The NCIS 별, 스타 talks about her 사랑 of family, her health battle with birth control, and how yoga keeps her centered
의해 Kate Hahn-- Prevention.com
Cote’s Passionate Life
The actress shows a softer, sweeter side to the tough-as-nails character she plays on NCIS
팬 사랑 the ensemble cast of NCIS, but a key part of the show's megasuccess rests on the strong yet delicate shoulders of Cote de Pablo, who plays Ziva David, the former Israeli Mossad liaison who seems to have no idea how gorgeous she is. Even if 당신 don't yet know her name, 당신 certainly know her face, as the show is a ratings hit, especially this season. So who is de Pablo off set? That's a delightful surprise. The 31-year-old woman who brings to life a steely, never-see-her-sweat probationary agent each week happily describes herself as an old-soul Latina hippie who loves hanging out with her mom, a former TV newscaster.
Finding Her "Tribe"
When 당신 were ten, 당신 moved with your parents and two siblings from Santiago, Chile, to Miami, FL. Was that hard?
I missed my country and my 프렌즈 terribly. But I was raised here. And I found my niche because I went to a performing arts high school. I had always been interested in the arts, but performing became even 더 많이 important because it was a way to communicate with people in my new country. It wasn't till I got to the United States that I learned to speak English. My friend had the perfect saying for it: "You found your tribe." We're not Chilean 또는 Argentinean 또는 Brazilian 또는 Russian. We're actors.
Sounds like it was a formative experience.
Those were defining years for me. I always describe myself as sort of a hippie. Deep inside, I'm not a glamorous person. I come from a traditional, conservative world. But this kind of hippie world at school allowed me to explore the creativity and imagination that live inside all of us.
You don't seem like a hippie, though.
I always say I'll be a great older character actor [laughs] because I somehow identify with women who have gone through things, like the women in Stephen Sondheim's musicals
. Maybe it's because I'm an older soul. I don't know why at such a young age I could understand where they were coming from. Maybe it was the loss of my country at such a young age. Maybe it does something to you.
How She Bonds With Her Mom
Your parents separated a few years ago, and your mom has moved back to Chile. 당신 must miss her.
One of my 가장 좋아하는 things is when my mom comes to visit. She stays with me for two to three weeks. Then I go to South America and I'm with her. We do a lot of cooking. It's our time to bond. My mom has a rare talent for being able to open up the refrigerator, and with the peas, the leftover eggs, the cream, the spinach, the cheese, and a little rice, she can just whip up incredible risotto.
That's an amazing talent.
Yes, that's one of the things I 사랑 about her--just going with the drift, seeing what 당신 can make out of what 당신 have. I tried to pick up on that talent a little bit, but hers is innate.
Her 2-year Birth Control Battle
So 당신 사랑 food--but you've never had a weight problem.
I had lots of issues with my stomach a few years ago. I had wanted to get off the Pill, because I'd been on it for a while and I thought that at some point I would want to get pregnant. So I took a shot of Depo-Provera for birth control. Within two months, voom, I gained fifteen pounds in my belly because it felt like it was pregnant
It was an eye-opener.
It really affected you, didn't it?
There were two ways of looking at it: 당신 could say, "Oh, God," and cry about it, 또는 say, "You know what? This is who I am. I'm going to be carrying a little 더 많이 weight, and I don't care." Sometimes nature needs to do what it has to do to get something out of your system. And then, once it's out, you're fine.
How long did it last?
It took me about two years to get back on track. I went back on the Pill, and eventually everything went back to the way it had always been. I feel so much better now.
DIY Stunt Risks
Do 당신 feel better because you're working out again?
I only just went back to exercising because I injured my neck, working on the show. So I was out [of the gym] for about a month.
What happened?
It was a very simple stunt. I had to say one line, turn around, and then there would be explosions, gunshots, all sorts of things. But we had never rehearsed it, so I had no idea what it was going to be like. When the stunt started, I was trying to scream my line, because of course as an actor, you're like, "Remember your lines--you only have one pass at this, 'cause they can't re-create the entire explosion!" But it was like being in the middle of a war zone. We were supposed to be in a big restaurant kitchen, and I was being hit 의해 flying cabbage--I still have the bruises on my legs. [A few days later] I woke up in horrible neck pain. My mother always used to say, "You don't think about your teeth until 당신 have a cavity." It was the same thing with my neck. But it's 100% better now. Because of that injury I'm going back to yoga.
Why She's A Yoga Fanatic
What sort of yoga do 당신 practice?
Four 또는 five days a week, I do open flow Vinyasa [breath-synchronized yoga]. I bring a teacher, who happens to be a great friend, to my house. 당신 look at this woman's body and 당신 go, "Wow, the benefits of yoga
!" 당신 can see that there's a lift everywhere. And it's completely natural. There's nothing fake about her body. I 사랑 natural beauty.
Her Biggest Health Concern
Are there health issues in your family that 당신 worry about?
Cancer runs in our family. I 로스트 my grandmother to it. There's a saying that 당신 meet people and instantly know them. My grandmother and I had that. The first time my 심장 was broken was when my grandmother passed away. I was twenty-one.
Do 당신 feel close to her still?
Oh, yes, completely. That's the nearest I came to knowing that God exists. When she got sick, I was living in the States, and my dad called and said, "You have twelve hours to get here, because she's waiting for you." I'll never forget that flight, because I threw myself on the floor, crying the whole time. I cried so much on the plane that 의해 the time I got there, I couldn't cry anymore. I held her hand and said to myself, This is not the grandmother I knew. This is not the person I loved. She couldn't say anything, she was so consumed with cancer. I left the room and went into a 계단 통, 계단 where the sun was coming in. I remember looking up and being so angry at God. I said, "If 당신 exist, 당신 will take my grandmother within twenty minutes. If 당신 don't, I'll never believe in 당신 again." Within ten minutes, she was gone. That's why I say to everybody, "God's there. He's there."
With a history of cancer in the family, how do 당신 take extra precautions?
I believe that a lot of what we put in our bodies really can harm us. It's been proven that people who eat Mediterranean and Japanese diets
live for a very long time. I always think, Let's see how many quality years we can get. My brother and sister and I talk about this a lot. When you're young, 당신 think you're going to live forever, but 당신 don't.
The Health Rule She Never Breaks
Working so much, do 당신 ever feel sleep deprived?
Yes. I have to have eight hours a night. I feel that everything falls apart if 당신 don't sleep. If I spend four hours memorizing dialogue but don't sleep, then the 다음 일 I will not be able to stand in front of the camera and say my lines. For me, sleep is the number one thing.
What She's Learned From Her Alter Ego
In what ways do 당신 identify with Ziva?
My character’s strength is like mine, to a completely different degree. Losing family members because of a war... I have moments when I just have to hold my heart. But I also have to remember that if I played the character from my point of view, she'd be falling apart all the time. She has to keep it together--it's the world she grew up in.
What were some of the bigger challenges 당신 faced in order to play her?
I had literally forty-eight hours to learn a monologue in Hebrew. That was terrifying. I used to look down on people who were, for example, playing a Latin role, because I could tell that they didn't speak Spanish. It would get on my nerves. Then I realized, Oh, God, I'm in that place right now. Everything I had judgments on has turned around and bitten me in the butt.
On Being Latina in Hollywood
Do 당신 think opportunities are improving for Latin actresses?
It's funny because right now I'm 연기 with an Israeli girl. She came up to me and said, "You could pass for Israeli." I thanked her, and then she mentioned that her friend is playing a Latina, but she's an Israeli. And that's the beauty of it. If 당신 can convince the people you're supposed to convince that 당신 are whatever it is that you're playing, well, that's your job, isn't it?
The Light of Her Life
NCIS 팬 want 더 많이 quality time between Ziva and Tony [Michael Weatherly]. Are 당신 dating anyone in real life?
I'm in a long-term relationship with [actor] Diego Serrano, and I'm very happy. He's the worst influence that I have ever had in my entire life, and I 사랑 him for it. [Laughs] Every once in a while, he turns to me and goes, "Live a little." I'll have chicken with 브로콜리 and he's like, "What about the 초콜릿 cake?" If it weren't for him, I'd be the most boring person in Los Angeles.
What do 당신 like to do together?
My partner's idea of fun is to dress up, get in the car, 펌프 the music, go clubbing. I could not be further away from that. I 사랑 being at home, having 프렌즈 over. For me, a great time is an intimate dinner, candles, fantastic bossa nova in the background, wonderful wine, food, conversation for hours without having to go anywhere. So we balance each other.
Feeding Her Spirit
What do 당신 see your thirties being like?
I'd like to travel some more. And to have adventures. To me, the world is an exciting place. I always tell my mom, "My gosh, when I see 당신 in the 다음 lifetime, how much fun are we going to have?" But because she's Catholic, she just turns her head away. She doesn't believe in any of what I think.
So 당신 believe in reincarnation?
Yes, I do. But it's not so much "Let's talk about our past lives." No. I just know that I'm going to be here again. One lifetime is too short to purify my soul. It's going to take a couple of tries.
You sound like a Buddhist.
I don't really label myself as anything. I have a lot of 프렌즈 who don't believe in God. They say to me, "How come 당신 believe in God?" I go, "How can 당신 not?" I have moments where I've seen the majestic beauty in nature and the overwhelming perfection of it. To me, there's nothing closer to God than that. It's not something that I can explain. It's just something that 당신 either feel 또는 당신 don't. So I know that there is a God. To me, there is a very big God out there. Hopefully, I'll get closer to him/her at some point.
The Italian Dish She's Perfected
de Pablo's Perfect 파스타 Sauce
"One of my 가장 좋아하는 things in the world, and also one of the simplest things to make, uses 체리 tomatoes--the ones that are really sweet and really tiny.
"In winter, I heat up a big pan 또는 냄비, 웍 and put in a lot of 올리브 oil and a lot of garlic, pepper, and salt. I get a big yellow Spanish onion, put it in the 음식 processor, and dice it. I throw that in the pan with the garlic and caramelize the 양파 so it's nice and brown. Then I cut the tomatoes in half and throw them in, and let all of that cook for a while--I like my tomatoes caramelized with the onions. Put this sauce on 상단, 맨 위로 of any pasta, and throw any cheese 당신 want on it. Delicious."
"Less is more" Beauty
For Cote de Pablo, simple is best when it comes to looking great. Here's how her easy regimen translates into maximum impact:
"My routine at night involves taking off my makeup and then putting hot towels on my face. Usually, I wash my face with soap and then put on any kind of moisturizer. I'm big on moisturizing. That I inherited from my grandmother. My earliest memory is watching her go [she demonstrates smoothing moisturizer onto her cheeks], and then she'd put it all over my face. We'd all go to 침대 all greased up.
"And I 사랑 getting a really long facial, 또는 microdermabrasion.
"Every once in a while, I'll detox 의해 eating a great deal of greens and fruits for a couple of days. I've noticed that if 당신 keep your body clean on the inside, it tends to show on the outside.
"For me, the stuff 당신 can pick up at any 슈퍼마켓 without going to a fancy place is really great," says de Pablo. Here are a few of her must-haves:
*Maybelline New York mascara
*Burt's Bees Beeswax lip balm
*L'Oreal Garnier Fructis
*Pantene conditioner
