When Michael Weatherly walks back onto our screens in NCIS: Tony & Ziva, he does so with a heavier heart—and a sharper sense of purpose—than ever before.
The 57-year-old actor, best known for his charismatic run as Tony DiNozzo on NCIS, recently opened up about the profound personal losses that reshaped his life and career.
“I took a few years off because I had burned myself into a bit of a puddle,” Weatherly admitted in an interview with Hello! Magazine. “I was directing and acting, I did 125 episodes of Bull. I started seeing the writing on the wall, and I said, ‘This is exhausting.’ I wasn’t connecting with the character in a way that felt like I was in flow, so I took time off.”
But his break from Hollywood wasn’t just about fatigue. It was also about grief.
A Family Shattered by Loss
Weatherly revealed that while he was in the relentless grind of television production, tragedy struck. “I was so busy making television when my sister died that I didn’t find out for three days,” he recalled quietly.
In the years that followed, more heartbreak arrived: his brother passed away in 2023, and his father in 2024. All while Weatherly was navigating life off-screen and preparing for his eventual return with Tony & Ziva.
“It’s very interesting how many people moved on to the next plane over the last few years,” Weatherly reflected. “And that brought an urgency back into my world.”
From Controversy to Introspection
The actor’s career has not been without turbulence. During his six-season run on Bull, Weatherly faced allegations of sexual harassment from costar Eliza Dushku. CBS later settled with Dushku for $9.5 million, following her claims of inappropriate remarks on set.
Weatherly issued a public apology in 2018, saying he was “mortified” to learn his behavior had caused pain. “After reflecting on this further, I better understand that what I said was both not funny and not appropriate, and I am sorry,” he said at the time.
Now, he acknowledges those years as part of the difficult self-work he has undertaken.
“My wife and I have this conversation all the time. It’s very difficult to take time and look at yourself,” he shared. “You have to go through the bottom of yourself, and I was able to get there—I did a lot of therapy, a lot of reckoning and examination of different things.”
A New Approach to Hollywood
Time away gave Weatherly clarity—not just about the kind of work he wants to do, but about how he wants to live.
“When I was at a certain point in my career, I would say, ‘If it feels wrong, then it must be right, because everything feels wrong,’” he explained. “I took a lot of time and examined those words closely, and now, if it feels wrong, I say, ‘Let’s talk about it.’”
The result? A man less concerned with image, more focused on meaning. “I care a lot less about what people think about me. But in a great way—I want to be understood.”
Back in the Spotlight
That sense of purpose is what drew him back to NCIS: Tony & Ziva, a Paramount+ spinoff revisiting the beloved relationship between Tony DiNozzo and Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). The series follows the couple as they go on the run across Europe, raising their daughter, Tali, while trying to build a future together.
For Weatherly, it’s more than just a reunion with fans. It’s a chance to honor the resilience he’s found in his own life.
“I always wait for the universe to do what it’s gonna do,” he said. “I try not to push too hard.”
And after years of loss, controversy, and reflection, Michael Weatherly’s universe seems to be pointing him toward something rare: a second act built not on charm alone, but on hard-won wisdom.
