On NCIS, Michael Weatherly plays Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, an ex-homicide detective, whose snarky fratboy ways are forgiven only because of his superior skills in the field. Although Michael denies many similarities to his character DiNozzo, we found him to be just as snarky in real life.

In Part I of our two-part series of interviews with the former Dark Angel star, MeeVee’s own Marjorie Kase uncovers some juicy details about the show and Michael himself, including DiNozzo’s inevitable consummation with Ziva, transitioning from JAG to NCIS, and his somewhat unlikely conspiracy theories regarding the Fonz and Mrs. C.

How much do you identify with your character?
Well, you have to understand who you’re talking to while I’m at work, because I’m technically in character. You are talking to a version of DiNozzo. The answer to that question is alarmingly simple — I’m sure I’m a little bit like him. He carries a gun, but I have an eleven–year-old son. He doesn’t have an eleven-year-old son, and I don’t carry a gun. Maybe that’s the better way of putting it.

Do you ever take DiNozzo’s snarkiness home with you?
I takes me a little while to wind down, because clearly he has a lot of energy, which is nice. But as we get a little later on in the season, I’m getting a little tired spending this much time with DiNozzo. I’m always ready for my hiatus when it comes.

What kind of things do you do on your hiatus? Do you work on other projects or relax?
I do try to work on other things, but I also try to travel and see the friends and family — the people in my life that I don’t see when I’m in the vacuum of my work schedule. That doesn’t include my eleven-year-old, who I don’t get to see as much as I’d like. I have weekends, basically. There’s always work if it’s there. And I love going to Europe.

Tell me what the transition from JAG into NCIS was like.
That was a very strange thing. [JAG was] in their eighth season, and they had a very set way of doing things. They had a very set way of telling their story, and our story was totally different. I think [Executive Producer] Don Bellisario really wanted, in his creation of NCIS, to shake it up quite a bit. We were coming in, and we didn’t really know what the heck was going on, and all I really remember from that was we wore these really dorky hats that said NCIS. It had enormous lettering across the bill. That was the moment where I looked at [Mark] Harmon, and he was wearing that stupid hat, and I said “That looks really stupid on you,” and he goes, “Yeah? Well, imagine how stupid it looks on you.”

Did anything else change?
The head slap didn’t come until the beginning of the first season. And by head slap, I’m referring to the loving slap that Gibbs gives Tony, and then Tony in turn hands down.

What makes NCIS different from the legion of other crime shows on TV?
Well, I think it’s earnest. A lot of shows out there are sort of grim and dour and take themselves really seriously. This is a show that’s got a little bit of Drew Carey in it. It’s not afraid to be silly. It’s not vain — the shooting style of our show isn’t to wear dark circles under our eyes, you know. I’m over the top, but I think there are a lot of people that are over the top in real life, especially people that are office-confined like the squadron that we have on NCIS. Everyone has that manic, irritating sly character at their workplace that they just wish would shut up. Presto-oingo-boingo, there’s Tony DiNozzo.

DiNozzo is one of those people who feels the need to share every minute detail of his life. Are you like that, or are you secretive?
I oscillate my secrets with lies. [laughs] I mean, it’s never a good idea to go on and blab as much as Tony does. I think Tony doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking things. He’s not a very profound guy. I don’t think he sits and watches Woody Allen movies and thinks about death a lot. But this season I think he’s had lessons in love and death, to use a Woody Allen title.

DiNozzo seems to embody all things Fratboy. How about you? Did you join a fraternity in college?
No, but DiNozzo was. DiNozzo went to Ohio State. He was a Buckeye, and played football and basketball. Very athletic, Tony DiNozzo — very unlike Michael Weatherly.

Do you find yourself getting more recognized for NCIS, or for Dark Angel?
Oh, NCIS, definitely. Worldwide, both shows found massive audiences, but this one now has been around twice as long as Dark Angel was. And I think that this character, DiNozzo, is more dynamic and stronger. I’m really enjoying the strength of it. Logan was a very passive character.

Can you give us any hints about surprises coming up during sweeps?
I can! Well, because we have our man, the show’s creator, Donald Bellisario, who is our master — he plants seeds and always has a sense of the big picture. Sweeps is always a prime opportunity for the first harvest of those seeds that were planted early on. What we have happening in February is that some of those secrets — this is the season of secrets after all — some of the secrets are revealed.

Sounds interesting. What kind of secrets?
There’s a secret mission that Tony, my character, is involved in that nobody knows about. That comes out — there’s some information about that. We have everybody’s favorite mambo king appearing in the first episode of sweeps, as a kingpin bad guy who is related not only to some of the operations that we’ve been doing in the past year, but also, I believe, points toward the season finale. So not only are we finishing up some of the stories, or revealing some of the secrets, we’re also beginning the sweep towards the finale. I think this year is going to be huge, from what I’ve understood.

Are Tony and Ziva going to consummate their relationship?
Both Ziva and Tony are gonna have a big month in February. Both of them experience death — someone close to them — and they both experience love. And it just happens that Valentine’s Day falls right in the middle of that.

How convenient.
Well, yeah. From Groundhog Day right up until Valentine’s Day to the end of February.

There’s a long history of sexual tension between couples on TV. If you had to choose between the following couples, who would you pick and why? Mulder and Scully; Jim and Pam on The Office; Mrs. C. and the Fonz.
I’m going to go with the Fonz and Mrs. C., just because I think clearly that was boiling under the whole time. Have you thought about Happy Days as an adult? Now, you’ve got the Fonz, who’s clearly like a 30-year-old motorcycle-riding guy, who lives above the garage of a family with two teenage kids. And the teenage kids hang out with this 30-year-old man all the time? The Fonz would be the first one on a suspect list for anything fishy that happens in Milwaukee. Even his catch phrase — “Ayyyyyyy!” — with his two thumbs outstretched. Now, in ancient Rome and Greece, the outstretched thumb was a phallic symbol. He’s doing double thumbs. There’s something strange, homoerotic, double phallic — accompanied by the sound “Ayyyyyyy!” When someone gives you a thumbs-up, that originated like a fertility symbol — may your thumb be strong. May you get your thumb up, so to speak.

Source: MeeVee