When Pauley Perrette said she had no intention of returning to acting, she meant it.
The former actress, once a beloved television star thanks to her long-running role as forensic scientist Abby Sciuto on the hit CBS series NCISfurther explained his decision to step away from the limelight in a new interview with HI! “I'm not ungrateful for the benefits he gave me, but I'm a different person now and I want to be here for that: the good, the bad and the pain,” she said. “I want to be myself all the time, and it takes a good amount of courage to say that to myself, but that's authentically how I feel.”
Perrette was chosen NCIS in 2003, after working as an actor for almost a decade in projects such as The Drew Carey Show, Veronica's Closet, Jesse, Almost Famous AND The time of your life. Her run on NCIS saw her star on the procedural for a whopping 15 seasons across 352 episodes from 2003 to 2018. At the time of her departure, Perrette filed assault or felony charges. She later took aim at co-star Mark Harmon by saying she felt unsafe around him.
CBS TV Studios responded at the time: “Pauley Perrette had a fantastic role on NCIS and we will all miss her. Over a year ago, Pauley came to us with a workplace problem. We took this matter seriously and worked with her to find a solution. We are committed to ensuring a safe working environment at all of our shows.”
An oral history published last September by The Hollywood journalist shed more light on what really happened. “In the case of Pauley Perrette, there was an accident during the show with a dog. The dog was Harmon's and apparently bit someone,” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson revealed. “Pauley was a huge, huge SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] animal person. And then the dog kept coming with Harmon, and she felt like it wasn't safe for the show. By the end of that year, she felt like it wasn't working for her anymore, and it was time to move on.”
Perrette went on to star in the short-lived TV series Brokenlasted 13 episodes and ended in 2020. She then announced that she was retiring from acting. Perrette remains active in causes she cares about and is credited as the documentary's executive producer Studio One Forever, about Los Angeles' iconic gay nightclub.
Apparently, it is no coincidence that his latest work is a documentary. “At this point in my life I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actor, especially at certain times in my life, has been a great escape; it's like a drug because I didn't have to be myself, I could be someone else,” she told the publication. “My character didn't have all the problems I had. That's why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth. For me, Going back to being an actor would mean taking away this life of true authenticity that I am living 100% of the time.”