It’s hard to say Cote de Pablo was typecast as Ziva David on NCIS when, for starters, she’s of Chilean origin and the character is a former Israeli. Also, de Pablo hasn’t killed nearly as many people. But you can’t help but be struck by some of the off-screen parallels, especially when it comes to both Cote’s/Ziva’s sober professionalism in the face of DiNozzo’s/Michael Weatherly’s goading goofiness. All of which we saw on ample display when we dropped by the NCIS for this exclusive Q&A. For more with Cote—including photos of her food fight with costar Mark Harmon—check out the cover story of TV Guide Magazine, on newsstands Oct. 29!

So Ziva gets to be “probie” for a while now?
Wellll, as probie as Ziva can be. She gets bothered and teased specifically by DiNozzo, who just finds it the funniest thing in the world. But I think it bothers her tremendously.

Your character has gone through some attitude changes lately, from angry and defiant at the end of season 6 to repentant at the beginning of this one.
When you first saw her come in [during season 3], she didn’t really know who these people were. She finds this group of people and makes them her family immediately. And yes, she’s got what I think you could call anger issues. I wouldn’t say she’s gotten away from it. I think right now she’s gotten in touch with a lot of pain. I think she’s been sort of quote-unquote “betrayed, “or at least she thinks she’s been betrayed, by something that’s very close to her, which is her family, particularly her father. And it’s a big deal to her. Which would explain her love and relationship with somebody like Leroy Jethro Gibbs.

When you put “betrayed” in quotes, you make it sound like maybe the relationship with her father back in Israel has not been wrapped up and put away for good.
No. In true NCIS fashion, it kind of gets tapped with and not really dealt with. So it should come to nip me in the bud, so to speak, later on this season. I sure do hope so, that that particular story line doesn’t go away, because I really enjoy it, and I think there’s a lot still to explore.

So Michael Nouri, who played your dad, may be back?
Yeah, he definitely may be back. The great thing about this show is, [the actors] never know what’s gonna happen. And the writers sort of tease you every once in a while, but they don’t give it all away.

You were the last major piece of the NCIS puzzle, at least for the core group in the squad room. You’ve been here four years now. How long did you feel like a probie?
I never felt like a probie on this show. I always felt like I just belonged, like I was just a part of it from the very beginning, as soon as I stepped on set. Even if there was a part of me as an actor that was like “You’re gonna work for a couple of episodes and we’ll see,” I never viewed it as anything else but “This is my role and this is my family and this is what I do.”

Can you describe the screen test that got you the job? It’s kind of legendary; everyone else in the cast always talks about it.
I was about to open a Broadway show in New York, so I was coming from a structured, very prepared, very polished background, where obviously all your lines were completely memorized and you never went off-book. That would be completely betraying the writer; it was a disrespectful thing. We do that now so often, but it just so happens that that’s how the show works, in many ways. It’s part of what makes the show what it is, the ad libs. But when I came in and did my audition, Michael Weatherly went off script, and I just thought “Oh my God, this guy is sabotaging my audition!” And I immediately perked up and went “I will not allow this actor to do this to me.” So what people saw in the audition really was a person fighting the other person back and not giving an inch. He was trying to flirt with me. He grabbed my face and said, “You know, you look so much like Salma Hayek.” I thought it was disrespectful and completely unprofessional. And it was just all the things that I think later on translated to the relationship that Ziva and DiNozzo had and still have. And that’s what makes that particularly dynamic interesting.

Now, did Michael do that with the other actress who was auditioning, or just pick on you?
No, he totally did it with the other actress. There was only one other girl, and he pulled that little stunt with her, and apparently she sort of flirted back with him, and she was sort of open. Which is what actors do! They’re sort of open. But I was just so shut to it. And funny enough, luck was on my side, and I got the part because I responded to it the way they felt was right. I had no control over that, and I definitely was not gonna go and laugh at his little stunt. [laughs] I didn’t think it was funny!

Did it take you a while, then, to get away from the theatrical notion of the script being sacrosanct? Not that things are totally loose on the NCIS set, but…
It’s not totally loose. Every once in a while I add things, but for the most part I’m nothing like Michael. He adds a lot, and it’s part of what makes the character so wonderful, that Michael is able to sort of go and do his own thing. I, however, stick more to the script, and I like it that way. For me, it works.

The “Tiva” love/hate conflict seems to be going a little bit more on the back burner. Undoubtedly it’ll always be part of the dynamic between you and Michael. But do you think viewers were satisfied with how it played out? Especially in first two episodes of the season, the two of you had some scenes that seemed to bring something to a head, but not really resolve it.
I don’t think this relationship’s ever gonna be resolved. And I think fans will always find things that will make them kind of sway their opinion as to where they think that relationship will go. We never have an idea of where this relationship is gonna go. In many ways, we can add and sprinkle scenes with elements of whatever we feel at the time should happen. But Michael and I are not on the same page. He thinks sometimes things should be done a certain way, and I think sometimes should be done a certain way. And that’s sort of what makes the dynamic interesting. We don’t talk about what we’re thinking or where we’re going. It’s sort of very much like a real relationship in life: We kind of want it to be what it is. We’re not really trying to manipulate it. And I think the writers pick up on it, so they kind of write according to what we do. And at times it gets feisty and at times it doesn’t, and at times it gets really passionate and at times it doesn’t. Michael and I have that with each other. We don’t really mess with it much. We don’t really ask questions. Also, with Michael, if you tell him you’re gonna do something, he’ll turn around and do the complete opposite, so you want to keep him in the dark for the most part.

The bathroom scene you had with him in the second episode was terrific.
It was fun. Bathroom scenes are always fun. Well, they’re always fun because they always just so happen to be with Michael. Those scenes for me are loaded with emotional stuff. These characters have gone through so much together, there’s this underlying sort of unfulfilled sexual tension, and this undeniable love for each other; may it be a brotherly love or however you want to label it, there is love. So when you put these two characters together, there’s a lot to explore, and a lot of elements that are interesting for us to play with.

Next: Michael Weatherly barges in!