( EW.com ) -- Emily Wickersham is joining `` NCIS '' full-time . The actress , who was cast in the role of NSA analyst Eleanor `` Ellie '' Bishop back in September , has been promoted to a series regular , CBS announced Monday . Wickersham , who has also appeared on `` The Sopranos , '' was originally slated for three episodes but according to producers her work with the team has proved a success . 'Bones , ' 'Arrow , ' 'NCIS : LA , ' 'Vampire Diaries ' : Find out what 's next . `` Emily Wickersham 's Ellie Bishop is proving to perfectly compliment the NCIS team , '' said executive producer Gary Glasberg in a statement . `` Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious . Great things are planned for Bishop and we could n't be more thrilled to have her on board . '' Wickersham , whose first episode airs November 19 , fills an empty series regular spot on the show that has been there since the second episode of the current season , when Cote de Pablo 's Ziva left the show . ( Since Ziva 's departure , the storyline has focused a fair amount on the team 's reaction to her sudden departure . ) 'NCIS ' boss previews team without Ziva : 'It 's going to take time for our characters to move on ' Ellie Bishop , who is described as `` a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance , fierce determination and idealism , '' will be introduced when it is discovered that the Secretary of the Navy was bugged during a confidential briefing , a security breach Bishop described in exact detail two years ago in a threat analysis report . Working side-by-side with Gibbs and the team , Bishop will cross-examine the case file to help determine who is behind the crime . When EW spoke to star Michael Weatherly earlier this year , when the cast had already had time to work with Wickersham , he said , `` We 're excited about having Emily join us on these little adventures we do every week , and seeing how she is in the world that we create together ... I hope the audience likes her as much as we did right away . '' See the original story at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
Emily Wickersham 's now a series regular on `` NCIS '' She was originally supposed to appear in only three episodes . Her promotion follows the exit of Cote de Pablo .