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 music and theatre. After appearing in a number of small television roles, she was cast to portray main character Ziva David in the CBS television series NCIS in 2005. She won an ALMA Award for the role in 2011, and NCIS became the most watched television program in America during its tenth season in the 2012–13 year. She performed a portion of Tom Waits's song "Temptation" for a 2008 episode of NCIS. Outside of the series, she has acted as a vocalist for songs in Roberto Pitre's Vivo En Vida CD.