Cote de Pablo Exiting "NCIS"
Jul 10, 2013
by Natalie Abrams


Cote de Pablo will exit "NCIS" after eight seasons with the series, TVGuide.com has learned.

De Pablo, who plays Ziva David on the series, will not return as a series regular for Season 11, which kicks off this fall. Instead, producers are working to find a way to wrap up her story line. De Pablo joined the series in Season 3 after the exit of Sasha Alexander, whose character was killed off after two seasons.



"I've had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David," De Pablo said in a statement. "I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva's story."



"We respect Cote's decision, thank her for being an important part of the NCIS team, and for eight terrific years playing Ziva David," CBS said in a statement. "Cote and CBS share a great respect for the NCIS audience, and we look forward to working with her and the producers on appropriate closure in this chapter of Ziva's story."



In February, CBS renewed the series for an 11th season after extending their contract with star and executive producer Mark Harmon. De Pablo then became the only castmember without a deal for Season 11.

"NCIS" returns Tuesday, Sept. 24 on CBS.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Cote-Pablo-Exiting-NCIS-1067676.aspx

I'm shocked. :eek:

I'm shocked. :eek:

Likewise.

I'm disappointed! NCIS without Ziva is hard to imagine.

CBS Boss on Cote De Pablo's "NCIS" Exit: "She Just Didn't Want to Do the Show"
July 29, 2013
by Adam Bryant


CBS CEO Leslie Moonves wants to make one thing clear: The network didn't let "NCIS'" Cote de Pablo leave the show without putting up a fight.

"We offered Cote de Pablo a lot of money, and then we offered her even more money," Moonves told reporters at the Television Critics Association fall TV previews Monday. "We really didn't want to lose her. We love her; we think she was terrific. ... Ultimately she decided she didn't want to do the show."





De Pablo announced her exit earlier this month, one week before the show was scheduled to begin production on its upcoming 11th season. She expressed her gratitude to the show and its cast and crew and said she would return for a few episodes to end her character's story.



But how could CBS lose the leading lady of the No. 1 show on television?

"It was purely her decision," Moonves continued.

"NCIS was the highest-rated show on television last year. We don't like losing anybody, but we did everything humanly possible. We feel like we exhausted every opportunity, and she just decided she didn't want to do the show."

http://www.tvguide.com/News/CBS-Boss-Cote-de-Pablo-NCIS-Exit-1068428.aspx

Cote de Pablo is Latina's September Cover Girl!
by Latina Staff
08/06/2013


"NCIS" star Cote de Pablo opens up about her departure from TV’s number-one show this coming season, and tells Latina how she connects with her Chilean roots to stay grounded in Hollywood in the September 2013 issue of Latina, which hits newsstands and Nook Newsstand on August 13, 2013.

On leaving "NCIS" after eight seasons: "It was not an easy decision, not one taken lightly. I feel like I am leaving my family. What I want to say most of all is thank you to the fans and to the people who have been so supportive of me and of the show, who have made the show the great success that it is."

http://www.latina.com/entertainment/cote-de-pablo-latina-september-cover-interview?page=0,0#axzz2bEyp6ZQi

"NCIS" Boss: Why We're Not Killing Off Ziva
by Michael Ausiello
8/7/13


"NCIS" fans dreading the looming departure of leading lady Cote de Pablo, we present you with some blow-cushioning good news:

The show isn’t shipping Ziva off in a body bag.



Executive producer Gary Glasberg confirms to TVLine that the actress’ two-episode swan song (kicking off in the Sept. 24 season premiere) will not culminate with her alter ego’s death.

“It’s not what this character deserves,” Glasberg shares. “Also, we killed off Sasha Alexander’s Kate character [back in Season 2] and I like the idea of doing this one a little different and respecting who Ziva is.”



To that end, Glasberg promises viewers will get a rare peek at “what makes Ziva tick” in the two-part swan song.

He added, “In the second episode we learn why she’s going to make the decision she’s going to make… We put a lot into that storyline, so I hope it works for people.”

http://tvline.com/2013/08/07/ncis-ziva-dead-not-killed-off-cote-de-pablo-gary-glasberg/

"NCIS" Boss Gary Glasberg Addresses Ziva's Exit in Open Letter to Fans
Sep 10, 2013
by Sadie Gennis


When Cote de Pablo announced that she was leaving "NCIS" in July, fans weren't the only ones caught off guard.

In an open letter to fans released Tuesday, executive producer Gary Glasberg discusses the shock that came with de Pablo's announcement and shares details on Ziva's departure plans.





That was quite a summer... I had planned on picnics, barbecues and weekend staycations. I did not plan on the departure of Ziva David. We've been very busy for the last couple of months making this work and handling the situation with the utmost care and delicacy.

Now I've finally 'come up for air' and I wanted to reach out to you, the greatest fan base in the universe, and fill you in on what's coming, how we are feeling about all this, and assure you we're doing some really terrific work and feeling confident about moving forward.



Very often, extraordinary creativity comes out of adjustment. And so we find ourselves not dwelling on the past, but eager to guide you into the future of NCIS.

The amazing resolution you're going to see is pretty damn heart-wrenching and we're incredibly proud of it. Prepare yourselves for a moment in television history. Images that will end up in the archives. I couldn't be happier with how my NCIS family stepped up and did some of the most emotional work we've ever done.



Watch with us. Experience with us. It's okay to be see. But, then, don't forget what we're good at. We like to make you smile. We like to rock your world and leave you on the edge of your seat. We like to show you what the greatest team of federal agents is capable of.

And all of that will happen in Season 11.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/NCIS-Gary-Glasberg-Ziva-Exit-1070130.aspx

Exclusive: Cote de Pablo Talks About Her Decision To Leave "NCIS"
by Chris Willman
Sep 24, 2013



[Spoiler Alert: Don't read this story if you don't want to know Ziva's fate!]



"NCIS" fans have long memories. They fondly recall the scene back in Season 4 when Ziva David, then still a visiting Mossad agent, announced to Tony DiNozzo, "I will kill you 18 different ways with this paper clip."

So when the woman who so engagingly played Ziva for eight seasons, Cote de Pablo, announced she was leaving the series, grief-stricken devotees sent paper clips to CBS in protest. But even that couldn't keep Ziva attached.



"On a September day in New York, I'm looking out my balcony, and I still miss my family," says de Pablo, thinking about not being on the Los Angeles set in the fall for the first time since 2005. "But they're with me all the time, every day, and that won't change."

De Pablo is speaking with TV Guide Magazine exclusively after her abrupt decision not to renew her contract just prior to the start of production on Season 11 (which kicks off Tuesday at 8/7c on CBS).







As for the fan outpouring, she says, "I was incredibly moved by the blind support people had without ever getting reasons as to why I left. People trusted that what I was doing was what I needed to do, and that's unconditional love from people who don't even know me. That's been the most beautiful thing out of this process."

The love de Pablo felt from fans is being returned in a farewell hour that airs Oct. 1 and is easily the most anticipated episode in the history of TV's top-rated drama. It will finally provide some clarity to the long-simmering feelings between Ziva and Michael Weatherly's Tony DiNozzo.

"As far as the 'Tiva' fans, they'll get a resolution they've awaited for years," she says. "There is a level of confession. And if it takes a big change like this to stir things up, it's all for the better. I'm a fan of the show!"







Such mixed feelings may only deepen the mystery of why de Pablo left. Clearly, there was a last-minute impasse no one wants to discuss, beyond the network's insistence that money wasn't a factor.

"As far as my decision to leave, that's a personal thing, and I'd rather leave it at that," she says. "The idea of leaving was not something I toyed around with for a long time. It was an overwhelmingly hard thing — at times terrifying."



She has no grand scheme for doing a sitcom or movies.

"Leaving NCIS was not planned, so there is no plan. If I were panicking now, it would defeat the purpose. I need to get really excited about something, because for eight years I was really excited about this character. I don't want to start anything unless it's like that."







Bittersweet is the word she inevitably uses to describe how it felt to wrap up her storyline at the -beginning of Season 11.

"Did I want to leave under those circumstances? That's another story," she says. "But I'm not of the belief that you just take off and leave fans hanging. A lot of people don't get the privilege of going back to a set and being able to say goodbye to people. I left under my terms, and that was wonderful."







The final shoot was "a beautiful day — a quiet, intimate set," she says.

"I'm horrible at saying goodbyes, because I've been saying goodbyes ever since I left my country [Chile] when I was 10, so even though I did not utter the word goodbye, I was able to hug them and let them know how much I loved them. And that's all that matters."

"We wanted to give her the most graceful, emotional payoff we could," says exec producer Gary Glasberg. "It was a pretty magical moment. Cote took it and ran with it, and the emotion you'll see on screen is very real."







Ziva's most intimate moments were with Tony, and de Pablo enthuses over "getting to close things off with my partner in crime, Michael. My first scene ever in the bullpen was with Michael, and my goodbye scene was with Michael. I feel like that was a beautiful way of ending — for now, certainly — a beautiful chapter between these two."

Did she say "for now"? Although you get the feeling any reprise would be years in the future, de Pablo has a surprisingly hopeful, never-say-never answer when asked if she could ever return for a cameo or something bigger.

"The greatest thing about this last episode is that Ziva doesn't die," she says. "As long as a character doesn't die, the character can always come back. Not that it would actually matter, because we bring back characters from the dead all the time on NCIS!"



Notice her use of the present tense and the word we. De Pablo may be almost as reluctant to let go of Ziva as all those paper-clip wielders are.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Cote-de-Pablo-Leaving-NCIS-Exclusive-1071216.aspx

I can't wait for the show tonight.

Cote de Pablo Opens Up about "NCIS" Exit, Her Fans' Reaction and Ziva's Possible Return
by Matt Webb Mitovich
January 12, 2015


Exactly a year-and-a-half after the news first broke that she and "NCIS" were parting ways, Cote de Pablo has answered many burning questions about Ziva’s “rushed” exit storyline, the “outpouring of love” she felt from fans and whether she’d ever return to the CBS drama she called home for eight years.

Following her appearance at the Television Critics Association winter press tour — where she was promoting the upcoming CBS mini "The Dovekeepers" — de Pablo said that after her break from "NCIS", “I took a couple of months off, and my entire family came over which was really great. They knew that it was a tough transition for me, and within three-and-a-half months I had an offer,” for the Chilean miner biopic The 33.



“For the most part I have had incredible opportunities knock on my door — I have read them, I have been not quite interested,” she said. But The 33 afforded her both an opportunity to return “home” to Chile and work with “incredible people” including Juliette Binoche, Antonio Banderas and Gabriel Byrne.

“I thought, ‘My god am I ready for this?'” de Pablo relates. “And I was ready.”







Invited by TVLine to reflect on and assess her "NCIS" exit storyline, which was folded into the first two episodes of Season 11, de Pablo admitted, “I think it was rushed. I would have liked a little bit of closure. But I think all in all I could not be more blessed, because I got a chance to be with my ‘love,’ Michael Weatherly.

Any time you put Michael and I together there’s going to be a spark, and there’s going to be real honesty, and for that I am forever grateful. Because in that sense there was a sense of conclusion as far as what [the characters] felt for each other.”



As such, and given that she got much-needed personal time, de Pablo attests that she has “no second thoughts” about ending her "NCIS" run.

“I’m very happy with my choices. I spent time with family, which was incredibly important for me. I’ve had time to deal with me, which I couldn’t really do for a long time, so I’m blessed for that.”







Of course, a chunk of the "NCIS" fanbase reacted strongly to losing de Pablo and Ziva, with an “ouptouring of love” she says was “humbling.”

“When you make decisions like this, you never expect for people to fully understand,” she added. “So it was really delicious to feel that kind of love and I’m always grateful for that.”



So, might she one day reprise her role as Ziva, even on a one-off basis?

“I think the fact that they never killed the character off is very telling,” de Pablo noted with a smile. “Under the right circumstances, I think it could definitely be explored.”







As for locking into another series regular TV role, de Pablo let out a hearty laugh before telling TVLine, “I’m not sure if I’m ready to sign a 6- or 7- or 8-year deal. I did a long run on NCIS and it was remarkable and I learned a lot.”

That said, she’s game “if it was the right story. If we could keep up telling a really good story, that’s the most important thing if you’re an actor.”

http://tvline.com/2015/01/12/cote-de-pablo-ncis-ziva-exits-returns/

http://www.tvinsider.com/article/65551/ncis-michael-weatherlys-departure-ziva-return/

CBS Entertainment president Glenn Geller talked about Weatherly’s departure, saying: "The decision to leave was his."