NCIS star Michael Weatherly, known for his role as Tony DiNozzo, recently shared insights into his portrayal of the beloved film-loving agent. Weatherly played DiNozzo for 13 seasons before his character left with his daughter Tali following the presumed death of his partner, Ziva David.
In his new podcast, NCIS: Off Duty, Weatherly revealed that his portrayal of Tony was inspired by his Dark Angel co-star Jensen Ackles, who played the soldier Alec McDowell. “He was so loose and free, and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll imitate him a little bit.’ I’m such a bad mimic it doesn’t matter because no one will ever recognize that I’m doing Jensen Ackles,” Weatherly explained.
Weatherly also drew inspiration from iconic actors. “I started coming in with all these ideas, watching all these movies with Cary Grant and thinking, ‘What did he do? How do I do that?’ and applying so many things to it,” he said. “I would do Tom Hanks, I would do Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross, whatever came into my mind to amuse myself, and pretty much p*** off everyone that I was working with,” he added.
The actor described the “years of experimentation” that led to him defining Tony’s character. “I covered my dressing room mirrors with paper so that I did not see my reflection. I didn’t want to go into the hair and make-up trailer because I didn’t want to think about it. And then, I put all these pieces together and found through those first two seasons glimpses of what it could be.”
Earlier this year, it was announced that Weatherly would reunite with Ziva actor Cote de Pablo for a 10-episode series set in Europe. Filming is set to begin in Budapest later this year. According to the official synopsis, NCIS: Tony & Ziva will follow Tony, Ziva, and their daughter Tali as they are forced to go on the run across the continent after Tony’s security firm is attacked.
In addition to starring in the new series, Weatherly and de Pablo will also serve as executive producers, with John McNamara as showrunner. “We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now with John McNamara at the helm, we are ready,” said the lead actors. “The world of Tony and Ziva promises to be an action-packed rollercoaster fueled by love, danger, tears, and laughter.”