As seen in the newest NCIS: Tony & Ziva trailer (released at the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel), things are heating up between the titular former agents in their long-awaited NCIS spinoff, premiering in September on Paramount+.
In recent years, intimate coordinators have become the norm on sets for such steamy scenes, but Cote de Pablo told us that she didn’t use one for her upcoming series with Michael Weatherly. “Did not need one. They asked me first, I thought because I’m a female and blah, blah, blah, and I said, ‘I don’t need one. Thank you for offering,’” she shared.
“Michael and I have a lot of trust with each other and are great friends. So, when it comes to shooting these things, we don’t want to be micromanaged. We like to explore it, and we trust each other enough that we allow that to happen.”
As for Weatherly, he recalled, “I said, ‘Whatever Cote wants.’ Love scenes are complicated because that level of nonverbal communication — you kiss someone the way you want to be kissed or you touch someone the way you want to be touched — that is a deep level of communication. Physical interaction starts with trust. Luckily, Cote and I do not have an issue in that area. We had to do that right out of the gate in [NCIS‘s ‘Under Covers’] episode.”
Added de Pablo, “Yes, that famous line where he says, ‘For the record, that’s just my knee,’ and then gets a kick from Ziva.”
NCIS: Tony & Ziva, premiering with the first three episodes on Thursday, September 3, picks up after the titular characters reunited after her faking her death and his leaving the agency to raise their daughter. They have since been reunited and have been raising their daughter, Tali (Isla Gie), in Paris.
As trailers have shown, they’re no longer together (though that’s obviously complicated). But when Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, try to figure out who is after them, and maybe even learn to trust each other again. Will they finally have their (unconventional) happily ever after? We’ll have to wait and see!
