María José de Pablo Fernández (born November 12, 1979) better known as Coté de Pablo, is a Chilean-American actress and recording artist. She is best known for her role as Ziva David on the CBS series NCIS. Born in Santiago, Chile, she moved to the United States at the age of 10, where she studied acting. At the age of 15, she co-hosted episodes of the Latin American talk show Control with former Entertainment Tonight host, Carlos Ponce, before attending Carnegie Mellon University to study musi ...