Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly’s ‘disrespectful’ first meeting defined Tony and Ziva’s relationship

Even the slowest couples have nothing on NCIS“Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David. The two agents first met in the season 3 premiere under awkward circumstances; not only Ziva (Cote de Pablo) catch Tony (Michael Weatherly) daydreaming at her desk, she was also at NCIS preventing a manhunt for the person who killed Agent Kate Todd (Sacha Alexandre), putting her in direct opposition to the team. Although they would soon become close allies professionally, Tony and Ziva’s personal relationship has been a long and winding road spanning eight seasons of the flagship series and ten episodes of their own spinoff, which has unfortunately just ended.

Their time on NCIS was defined by flirtatious interactions, emotionally charged moments, and several instances of skirting the clear feelings they had for each other. They properly kissed for the first time on screen in the season 11 episode where Ziva left the show, and when Tony left later in season 13, it was revealed that they had a child together. Even then, they didn’t officially get together romantically until this year. NCIS: Tony and Zivawhich still featured a lot of back and forth between the two former agents. Ziva and Tony’s story is far more dramatic than most on-screen couples, and that was true even before de Pablo officially got the role.

Cote de Pablo thought Michael Weatherly was trying to sabotage his audition

As de Pablo recalls (via TVLine), she NCIS the Weatherly audition didn’t go as well as she might have hoped. While they were reading lines together, Weatherly deviated completely from the book, which surprised de Pablo and immediately put her on the defensive. As she explained:

I immediately woke up and said, “I will not allow this actor to do this to me.” So what people saw in the audition room was actually one person fighting against the other and refusing to give even an inch. He was trying to flirt with me. He grabbed my face and said, “You know, you look so much like Salma Hayek.” I found this to be disrespectful and completely unprofessional. It’s just everything that I think later translated into the relationship that Ziva and Tony had and still have.

In a way, Weatherly was lucky that his improvisation paid off. Any other actor might have been discouraged by this, but de Pablo showed equal energy and refused to back down.thus giving rise to the fan-favorite Tony/Ziva dynamic – also known as “Tiva” – which would become a key part of their tenure on NCIS. To this day, de Pablo and Weatherly are quite close; they hatched the Tony and Ziva spinoff together, co-hosted a review podcast, and even turned down an intimacy coordinator for their steamiest scenes (via TV Insider).

When she got the role of Ziva, NCIS was de Pablo’s biggest project to date. She had played a few minor roles in other television shows, but NCISas a series that already had two successful seasons under its belt, was a different beast. The fact that she felt confident and brave enough to resist Weatherly’s surprising audition tactic is impressive, and if she hadn’t, NCIS probably would have been very different.

Ziva matches Tony’s energy – that’s why they work

Tony’s personality seems to match Weatherly’s, in that he is known for teasing others, making ironic jokes, and seemingly never taking things seriously. When he’s with characters like McGee (Sean Murray) or Palmer (Brian Dietzen), this usually results in DiNozzo smirking and the other person fuming or blushing. Ziva, on the other hand, never lets Tony get the upper hand. She’ll match his energy and push his buttons, whether it’s by following him into the men’s room or saying something so provocative that he’s the one left speechless.

This is exactly why Ziva and Tony’s dynamic is so compelling to watch. They are equal in spirit and stubbornness and compatible as field agents.which gives them an underlying need to always protect each other. Tony usually pretends, preferring to hide behind jokes when things get real, but it’s Ziva who calls him out. Take, for example, the NCIS Season 7 premiere, when Tony (with McGee and Mark HarmonGibbs) risks his life to save Ziva in Somalia. When they finally come face to face, Tony makes his usual sarcastic comments until Ziva pushes him to be honest about his intentions. It helps that he was injected with truth serum, but Ziva still hasn’t let him deviate.

The playful, combative energy present during Pablo and Weatherly’s first meeting carried over to Tony and Ziva’s first on-screen interaction. in season 3. After catching him fantasizing about Kate, Ziva flatly asks him if he was having phone sex and, when he tries to salvage the situation, pokes holes in all his explanations. She even teases him about his sexual thoughts. Their interaction becomes more tense when the reason for Ziva’s presence is revealed, but it still crackles with tension and intrigue. At one point, Tony even says, “We got off to a bad start. »

De Pablo and Weatherly also got off to a bad start, but that didn’t stop their friendship from blossoming. If anything, it showed how brilliantly they played each other. Amid all the flirty banter and blatant lust, Ziva and Tony’s relationship is built on deep-rooted loyalty and a willingness to follow each other to the end. De Pablo may not have realized what she and Weatherly were creating during that audition, but for them and for NCIS fans around the world, it led to something incredibly special.

NCIS

Release date

September 23, 2003