Emily Wickersham is joining the cast of "NCIS".
CBS confirmed Monday that the actress will join the show as a regular starting on Nov. 19. Wickersham, who is known from "The Sopranos" and "Gossip Girl", will play Eleanor "Ellie" Bishop.
Bishop, who's described by CBS as "a mysterious mixture of analytic brilliance, fierce determination and idealism who specializes in international threat assessment and global preparation."
"Emily Wickersham's Ellie Bishop is proving to perfectly complement the NCIS team," showrunner Gary Glasberg said in a statement. "Her energy and enthusiasm is contagious. Great things are planned for Bishop and we couldn't be more thrilled to have her on board."
According to Entertainment Weekly, there have been numerous rumors on who would replace Cote de Pablo's Ziva who left the show in July. Wickersham's Bishop has been long rumored to be Pablo's replacement.
"Our agents are evolving they're looking at terrorism in a different way, they're having to approach crimes in a different way and I think that having that view of the world is something that our people don't necessarily have much experience in," Glasberg told Entertainment Weekly. "So I think she'll [Bishop] provide something different. I think she'll emotionally provide something different."
Pablo told TV Guide she left "under my own terms" for "personal reasons." CBS CEO Les Moonves said the network had offered her "a lot of money" to stay.
CBS said Tuesday the Bishop character will be introduced in the wake of a security breach she correctly foresaw two years earlier. Working side-by-side with Gibbs and the team, Bishop cross-examines the case file to help determine who is behind the crime.
"NCIS" stars Mark Harmon as special agent LeRoy Jethro Gibbs, Michael Weatherly as Tony DiNozzo, Sean Murray as Timothy McGee, Emily Wickersham as Ellie Bishop, Pauley Perrette as Abby Scuito, Rocky Carroll as Director Leon Vance, Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer and David McCallum as Dr. Ducky Mallard.
The 11th season of NCIS is broadcast Tuesdays, 8-9 p.m., ET/PT on the CBS Television Network
