Tragic Details Of NCIS Star Michael Weatherly's Life

Michael Weatherly is one of the few "NCIS" cast members who have been on the show since the pilot. In 2015, the star announced his departure from the show after 13 seasons, marking a pivotal point in his tenure. Despite the success of the show, Weatherly made the decision to leave the show and focus on other things in life. Weatherly is married to Bojana Jankovic, and the couple have since moved with their two children, Olivia and Liam, to Fairfield, Connecticut. Weatherly grew up in Fairfield and moved to be closer to his parents. In 2024, Michael Weatherly returned to "NCIS" for a brief cameo and, at the time of writing, is set to lead a new spin-off show with Cote de Pablo, who plays his on-screen love interest. However, before things started going uphill, for a long time, they didn't.

"The longevity in television is about setting realistic expectations for yourself in your career," Weatherly shared with Truth Celebs in 2021. To pursue a career in acting, the star made a lot of sacrifices in his life, which gave him heartbreak and health scares. His 13-year run as Tony DiNozzo in "NCIS" also had a bitter end. The star recalled feeling like someone who had overstayed his welcome after de Pablo left. "Their great dynamic, the badinage and sparring and flirting between those two characters and how they would swing from siblings to near lovers and back to buddies — that was gone," he told TV Insider. "I would look around the room and other people were really in sync and having fun."

Tony DiNozzo is many things in "NCIS," but one thing he can't do is replace Mark Harmon's Leroy Jethro Gibbs as No. 1. While Michael Weatherly has made peace with being No.2 on the call sheet, there was a long time when he struggled with insecurity. As one of the six children born to Michael Weatherly Sr., who made his fortune importing the Swiss Army Knife to the U.S., the "NCIS" star found himself drawn to a different path than his parents' early in life. His father went to Princeton University and earned his MBA from Harvard Business School before becoming a successful businessman. Michael Weatherly Jr. dropped out of college to pursue an acting career in New York. "I thought people thought I was stupid," he told TV Guide. "I always thought I had to try and impress people and be really smart because I was always insecure about not finishing school." 

The "Dark Angel" actor admitted that he was haunted by his parents' success. "My father and mother are both very smart people, and I always felt I was a little short of the mark." In the first 10 years, the actor struggled to make it as an actor, and it wasn't until "Dark Angel," where he played Logan Cale, a computer genius, that he started to feel more secure about himself. "He's very far away from who I am, but I really wanted to play roles where I'd be taken seriously."

Michael Weatherly is now happily married to his award-winning doctor wife, but back in the late '90s, he was once in a dark place after his first marriage ended. The "NCIS" star wed Amelia Heinle in 1995, and a year later, their son, August was born. However, in 1997, the couple called it quits. Weatherly stayed in Califonia, and Heinle moved to New York with their son. The two share custody, but both being actors and living in two time zones created a very stressful situation, adding up to the many things that went wrong in Weatherly's life. "I was completely depressed. My son lived in New York because my ex-wife was working on 'All My Children' at the time, so on weekends, we'd wrap at 7 a.m., I'd go straight to the airport, get on a plane, go see him for like four hours, get back on a plane and come back here [to L.A.] and go back to work," he recalled in an interview with Pepsi Music. 

His new gig, "NCIS," which was called "Navy NCIS" during the first season, debuted in 2003 to very unimpressive numbers. "'NCIS' was initially kind of like: Are we still on the air?" At the time, he had moved out of his house and broken up with his "Dark Angel" co-star, Jessica Alba. His first date after "three months being alone" in his head ended in disaster: "She was gone within 15 seconds."

If you or someone you know needs help with mental health, please contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Michael Weatherly didn't have an easy start in the industry. On the contrary, he spent the first two decades as an actor trying to make it in the industry, and in retrospect, it may have caused some of the tragedies in his life. "The way I see this is the first 22 years of my career I was solely focused on work to the unfortunate detriment of every other aspect of my life," he told Truth Celebs in 2021. One of those aspects was his family.

Weatherly met Amelia Heinle on the set of the "Loving" spin-off, "The City," which aired from 1995 to 1997. After the show was canceled, he faced the stress of having to support his family. "I was 27 and could barely take care of myself, but I had to feed people and put a roof over their heads," he told People. To make ends meet, Weatherly took any job he could get, but the financial pressure and instability in addition to the long hours spent away from his family created a strain in his marriage, which led to divorce within two years of their wedding. Their son, August, was only one at the time. "There was a long struggle and many hills to climb the first 10 years," the star recalled to Truth Celebs. The split and the struggles Weatherly faced as a budding actor also affected his son significantly. "It's a tough thing for a kid."

Although acting is what Michael Weatherly does as a day job, music is his life-long passion. The actor's journey with instruments traces back to middle school. "I was the kid with long hair and glasses and acne trying to learn how to play guitar and piano in the music center," he told TV Guide. After moving to New York in the early '90s, he busked on the subway and was, at one time, serious about turning his love for music into a career. "And thus began a very long, tragic attempt at pop stardom," the star told Pepsi Music.

 From writing an original song and getting the right players to forming a band, getting people to listen, and booking the venues, the actor put his heart into his music. "We slowly built." But the end result was disheartening. "We were playing the Limelight, and you're slaving away and people are talking while you're playing." With acting, he was able to separate himself from the job, but with music, things got too personal. Weatherly eventually made a conscious choice to not pursue a music career. "I saw nothing ahead in the world of music for myself but deep pain." In 2016, he returned to the New York subway to busk and only made 25 cents by the end of the day, to which the actor told the Los Angeles Times, "I'm glad the acting thing worked out."

Before "NCIS," Michael Weatherly had three shows canceled in a row, and it messed with his head. "I sorta had to sit there and think, so how does this work — one out of every 10 pilots is picked up, right?" he reflected in an interview with The Futon Critic. According to Luminate, the average cancellation rate for streamers and linear TV between 2010 and 2023 is around 11%, whereas broadcast TV is much higher. But back in the early 2000s, many great TV shows were canceled too early. Weatherly was in "Significant Others," which got canceled after three episodes due to low ratings. When he joined "Dark Angel," the show was canceled after two seasons due to a decline in ad revenue. 

Fox's "girls club" marked his third show in four years, and it was slayed after two episodes. "We were literally turning around on my coverage with Gretchen Mol, and David Kelley walked up on the stage and unplugged the cameras, and said, 'That's it.' We didn't even finish the day. They just killed it," Weatherly told The Futon Critic. When the star received a callback to play Tony DiNozzo in "NCIS," he didn't have much hope. "FOX is not my friend. I'm the curse," the actor recalled. He not only thought he wasn't right for the character, but he also believed a show that sounded so much like CSI had no future. "I wrapped my head around the idea that this was never really going to go." 

Michael Weatherly made his TV debut on "The Cosby Show" in 1991, where he played Theo's roommate at NYU. Within a month, he was cast in "Guiding Light." The two roles launched his acting career, but for Weatherly, who had no formal training, he was on his own. "I believe they cut my lines. I wasn't very good at saying them," he told TV Guide about his role on "The Cosby Show." "It threw me into the fire. ...I was a clueless boob." For a long time, he felt like a pretender. "Suddenly, I had two gigs on my resume that made me look like a real actor, although I was far from it." In 1992, the star was cast to play Cooper Alden in "Loving," a role he played for four years. 

In retrospect, Weatherly recalled feeling deeply uncomfortable and immobilized in his early gigs. He was very technical in getting himself into characters, and the process drove him into a corner. "I just felt like I was in a hostage video," he told The Futon Critic about his early roles. "Like I was reading the cards from extremist Muslim hostage takers." He felt so stiff as an actor that Weatherly admitted he could even see the desperation. "When I look at some of my previous performances it looks like I'm screaming 'help me' from behind my eyes while I'm saying technobabble."

Michael Weatherly didn't have a lot of hope for "NCIS" in the beginning. Before the show found its audience and eventually became an independent franchise with multiple spin-offs, "NCIS" in its early stages ran into many obstacles. Having a name similar to "CSI" and being associated with the Navy, Weatherly recalled the early days being "hard" due to people not understanding what they were trying to do. "There was like stigma attached to it," Weatherly told The Futon Critic. On top of having to constantly explain to people, "NCIS" wasn't exactly attractive to the younger audience. "Immediately, you just hate it, just because it's in your parents' time slot." Even his sister didn't like the show after sampling one episode. "She was like, 'Yeah, it's not really my thing.' ...And then you feel terrible because you're like, 'No, no that was a bad hair day.'"

Weatherly is also one of the "NCIS" stars Mark Harmon feuded with over the years. From the start, Weatherly and Harmon struggling to get along was obvious. "Right from the get-go, we had instant... like Mark Harmon and I were on different poles." Weatherly recalled his co-star being "confused" by his presence. "When 'CNN Showbiz Today' or one of those things asked what was the best part about doing the pilot when we're doing the upfronts, I said, 'I got a rubber gun and I got a fake badge,' and Harmon looked at me like, 'That is your CNN answer?'" 

Michael Weatherly once had a serious work-life imbalance that led to some health concerns. As he struggled with the demands of his job, Weatherly started to give in to an unhealthy diet. "You get to working late, there's pizza and Chinese food," he told People. Eating healthy required extra effort, and after a long day, Weatherly, like everyone else, just wanted to take the easy road. "You try to be good, but while the crew guys are lifting things and pushing things, I just tended to sit at the trough and continue to graze." When he went home, his family also needed his attention and help. "I found it very hard to say to my wife and children that I need to spend a couple of hours on me," he told People Now in 2018 (via Hello! Magazine).

The result was significant weight gain. "I got up to 250lbs." Around the same time, he started snoring, and he moved to sleep on the couch, unaware it was a sign of a much more serious condition. "I have sleep apnea it turns out." Sleep apnea is a condition where a person's breathing stops when he sleeps. Age, obesity, and unhealthy habits all raise the risk, and similarly, a healthy lifestyle and weight loss could reduce the risk and even treat the condition. Since his diagnosis, Weatherly has been wearing a CPAP mask to help him breathe better at night time.

While the "NCIS" star you never knew appeared in "Charmed" has kept his personal life fairly private, in April 2023, Michael Weatherly announced his younger brother's death in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "My younger brother Will Weatherly shed his mortal coil on April 20th, 2023, and now continues his journey through the universe," the star wrote as he shared a picture of the two playing together as kids. Michael Weatherly didn't reveal the cause of Will's death at the time. There's also very little to know about Will, who was not a public figure. However, in the post, Weatherly shared a little about his brother's legacy, what he loved, and the joy he brought to those around him. "He always liked to travel. As difficult as it is to say goodbye — for friends and family — we know there is a smile with his memory. Rest in peace, brother." 

The post received thousands of replies from fans and friends who sent their support during the difficult time. His "NCIS" co-star, Tess Rutherford wrote in the comments (via People). "Michael, you always had his back. RIP little brother. Hope you're dancing with the angels now... pain-free." Michael had previously shared a throwback photo of the two of them and his sister Leigh playing in a swimming pool in 2015. "80's Weatherly Family photo!" the star wrote on X. "Hi brother Will and sister Leigh! Circa '86." 

80's Weatherly Family photo! Hi brother Will and sister Leigh! Circa '86 pic.twitter.com/SiACbrReAX

— Michael Weatherly (@M_Weatherly) April 28, 2015

Michael Weatherly lost his father at 92 in August 2024, a year after mourning his younger brother. The actor took to X to share the heartbreaking news along with a full obituary: "My father Michael Manning Weatherly passed away last Thursday and he leaves behind many loved ones who will miss him." In addition to his father's many legacies in life as the American importer of the Swiss Army knife, Weatherly shared a little bit about their relationship, revealing that his father had been "a great friend" to him. "Often found in his chair under the Sea Almond trees, cigar in hand and great stories told with friends, he was asked in recent years if there was anything he'd like to do," he wrote. "With a characteristic twinkle in his eye, he replied, 'I've done it all.' May he rest in peace."

Despite reports claiming his father had once threatened to disinherit him when he made the decision to drop out of college, Weatherly has been vocal about his father being there for him throughout his life. In 2019, the actor shared a picture of the two on X to celebrate his father's birthday. "As my REAL Dad nears his 87th birthday, I'm so grateful that both my amazing parents have been there to guide me through this non-profit business called life..." In 2023, the actor shared a picture of his father with him and Mark Harmon when visiting the "NCIS" set.