fans have wondered what Cote de Pablo did after leaving NCIS.
Are you one of those fans? Keep reading to discover everything you need to know!
A star is born
These days, it’s hard for new TV shows to succeed. That’s because there’s so much competition out there that it can be hard for a new series to get off the ground. But in this modern media landscape, NCIS is genuine television royalty, having been on the air for over 22 seasons. Those who star on this show instantly become household names, and that’s exactly what happened with Cote de Pablo.
Her character wasn’t part of NCIS from the beginning, but she was introduced in Season 3. She played Ziva Davis, a Mossad agent who eventually joins the NCIS team. Fans quickly took to the character because she was tough, smart, and had great chemistry with the team (especially Tony). But in Season 11, the unthinkable happened: Cote de Pablo left the series that made her famous.
Leaving the show that made her famous
It was shocking for fans when Cote de Pablo left NCIS. After all, this was the show that had made her famous, so nobody expected her to suddenly leave. And her departure was made that much more controversial because of how the writers initially tried to write her off.
Cote de Pablo left the show after Season 11, citing disagreements about how her character was written as part of why she left. Fans hoped that she’d return, but that seemed impossible after Season 13, in which the NCIS team is told that Ziva had been killed in Israel. Eventually, she came back (more on this soon). But in the meantime, she had the opportunity to explore career opportunities beyond NCIS.
Life after NCIS
When most actors leave a high-profile show, it’s usually because they want to star in other successful series or pivot into making movies. As for Cote de Pablo, she has proven to be very selective about what projects she stars in. Because of this, she had fewer roles than you might expect after leaving NCIS, but she always makes the best of them.
For example, she starred in a popular miniseries called The Dovekeepers. On top of that, she had a very successful film project, The 33, which took home several prestigious awards. Unfortunately, she was slated to star in other TV projects, which were ultimately canceled, including a sci-fi show called Prototype.
It’s possible that Cote de Pablo got annoyed by these cancellations, or maybe she just grew nostalgic for her old gig. Whatever the reason, she ultimately surprised everyone by returning to NCIS.
Returning to her best role
Considering that NCIS killed off Ziva, how the heck did Cote de Pablo return to the show? Simple: after appearing at the end of Season 16, the Season 17 premiere had Ziva admit to Gibbs that she had faked her own death to protect her family. But by then, things had heated up on the personal front: it turned out that she hooked up with Tony and the two had a child together, one that Tony was now raising overseas.
After quite a few shenanigans, Gibbs admits something startling to Ziva: that he knew she was alive the entire time but was just trying to keep her secret. After this, the character got what appeared to be a happy ending, leaving America to join Tony and raise their daughter together in Paris. But it turns out that Cote de Pablo was destined to keep returning to the fictional universe that made her a household name!
Just last month, the NCIS spinoff show Tony & Ziva premiered. The premise of the show is that the two title characters are trying to raise their daughter in Paris, but when his security company is attacked, the two are caught in an action adventure spanning Europe. The show was quite well-received by fans, which likely means that we’ll continue seeing Cote de Pablo starring in the role that made us all fall in love with her!