The actress, whose departure last season from NCIS angered many fans, will be back on CBS in The Dovekeepers (March 31 and April 1).
"I have been blessed," she told writers at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. "This incredible, epic story came my way. Spending time with family is very important to me and how can I tell stories if not infused" by life and family experiences.
The four-hour miniseries, produced by Mark Burnett and Roma Downey and based on Alice Hoffman's best-selling novel, is based on events surrounding the siege of Masada roughly 2,000 years ago. After the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans, about 900 Jews went to the hilltop retreat of Masada for safety, only to find the Roman Army in pursuit.
Downey, who starred on CBS in Touched By an Angel, says she was moved by a trip to Masada a few years ago.
"I was so profoundly touched by a story of persecuted people ... who stood up for what they believed in, where courage and love were greater than fear and faith and love greater than hate," she said.
Downey added that Dovekeepers takes "the seed of the (true) narrative and built a story around it. It has the grounding of a historic story," relating events from the perspective of "amazing, courageous and powerful women."
Dovekeepers, shot in Malta, features de Pablo, Rachel Brosnahan and Kathryn Prescott in the dovekeeper roles. Sam Neill plays Jewish scholar and historian Josephus and Diego Boneta portrays a warrior in the Jewish army.
