{"id":1519,"date":"2025-01-13T22:21:27","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T22:21:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=1519"},"modified":"2025-01-13T22:21:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-13T22:21:27","slug":"ncis-michael-weatherly-was-reluctant-to-join-show-but-it-all-changed-after-one-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/?p=1519","title":{"rendered":"NCIS\u2019 Michael Weatherly was \u2018reluctant\u2019 to join show but it all changed after one meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Michael Weatherly, a beloved figure among\u00a0NCIS<\/a>\u00a0fans, has confessed that he almost didn\u2019t sign on for the\u00a0\u00a0CBS<\/a> show.<\/p>\n

The 56-year-old actor, known for his role as\u00a0Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo in NCIS<\/a>\u00a0and set to reprise the character in\u00a0the 2025 spinoff, NCIS: Tony and Ziva<\/a>, was\u00a0initially hesitant about joining the cast<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He wasn\u2019t entirely convinced about starring in the crime drama, given its origins as a JAG spinoff, which carried a certain stigma he wasn\u2019t sure he wanted to shoulder.<\/p>\n

Despite his reservations, Michael agreed to meet with NCIS creator Don Bellisario in Australia, a meeting that turned out to be pivotal for his career.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In an interview with The Futon Critic, Michael shared, \u201cI was a little reluctant initially. But I went and had this dinner with Don Bellisario in Australia and his personality, his storytelling and his presence and everything kind of won me over.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Michael<\/picture><\/p>\n

Michael Weatherly has played Tony DiNozzo for over two decades\u00a0(Image: CBS via Getty Images)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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He added: \u201cI just wanted to meet him as a fan of like Magnum, P.I. And then getting into with him, I was like this could work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Michael decided to participate in the pilot episode and approach the show with an open mind. Fortunately, the show was a massive hit, and Michael became a significant part of the NCIS universe, reports the Mirror US.<\/p>\n

Michael, known for his 13-season run on NCIS, left due to burnout but is making a comeback in the upcoming \u201cNCIS: Tony and Ziva\u201d spinoff. Fans will be thrilled as he reunites with on-screen flame Cote de Pablo, who portrays Ziva David.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The spinoff kicks off with Tony and Ziva\u2019s Paris reunion after their surprising separation believed to have been caused by Ziva\u2019s fabricated death \u2014 a drastic act to protect her family from a deadly enemy, Sahar. The action escalates in the new series when an attack on Tony\u2019s security firm sends the couple fleeing with their daughter Tali in tow.<\/p>\n

Amidst their turmoil, they strive for a stable future. Cote signaled a high-octane ride, hinting at the couple\u2019s complex journey towards a elusive \u201chappily ever after.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to Variety, she elaborated on themes of trust and partnership facing the duo: \u201cWe\u2019re trying to address the idea of trust and we\u2019re trying to address how they move forward parenting together with this child and trying to make things work and having a lot of challenges thrown at them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael Weatherly, a beloved figure among\u00a0NCIS\u00a0fans, has confessed that he almost didn\u2019t sign on for the\u00a0\u00a0CBS show. The 56-year-old actor, known for his role as\u00a0Special Agent Anthony… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1519"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1521,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1519\/revisions\/1521"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncisnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}