and recording artist. Born in Santiago, Chile, she moved to the United States at the age

of ten, where she studied acting. De Pablo co-hosted episodes of the Latin American

talk show Control with former Entertainment Tonight host, Carlos Ponce, at the age of

15 before attending Carnegie Mellon University to study music and theatre. After appearing

in a number of small television roles, she was cast to portray main character Ziva David

in the CBS television series NCIS in 2005. De Pablo won an ALMA Award for the role in

2011, and NCIS became the most watched television program in America during its tenth season

in the 2012–13 year. She performed a portion of Tom Waits' song

"Temptation" for a 2008 episode of NCIS. Outside of the series, she has acted as a vocalist

for songs in Roberto Pitre's Vivo En Vida CD.

Early life De Pablo was born in Santiago, Chile, to Francisco

de Pablo and María Olga Fernández. She has a younger sister, Andrea, and a brother, Francisco,

who works as a DJ. When de Pablo was ten years old, her mother, María Olga Fernández, received

a job in Miami, Florida, at a Spanish-speaking television network. There, de Pablo attended

Arvida Middle School and New World School of the Arts where she studied musical theater.

In the 5th grade, she found many people could not properly pronounce her first name of "María

José," so she asked them to call her "Coté," a common Chilean nickname for "María José."

De Pablo then attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where she studied

music and theater and appeared in several plays, including And the World Goes 'Round,

The House of Bernarda Alba, Indiscretions, The Fantasticks, and A Little Night Music.

She graduated in 2000 with a BFA in Musical Theater.

Acting career Early roles

Cote de Pablo first began working in the entertainment industry at age 15 when she hosted some episodes

of the talk show Control from 1994 to 1995 on Univision, alongside former Entertainment

Tonight host, Carlos Ponce. After graduation, she moved to New York City

to find work as an actress, working as a waitress in an Indian restaurant in Manhattan and an

Italian eatery in Brooklyn to support herself. She picked up parts in the New York City Public

Theater in the TV show All My Children, and in commercials. De Pablo played the role of

Marguerite Cisneros in The Jury. The show was short-lived, screening only ten one-hour

episodes. In 2005, de Pablo was about to make her Broadway debut in The Mambo Kings as Dolores

Fuentes, but the show closed after a short trial run in San Francisco.

NCIS Cote de Pablo is primarily known for her portrayal

of Ziva David, an Israeli Mossad officer turned NCIS agent, in the police procedural drama

NCIS. She had sent in a videotape audition while waiting for The Mambo Kings to move

forward and was asked to fly to Los Angeles for a screen test two days after it was cancelled.

Network executives arranged for her to act alongside series regular Michael Weatherly

to test for chemistry during her second audition; he went offscript by brushing her hair back

and commenting, "You remind me of Salma Hayek." De Pablo's response to Weatherly was to stay

in character, and she "dismissed him completely." Afterwards, producer Donald Bellisario met

with her as she was waiting for a cab to take her back to the airport, telling her she had

landed the part. De Pablo described the character as "someone

completely different from anyone else on the show because she's been around men all her

life; she's used to men of authority. She's not afraid of men."

In 2006, she won an Imagen Award at the Imagen Foundation Awards for Best Supporting Actress

in Television for NCIS. In 2008 and 2009, she was nominated for the same award. Also

in 2008 and 2009, she was nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama

Television Series for NCIS. In 2011, de Pablo was nominated once again for an Imagen Award,

but this time it was for Best Actress in Television, not Supporting Actress. She won the 2011 ALMA

Award for Favorite Television Actress-Leading Role in Drama.

On July 10, 2013, it was reported by CBS that de Pablo would be leaving NCIS for undisclosed

reasons, although she remained on long enough to conclude her character Ziva David's storyline

at the beginning of season 11. De Pablo later told Cindy Elavsky that Ziva could come back

because she did not die. Post NCIS

De Pablo was announced in January as being cast in the film The 33, which is about the

2010 Copiapó mining accident. She was cast as the wife of one of the miners. She has

also been cast in a 2015 CBS miniseries, titled The Dovekeepers, based on the Alice Hoffman

novel. Personal life

De Pablo is in a long-term relationship with actor Diego Serrano. As a consequence of kickboxing

during scenes, de Pablo has been injured several times on the show, including injuring her

neck and back. Filmography

Awards and nominations 2006: Won an Imagen Award for Best Supporting

Actress in Television for NCIS 2008: Nominated for an Imagen Award for Best

Supporting Actress in Television for NCIS 2008: Nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding

Actress in a Drama Television Series for NCIS 2009: Nominated for an ALMA Award for Outstanding

Actress in a Drama Television Series for NCIS 2009: Nominated for an Imagen Award for Best

Supporting Actress in Television for NCIS 2011: Nominated for an Imagen Award for Best

Actress in Television for NCIS 2011: Won an ALMA Award for Favorite Television

Actress – Leading Role in a Drama for NCIS Music

Cote de Pablo performed a portion of Tom Waits' song "Temptation" on the NCIS episode, "Last

Man Standing", which first aired in the U.S. on September 23, 2008. Her full performance

of the song, including some lyrics in French, appears for the first time on NCIS: The Official

TV Soundtrack, which was released on February 10, 2009.

She is also the singer in Roberto Pitre's Vivo en vida where she sings "Samba in Prelude",

"Cry Me a River" and "Temptation". References

External links Cote de Pablo at the Internet Movie Database

Cote de Pablo at TVGuide.com