creation and casting Michael Weatherly was cast for the role of Tony DiNozzo Jr. in 2003. Series creator Don Bellisario related the events that led to Weatherly being selected: On another occasion, Bellisario stated, "I can't say enough about Michael Weatherly...He started out on NCIS [playing] a character who was just very unlikable to some women because he was just such a chauvinist, and he has gradually over the [seasons] changed—taken his character and softened it." Weatherly said that he had initially been reluctant to join a JAG spin-off and explained, "But I went and had this dinner with Don Bellisario in Australia and his personality, his storytelling and his presence and everything kind of won me over." He later commented, "I got very lucky with Don Bellisario. He directed two of the first three episodes, and he really pushed me to try things and experiment and some of the wacky comedy came out of that. And it was kind of unexpected and I didn't really know what I was going to find." At another point, Weatherly said, "It's kind of fun to play a total dinosaur in terms of sexual politics...The shallow end of the philosophical pool is obviously where Tony paddles around." In the same interview, actress Cote de Pablo (who portrays character Ziva David) added, "There's something deeper about that character. We always talk about the superficial element and the things that make us laugh. But he wouldn't be doing what he does if he wasn't really good at it. It's a complex character, and that's why people love it." Weatherly directed the 2011 episode "One Last Score" and the 2013 episode "Seek". Fictional character background Tony was born in a wealthy Italian-American family from Long Island, New York. His great-grandparents immigrated from Italy through Ellis Island. His great-grandfather worked as a truck-driver before eventually starting his own transportation company. Though an only child, he has been cut off from his maternal family's fortune. According to Tony, his mother died in the hospital while they were watching a movie when he was eight years old. One of Tony's fondest childhood memories during the holidays is watching the movie It's a Wonderful Life, and he later tells Ziva that his mother had taken him to the movies frequently before her death, resulting in his love of film. Tony's father, Anthony DiNozzo Sr., played by Robert Wagner, is an