‘NCIS’ Alum Cote de Pablo Revealed One Tough Aspect of Returning to Ziva David Role
If you’re a fan of the hit CBS show “NCIS” chances are you have followed the storyline surrounding the character Ziva David. And, you’re probably aware that this character, played by Cote de Pablo, returned to the series after years away.
Her return was an exciting time for the show and its fans. Behind the scenes, however, returning as Ziva David was somewhat stressful for de Pablo due to the physicality and fighting the role demanded. She talked about this during an interview with the BUILD Series in September 2019.
During this interview, the “NCIS” actress was asked if she did a lot of training before returning to the popular drama.
“We are running around a lot. And I tell you, you know, it’s funny. I mean, I’m a gym person and I go all the time and everything,” de Pablo shared. “And I think, you know, you try to stay active as much as you can and in the city you’re always walking. You read a script and all of a sudden you see fight sequence and you’re like, ‘Oh, here we go again.’”
Once filming began, Cote de Pablo had to give her performance all she had.
“So, you show up to set and you do the best you can with the fight sequence and you do it once, but then you know you’re going to be doing it for three hours. Because it takes three hours to shoot one,” the “NCIS” actress said.
It was while filming this sequence that she realized she was in for a long day at the office.
“The crazy thing about that is that the first time we did it, we did it once completely – from beginning to end,” de Pablo also said. “And I thought to myself, ‘Oh my god. How am I going to get through this for three hours. And I thought, ‘Hmm, is it just time or is it because I haven’t done this in a long time.’”
‘NCIS’ Actress Cote de Pablo Said Filming Fight Scenes on Show Was ‘Challenging’
Filming fight scenes for “NCIS” were a lot of hard work, according to Cote de Pablo.
“We got it done, you know,” the actress also said. “And the magic of TV you pick up little chunks here and there. But, yeah, they’re challenging. There was a part of me that was like, ‘How am I going to disguise this from everyone here?’ … I’m like just looking down going like, ‘Don’t worry. Don’t have a panic attack. You’ll get through it.’ … It was not easy.”
For de Pablo, the other aspects of her role on “NCIS” were easier
… the character part, the emotional part, you know, that part I can do … certainly I can have a good day or two. But the fighting part, boy you just don’t know until you’re doing it,” she also said.
You can watch the full BUILD Series interview with “NCIS” actress Cote de Pablo below. She shares her thoughts about returning to the Ziva David role around the 22:25 mark of the interview.
