NCIS Cote de Pablo’s life off-screen from musical theater to cervical cancer scare

Cote de Pablo is beloved for her portrayal as Ziva David on NCIS and has cemented her self within the franchise.

The actress joined NCIS in 2005 as the Mossad agent and made her last appearance on the show in 2020. But this is not the last fans will see of her as she returns in a spinoff show about Ziva and Tony DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly). The couple with undeniable chemistry has been a fan-favorite for years and Paramount + is expected to be debuting their new show, titled NCIS: Tony and Ziva, in 2025.

Throughout her time playing the character, the 45-year-old has won an Imagen Award for Best Supporting Actress in Television in 2006 and the 2011 ALMA Award for Favorite Television Actress—Leading Role in Drama. While many are familiar with Cote as Ziva, we take a look into the private star’s life off screen (which is pretty private).

When did Cote star in musical theater?

Cote, real name Maria Jose de Pablo Fernandez, was born in Santiago, Chile to parents Francisco de Pablo and Maria Olga Fernandez. She grew up with two siblings, younger sister Andrea and brother Francisco. Cote came to America at age 10 when her mother got a job at a Spanish-language television network in Miami, Florida. During her time in Florida, she studied musical theater when she attended New World School of the Arts. She also attended Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and studied music and theater. The Chilean native starred in many plays and musicals while there, such as And the World Goes ‘Round, The House of Bernarda Alba, Indiscretions, The Fantasticks, and A Little Night Music. In 2000, she graduated from Carnie Mellon with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater.

It was in fifth grade when she asked to be called Cote which she is known as professional because people couldn’t pronounce her name. Cote is the Chilean nickname for Maria Jose. Before working as an actress, Cote worked in the entertainment industry as an entertainment reporter at 15. She co-hosted the Latin-American talk show, Control, on Univision with former Entertainment Tonight host Carlos Ponce.

“I interviewed some pretty phenomenal people on that show in the Latin world,” Cote shared with American Latino about working on the talk-show. She add that, “interviewing was not what I studied. What I studied was acting, and I wanted to do what I studied.”

She went on to New York City Public Theater when she moved to NYC after graduation and did TV roles such as Fox’s The $treet, the CBS-drama The Education of Max Bickford and ABC’s All My Children before finding her longtime role in the police procedural drama. She played Dolores Fuentes in the musical The Mambo Kings in San Francisco in 2005 and then it’s Broadway debut was cancelled. Cote got to return to her singing chops in a 2015 drama about miners, The 33, where she sang a ballad called Gracias a la Vida.

What has Cote done for cancer awareness?

In 2015, Cote did a PSA with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bring awareness about cervical cancer as well as getting checked for the gynecological disease. She shared about her own cervical cancer scare and how she took too long to get a pap smear. She continued saying when she did do her pap smear, the doctors “freaked out.” She mentioned how things didn’t look good and she thought along with the doctors that she may have cervical cancer. But when the test came back, the results were good and she did not have cancer. She explained how this news caused her mother to break down and how this test is more than about her but the people who love her as well.

“I’ve always been very close to my mother. When we finally got good results, she broke down. And that’s when I realized, it’s not just about me. It’s about your loved ones, too. So women, get a Pap test to check for cervical cancer,” she said in the PSA.

In the behind the scene clip of her filming the PSA, she talked about how important her family is and how she has a big family. She mentioned why it was important to talk about cancer specifically in connection to her family.

“The pain that our family has gone through with cancer, we’ve lost a couple of people,” Cote said. “I feel that it’s very important to talk about it and share information that may be able to help others.”