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NCIS star Cote de Pablo had a very different career before acting

The actress landed her big break in 2005

ncis cote de pablo ziva
Nicky Morris
TV and film writer
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Cote de Pablo is known and loved for her portrayal of Ziva David on NCIS - whom she played from 2005 until making her final appearance in 2020. 

But did you know that prior to her big break on the police procedural show, the actress had a very different career?

WATCH: Michael Weatherly's Tony DiNozzo says his goodbyes to the NCIS team

Before she found her passion for the performing arts, Cote co-hosted the Latin-American talk show, Control, at the age of 15. 

Chatting about her time on Control in an interview with American Latino, she said: "I interviewed some pretty phenomenal people on that show in the Latin world," before going on to say that "interviewing was not what I studied. What I studied was acting, and I wanted to do what I studied."  

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Cote went on to study music and theatre at Carnegie Mellon University before landing her role on the CBS show. 

Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo© CBS

Cote presented a TV show before landing her role on NCIS

While she made her last appearance back in season 17, her co-star Michael Weatherly recently hinted at a potential reunion for their two characters. What's more, there's been speculation about a new spin-off series that could star both Michael and Cote

MORE: NCIS' Michael Weatherly's dangerous health condition revealed

But will Cote return? Back in 2016, the 43-year-old revealed that she chose not to come back to the show because of "political things and scripts not being good enough". 

"Look, I love this character! I worked for eight years crafting Ziva and when I felt like the character wasn't being treated with the respect she deserved," she said. 

Mark Harmon, Michael Weatherly and Cote de Pablo on NCIS© CBS

Cote made her final appearance on the show in 2020

"They were going to send [Ziva] back to Israel and make her an unfortunate, miserable woman. I didn't think it was fair. I told them until someone can write something really fantastic for Ziva I won't come back." 

She later clarified her comments in a 2019 interview, saying that what she said what taken out of context. 

"I didn't leave because I wanted to go or because I was ready or because I was tired. I didn't really have an option," she explained. 

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