When Michael Weatherly steps back onto our screens in NCIS: Tony & Ziva, he does so with a heavier heart-and a sharper sense of purpose.
The 57-year-old actor, best known as Tony DiNozzo, recently spoke about the 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 told Hello! Magazine. “I did 125 episodes of Bull. I wasn’t connecting with the character, so I took time off.”
That break was about more than fatigue. It was also about grief.
A Family Shattered by Loss
While immersed in work, tragedy struck. “I was so busy making television when my sister died that I didn’t find out for three days,” he recalled.
In the years after, his brother died in 2023, followed by his father in 2024. “It’s very interesting how many people moved on to the next plane over the last few years,” he reflected. “And that brought an urgency back into my world.”
From Controversy to Introspection
Weatherly’s career also faced turbulence. During Bull, he was accused of sexual harassment by costar Eliza Dushku. CBS later settled with Dushku for $9.5 million. Weatherly apologized publicly in 2018, admitting his remarks were “not funny and not appropriate.”
Since then, he has focused on self-reflection. “My wife and I talk about how hard it is to look at yourself,” he shared. “I did a lot of therapy, a lot of reckoning and examination of different things.”
A New Approach
Time away gave him clarity. “When I was at a certain point, I thought, ‘If it feels wrong, it must be right.’ Now, if it feels wrong, I say, ‘Let’s talk about it.’”
The result: “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 drew him back to NCIS: Tony & Ziva, a Paramount+ spinoff following Tony and Ziva (Cote de Pablo) as they go on the run in Europe with their daughter, Tali.
For Weatherly, it’s more than a reunion-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.”
After years of loss, controversy, and reflection, Michael Weatherly’s second act is built not just on charm, but on hard-won wisdom.
