Mariel Molino to Star in CBS‘ Young Gibbs Drama “NCIS: Origins”

Mariel Molino is celebrating her origins

The Mexican American actress will star as the female lead opposite Austin Stowell in CBSYoung Gibbs drama NCIS: Origins, a prequel to the venerable procedural, which has a straight-to-series order for the 2024-2025 broadcast season.

Mariel Molino Narrated by Harmon, the CBS Studios-produced show begins in 1991, years prior to the events of NCIS, and chronicles Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ younger years.

In the prequel, Gibbs (Stowell) starts his career as a newly minted special agent at the fledgling NIS Camp Pendleton office where he forges his place on a gritty, ragtag team led by NCIS legend Mike Franks.

Molino will play Special Agent Lala Dominguez, a former Marine who navigates her 1990s male-dominated field with a steely resolve and a dark sense of humor. When a tormented Leroy Jethro Gibbs joins her team, the ensuing story between these two enigmatic outsiders is filled with sparks and turns that will keep the audience guessing.

This is a new character to the NCIS universe who has not been featured on the mothership series. In the NCIS timeline, the prequel takes place in the aftermath of the murder of Gibbs’ first wife and their daughter.

Mark Harmon and his son Sean Harmon, who portrayed Gibbs in flashbacks on NCIS and was a driving force behind the prequel, executive produce alongside David J. North and Gina Lucita Monreal who are co-writing the premiere episode and serving as co-showrunners.

Origins is one of two newly greenlighted extensions of CBS Studios’ ever-growing NCIS franchise, along with an Europe-set Tony & Ziva spinoff starring Michael Weatherly and Cote De Pablo for Paramount+. They join the mothership series, now in its 21st season, NCIS: Hawai’i, now in Season 3 and the franchise’s first international installment, NCIS: Sydney.

Molino, who was born in California, splits time between Los Angeles and Mexico City.

She started her career acting in Spanish-language projects, including the telenovela Papis Muy Padres, Amazon’s comedy series El Juego De Las Llaves and thriller drama series La Negociadora. She has also appeared on Netflix’s Narcos: Mexico and Luis Miguel: The Series.

Molino most recently starred in the Freeform thriller series The Watchful Eye and in the ABC family drama Promised Land. On the film side, Molino was be seen in upcoming features The Shade and Dead Man’s Switch.

Cote de Pablo Reuniting with Michael Weatherly for CBS Studios’ New “NCIS” Franchise Spinoff

Cote de Pablo is returning to television…

CBS Studios is expanding its NCIS franchise by bringing back two fan favorite characters from the mothership series, Ziva David, portrayed by the 44-year-old Chilean actress and singer, and Tony DiNozzo, played by Michael Weatherly.

Cote de Pablo & MIchael Weatherlyde Pablo and Weatherly will reunite on screen for the first time in 10 years.

Paramount+ has given a 10-episode series order to the untitled spinoff headlined by Weatherly and de Pablo and written by actress and singer. All three executive produce.

Nicknamed NCIS: Europe, the new action-packed spinoff, set to start production later this year, will follow Tony (Weatherly) and Ziva (de Pablo) as they find themselves on the run across the continent.

NCIS is one of CBS Studios’ most valuable franchises and its expansion has been a goal for the studio. This is one of two new NCIS offshoots greenlighted this year, along with the Young Gibbs prequel series for CBS, NCIS: Origins. It’s also the second extension of the NCIS franchise beyond the U.S., following NCIS: Sydney, which has been airing on CBS in the U.S.

After Ziva’s (de Pablo) supposed death, Tony (Weatherly) left the NCIS team to go raise their daughter. Years later, Ziva was discovered alive, leading her to complete one final mission with NCIS before she was reunited with Tony and their daughter in Paris. Since then – and where we find them in the new Paramount+ original series – Tony and Ziva have been raising their daughter, Tali, together. When Tony’s security company is attacked, they must go on the run across Europe, trying to figure out who is after them and maybe even learn to trust each other again so that they can finally have their unconventional happily ever after.

“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” Weatherly and de Pablo said. “The world of Tony and Ziva (and daughter Tali) promises to be an action-packed roller coaster fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter. We also want to acknowledge and thank the fans from around the world who supported the ‘Tiva’ movement for years. To this day, they say hello in grocery stores and on the street to tell us how much these characters mean to them and ask what Tony and Ziva are up to now. This is for you!”

Weatherly hinted at a potential ‘Tiva’ reunion last month when his New Year’s tweet, “It’s time to look at time and enjoy the moment!” prompted a fan to respond, “We all would rather look at you and Ziva reuniting.” Weatherly highlighted the comment, adding, “Stay tuned… for this might be an interesting year for such ‘moments’!” He further fueled speculation this week by responding to a fan tweet lamenting about him and de Pablo, “miss the chemistry and magic you both create,” with the cryptic, “the universe works in mysterious ways…”

De Pablo, Weatherly and McNamara executive produce the spinoff series with Laurie Lieser, Christina Strain and Shelley Meals.

The series is distributed by Paramount Global Content Distribution.

“I’m incredibly excited to step into the NCIS universe with Cote and Michael and thrilled to explore it from a few new angles,” McNamara said. “Given that the franchise is such a global sensation, I think it’s phenomenal that CBS Studios and Paramount+ have given us the greenlight to shoot in Europe. As to the title of this series, if I told you what it is, I’d be violating the Espionage Act.”

De Pablo joined NCIS in Season 3. She appeared in Seasons 3 through 10 and exited the series early in Season 11. In the Season 13 finale, it was revealed that Ziva apparently had died in an explosion in Israel. She returned three years later in 2019, where it was revealed she was alive and had gone into hiding. She made a surprise unannounced return in the last scene of the season 16 finale, which aired on May 21, 2019, in which Ziva arrives at Gibbs’ basement to warn him that his life is in danger. She later appeared in the first two episodes of the show’s 17th season and in that season’s 10th and 11th episodes as part of her storyline.

Cote de Pablo Executive-Producing New Detective Drama for CBS, “MIA”

Cote de Pablo is headed back to the Eye Network

The 38-year-old Chilean actress and singer and her fellow former NCIS cast member Michael Weatherly are reuniting to executive produce MIA, a new detective drama in the works at CBS.

Cote de Pablo & MIchael Weatherly

The network has put in development the hour-long MIA, from writer/executive producer Shepard Boucher (Upload), and CBS Television Studios.

Written by Boucher, in MIA, when a newly minted homicide detective is assigned to an experienced, by-the-book partner to solve cases in Miami, she struggles to keep the personal entanglements of her final undercover assignment from jeopardizing her future.

Boucher executive produces with Weatherly and de Pablo. CBS Television Studios, where Weatherly via his Solar Drive Productionshas been under an overall deal, is the studio.

Weatherly, who currently stars in the title role in Bull, which is going into its third season on CBS, played lead Tony DiNozzo on the first 13 seasons of NCIS: Naval Criminal Investigative Service.

 

de Pablo joined Weatherly in Seasons 3-11 as Ziva David.

de Pablo to Star in the Chilean Miner Drama “The 33”

Cote de Pablo’s next project is bringing her home

The 34-year-old Chilean actress, who shocked fans last summer when she announced she was leaving her popular role on CBSNCIS, has landed her first acting role since leaving the show.

Cote de Pablo

de Pablo has been cast in The 33, a feature film based on the 2010 rescue of 33 Chilean miners who were trapped 69 days in the Copiapo gold and copper mine more than half an mile below the earth’s surface.

Antonio Banderas, Juliette Binoche and Rodrigo Santoro are among those already signed on to star in the film, which is now in production in Chile and Colombia with Patricia Riggen directing a script by Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club) and Michael Thomas.

Jennifer Lopez was originally signed on to star in The 33, but backed out of the film.

de Pablo, who was born in Chile and whose mother still lives there, will play a wife of one of the trapped miners, who became international stars following their dramatic rescue that played out live worldwide.

Her scenes will be shot in Chile’s Atacama Desert near where the actual event, and the subsequent rescue efforts took place.

de Pablo Ending Her Eight-Year Stint on CBS’ “NCIS”

Cote de Pablo is saying bye-bye-bye to her beloved NCIS character…

CBS has confirmed that the 33-year-old Chilean actress will not be returning for the eleventh season of the network’s hit drama NCIS this fall.

Cote de Pablo

The network says de Pablo won’t be leaving cold turkey though. She’s still expected to appear long enough for her character Ziva David to wrap up her storyline.

CBS and producer CBS Television Studios said in a joint statement that the decision was de Pablo’s to end her longtime run on the show.

“We respect Cote’s decision, thank her for being an important part of the NCIS team, and for eight terrific years playing Ziva David”, the statement says. “Cote and CBS share a great respect for the NCIS audience, and we look forward to working with her and the producers on appropriate closure in this chapter of Ziva’s story.”

de Pablo was the only cast member without a deal, after it expired at the end of last season.

“I’ve had 8 great years with NCIS and Ziva David,” said de Pablo in a statement. “I have huge respect and affection for Mark, Gary, Michael, David, Rocky, Pauley, Brian, Sean, all of the team and CBS. I look forward to finishing Ziva’s story.”

Season 11 is set to premiere September 24.

Bündchen Named One of the Hottest Women of 2013

She may have just given birth to her second child last month, but Gisele Bündchen is still being hailed as one of the hottest women of 2013…

Men’s Health has named the 32-year-old Brazilian supermodel as of the hottest women of the year. Bündchen, who comes in at No. 9, is the only Latina to make the Top 10.

Gisele Bundchen

“She’s like a fashion model blitzkrieg; unstoppable, and easily destroying the competition. She’s been so busy that she purportedly turned down 20 million dollars to be the spokeswoman for Clonaid, the human cloning company. Which, on the one hand, was probably a smart business decision,” says the magazine “(The Guinness Book of Records credits her as ‘the world’s richest supermodel,’  so she doesn’t need the money.) But still, can you imagine if Clonaid was able to use their cloning technology to build an army of Bündchens? There could be a Bündchen in every home! Okay, probably not realistic, but we can dream, can’t we?”

Other Latinas who’ve made the list include Jessica Alba, Adriana Lima and Sofia Vergara. Katy Perry topped the list, beating out Esquire‘s Sexiest Woman Alive Mila Kunis, AskMen‘s Most Desirable Woman Jennifer Lawrence, and Maxim‘s hottest woman Bar Refaeli.

Here’s a look at the Latinas on Men’s Health’s “The Hottest Women of 2013” list:

16. Jessica Alba
20. Adriana Lima
21. Sofia Vergara
22. Zoe Saldana
29. Penelope Cruz
31. Eva Mendes
33. Salma Hayek
45. Alessandra Ambrosio
65. Cote de Pablo
67. Shakira
71. Morena Baccarin
72. Jennifer Lopez
78. Demi Lovato
96. Jordana Brewster