For millions of television audiences, Cote de Pablo is best known as Ziva David. Debuting as the character in 2005, de Pablo portrayed the enigmatic and fierce Mossad officer-turned-NCIS agent on CBS’s procedural drama NCIS. While her exit from the show had raised several unanswered questions, fans of the actress and character were pleased to know de Pablo would return as the character in the Paramount+ spin-off NCIS: Tony & Ziva.
Although NCIS defined her career, Cote de Pablo’s journey hasn’t been limited to playing a single memorable role. Over the years, she has built a quiet yet significant legacy in Hollywood. Besides her work as an actress, she’s also a role model for younger women navigating the industry. With a rich cultural background and a unique path to fame, here’s a look at Cote de Pablo’s life and career.
Cote de Pablo’s Early Life
Although famous as Cote de Pablo, the actress was born María José de Pablo Fernández. She was born on November 12, 1979, in Santiago, Chile. De Pablo spent her first ten years in Chile before moving with her family to the United States, after her mother, María Olga Fernández, took a job at a Spanish-language television network in Miami. For a 10-year-old de Pablo, adjusting to a new language and culture was no easy feat. However, she found solace and confidence in performing arts, something that would ultimately shape her career path.
In Miami, Cote de Pablo attended Arvida Middle School. However, while in fifth grade, she encouraged classmates to call her “Cote,” as she figured they struggled to pronounce her birth name, María José, correctly. However, it wasn’t a random nickname, as it is a common Chilean nickname for her birth name. De Pablo also attended Miami’s New World School of the Arts, a prestigious high school known for nurturing artistic talent. After graduating, de Pablo enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, one of the top performing arts schools in the United States.
Cote de Pablo’s Early Career
At Carnegie Mellon University, Cote de Pablo studied music and theater. She sharpened her skills by participating in several stage productions and intensive training. However, long before she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with her BFA in musical theater in 2000, de Pablo had already made her professional debut. At age 15, the actress co-hosted a few episodes of Univision’s talk show Control with Puerto Rican TV personality Carlos Ponce, who’s famous for previously hosting Entertainment Tonight.
After graduating from Carnegie Mellon University, Cote de Pablo moved to New York City to pursue acting full-time. Like many aspiring performers, de Pablo’s early career was marked by auditions, short-lived projects, and small television roles. To support herself in New York City, de Pablo had to work as a babysitter and waitress in an Italian restaurant. Before landing her big break on NCIS, de Pablo guest-starred on Fox’s The $treet and CBS’s The Education of Max Bickford. Although a part of the main cast of the Fox legal drama The Jury, the show was canceled after airing only 10 episodes.
Cote de Pablo’s Other Roles
After she departed from NCIS in 2013, Cote de Pablo kept a relatively low profile but remained selective about her projects. In 2015, she starred in the CBS miniseries The Dovekeepers. The biblical historical drama was based on the best-selling novel by Alice Hoffman. Before playing Shirah, she landed a leading role in the biographical disaster-survival drama movie The 33.
The film was based on the true story of the Chilean miners trapped underground in 2010. The 33 held personal significance for de Pablo, who was able to honor her Chilean heritage. The movie also starred Antonio Banderas and Gabriel Byrne. Surprisingly, since 2015, she has only starred in two other projects.
Cote de Pablo’s Awards and Nominations
Surprisingly, Cote de Pablo’s performance as Ziva David in NCIS never received an Emmy nomination. However, she was recognized by the Imagen Awards and the ALMA Awards. Interestingly, de Pablo won her first award nomination at the Imagen Awards, where she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in Television. While she continued to receive nominations at both awards, it wasn’t until 2011 that she won her first ALMA Award, in the category of Favorite Television Actress—Leading Role in a Drama. In 2016, Cote de Pablo received her first and only non-NCIS award nomination at the Imagen Awards for her performance in The 33.
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