Pauley Perrette played goth geek Abby Sciuto in NCIS: Special Investigations for fifteen years. But as of 2019, she has no longer appeared in television or film roles. She explained why she decided to leave acting.
From seasons 1 to 15 of NCIS: Special Investigationsavailable on Prime Video, Pauley Perrette played the role of Abby Sciuto, a geeky and goth science and computer genius. Playing a character very popular with viewers, the actress however announced in 2017 that she was leaving the American detective series. Some time after her departure, the actress confided in the real reasons for her decision and spoke of having been “terrified by Mark Harmon“, who played Leroy Jethro Gibbs in the fiction. She thus accused her playing partner of “several physical abuses” at the time of filming.
Pauley Perrette (Abby in NCIS) : “I’m a different person now“
After his departure from NCISPauley Perrette lent her features to a brand new character in the comedy series Brokebroadcast in the United States in 2020. She played Jackie Dixon, a single mother who works as a bartender. And since then… nothing. Pauley Perrette, 55, has indeed decided to end her acting career. She gave an interview to Hello! about this, assuring that she would not play “never again“. “I am not ungrateful regarding the advantages that this job has brought me. But I’m a different person now, and I want to be available to experience it – the good, the bad and the painful. I want to be me all the time, and it takes a lot of courage to admit it, but that’s really how I feel.“, explained Pauley Perrette.
Pauley Perrette (Abby in NCIS) : “It’s like a drug“
Still in the same interview, the former actress explained: “At this time in my life, I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actress, particularly during certain periods of 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. My character didn’t have all the problems I had.“And to add:”That’s why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth. For me, becoming an actress again would take away this true authenticity that I experience 100% of the time.“
