• Cote de Pablo is a Chilean-American actress and singer born in Santiago, Chile in 1979.
• She is best known for her role as Ziva David in 194 episodes of the popular crime action series “NCIS”.
• She has appeared in 11 movies and TV series, and has won 3 awards of her 9 nominations.
• Cote has been in a long-term relationship with Diego Serrano and is currently single.
• She is 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and has an estimated net worth of $8 million.
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Who is Cote de Pablo?
Chilean-American actress and singer María José de Pablo Fernández, perhaps known better as Cote de Pablo, was born in Santiago, Chile, on 12 November 1979, meaning that her zodiac sign’s Scorpio. She’s had roles in only 11 movies and TV series, and is perhaps best known for her playing of Ziva David in 194 episodes of the popular crime action series “NCIS”, which Don McGill and Donald P. Bellisario created, and which starred Sean Murray, Mark Harmon and David McCallum. It follows the cases of Washington D.C.’s Major Case Response Team, the series has been airing since 2003, and has won 27 of its 70 award nominations.
Education and early life
Cote, her younger brother Francisco and younger sister Andrea were raised in Santiago by their mother Maria Olga Fernandez and father Francisco de Pablo; Cote was 10 when her mother was offered a job in Miami, Florida, and the family thus moved there, but it’s believed that Maria and Francisco divorced not long after the move.
Cote studied at Arvida Middle School in Miami, and eventually switched to the New World School of the Arts, at which she was mostly into practicing acting and singing; her peers found it hard to pronounce ‘Maria Jose’, and she thus told them to call her ‘Cote’, which is a common nickname in Chile. It was when she was 14 that she fell in love with acting, and knew that she wanted to pursue a career in the film industry.
Cote matriculated in 1997, and then moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to enroll at Carnegie Mellon University; she starred in a couple of plays performed at the university, including “A Little Night Music”, “The Fantasticks” and “The House of Bernarda Alba”. In 2000, Cote graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree.
Roles in TV series
Cote’s debut TV series appearance was in the 2000 episode “Hostile Makeover” of the popular drama “The $treet”, which Jeff Rake and Darren Star created, and which starred Christian Campbell, Nina Garbiras and Tom Everett Scott; it follows a group of people who are working at a small trading company in New York City’s Wall Street.
In 2001, Cote played Gina in the episode “Do It Yourself” of the drama “The Education of Max Bickford”, and the year 2004 saw her portray Marguerite Cisneros in 10 episodes of the crime drama “The Jury”, created by Tom Fontana and James Yoshimura, and in which Cote starred alongside Adam Busch and Jeff Hephner. It follows a jury made up of 12 men and women, and the series won Tom Fontana an Edgar Allan Poe Award.
Cote’s since appeared in only one other TV series, besides “NCIS”: she played Shirah in the 2015 episodes “Night One” and “Night Two” of the historical romantic mini-series “The Dovekeepers”, which starred Maia Laura Attard and Sam Hazeldine, and follows four women trying to survive the siege of Masada in the first century AD; the mini-series was nominated for three awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music.
Roles in movies
Cote’s debut film appearance was in the 2010 action thriller “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride”, written and directed by Tiller Russell, and which starred Dwight Yoakam, Lizzy Caplan and Jon Foster. It follows a woman who’s trying to give her outlaw lover a proper burial, and the film won an Alberta Film & Television Award for Best Make-Up Artist (Gail Kennedy).
In 2015, Cote portrayed the supporting character Jessica in the critically acclaimed biographical historical drama “The 33”, directed by Patricia Riggen, and which starred Antonio Banders, Rodrigo Santoro and Juliette Binoche. It follows the collapse of a gold and copper mine, which left 33 miners trapped underground for more than two months; the movie won eight of its 15 award nominations.
In 2016, Cate played Laura Kale in the action fantasy “Prototype”, and her only other film role has been her playing of Celeste in the 2019 drama “Seneca”, written and directed by Jason Chaet, and which starred Claudia Morcate-Martin, Moises Acevedo and Stephen Adly Guirgis. It follows the life of a father, and the film won two awards.
Cote’s just recently finished shooting for the upcoming short movie “The Crossing”.
Other credits
Cote voiced Melanie Sanchez in the 2002 video game “ToCa Race Driver”.
She received special thanks for the 2007 short film “NCIS: Cat Roundtable” and the 2008 short movie “NCIS: Requiem Revisited”.
Cote sang the song “Temptation” in the 2008 episode “Last Man Standing” of the series “NCIS”, and the song “Gracias a la Vida” in the 2015 movie “The 33”.
Some of the talk-shows in which she’s recently appeared include “Extra”, “The Talk” and “Entertainment Tonight”.
Awards and nominations
Cote’s won three of her nine award nominations – a 2006 Imagen Foundation Award for Best Supporting Actress – Television and a 2011 ALMA Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Television Series, both for her performance in “NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service”, and a 2016 Imagen Foundation Award for Best Supporting Actress – Feature Film, for “The 33”.
Love life and relationships
There’s only a single man whom Cote’s dated, that the public knows about. In 2000, she began seeing Diego Serrano, a popular American actor who’s had roles in more than 30 movies and TV series, and is perhaps still best known for his playing of Krom in the 2009 war comedy movie “The Men Who Stare at Goats”, which won one of its two award nominations. Cote and Diego seemed to be happy together, and could often have been seen attending their red carpet events hand in hand; most of their fans believed that they would marry, however, they broke-up after having been together for 15 years.
Cote hasn’t spoken of having had any other boyfriends, and seems to be unattached as of December 2022, hasn’t married and doesn’t have children.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Cote’s interested in music, and her singing of the entire song “Temptation” was featured in the soundtrack album “NCIS: The Official TV Soundtrack”, released on 10 February 2009; she also sang the songs “Samba in Prelude” and “Cry Me a River” and on Roberto Pitre’s album “Vivo en Vida”, and the song “Gracias a la Vida” on the soundtrack album of the movie “The 33”.
She was featured in the 2004 Volkswagen commercial “Rear View”, while she today drives a Toyota Prius.
Cote was mentored by famous British actor David McCallum and American actor Mark Harmon.
She’s deeply religious, and believes that everything beautiful in the world was created by God.
Cote’s favorite actresses are Scarlett Johansson and Emma Stone, and some of her favorite movies include “Don Jon”, “Under the Skin” and “Lucy”.
Height, eyes and wealth
Cote’s age is 43. Her hair and eyes are brown, she’s 5ft 7ins (1.7m) tall and weighs about 130lbs (60kgs).
Cote’s net worth’s been estimated at more than $8 million, as of December 2022.
