NCIS’ Michael Weatherly Reveals His Co-Star and Who Inspired His Portrayal of Tony

NCIS star Michael Weatherly has revealed which of his former co-stars inspired his portrayal of Tony DiNozzo.

The actor played the movie-loving agent on the hit series for 13 seasons, before leaving with his daughter Tali following the presumed death of his co-star Ziva David.

Speaking on his new podcast NCIS: Off Duty, Weatherly explained how his Dark Angel co-star Jensen Ackles – who played Private Alec McDowell – helped him define Tony’s character.

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“He was so relaxed and free and I thought, ‘Maybe I’ll imitate him a little bit,’ but I’m such a bad imitator that it doesn’t matter because no one will ever recognize that I’m doing Jensen Ackles,” he said.

“I started coming up with a lot of ideas, watching all these movies with Cary Grant and thinking, ‘What did he do? How do I do this?’ and applying a lot of things to them.”

“I would do Tom Hanks, I would do Alec Baldwin from Glengarry Glen Ross, whatever came to mind for fun, and I would pretty much piss off everyone I worked with,” he added.

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The actor then detailed the “years of experimentation” that led him to find the nature of his character, saying: “I covered the mirrors in my dressing room with paper so I wouldn’t see my reflection.

“I didn’t want to get into the hair and makeup process, because I didn’t want to think about it. And then I put all of those elements together and found, in those first two seasons, glimpses of what it could be.”

It was announced earlier this year that Weatherly would reunite with the Ziva Cote de Pablo actor for a 10-episode series set in Europe, with filming set to begin in Budapest later this year.

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According to its official synopsis, NCIS: Tony & Ziva will follow Tony, Ziva and their daughter Tali as they are forced to flee across the continent after Tony’s security firm is attacked.

In addition to starring in the new series, Weatherly and de Pablo will also executive produce, with John McNamara serving as showrunner.

“We’ve been talking about this story for many years, and now, with John McNamara at the helm, we’re ready,” the lead actors said after the series was announced.

“The world of Tony and Ziva promises to be an action-packed roller coaster, fueled by love, danger, tears and laughter.”

NCIS airs on CBS in the United States. Seasons 1-20 air on Disney+ in the United Kingdom.

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