‘NCIS’ Alum Pauley Perrette is ‘Different Person Now’ After Retiring From Acting

NCIS alum Pauley Perrette says she’ll “never again” return to acting after exiting her role on the CBS procedural as Abby Sciuto in 2018. Four years after Perrette retired from acting, the Broke alum explained she’s committed to her “life of true authenticity” in a new interview with Hello! magazine published on Tuesday, Oct. 1. 

“Going back to being an actor would be taking away from this life of true authenticity that I’m living 100 percent of the time,” Perrette explained. The 55-year-old continued that she’s a “different person now” as opposed to when she “accidentally” started acting in the 1990s, making guest appearances on popular shows like Frasier and appearing in Almost Famous before starring in Time of Your Life, a spinoff of Party of Five also featuring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jennifer Garner. Perrette would then go on to make her debut as Abby on NCIS in 2003, continuing in the role for 15 seasons before exiting in 2018. 

“I want to be here for it – the good and the bad and the painful,” Perrette told Hello!. “I want to be me all the time, and it takes a good amount of courage for me to say that to myself but it’s authentically how I feel.” Despite her feelings about acting now, Perrette is “not ungrateful for the benefits” her career has provided her, and she now hopes to use her experience to work behind the camera on documentaries.

“At this point in my life I have this deep need to find authenticity in everything, and being an actor, especially at certain points in my life, was a great escape; it’s like a drug because I didn’t have to be me, I could be somebody else,” she shared. “My character didn’t have all of the problems that I was having. … It’s why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth.”

Perrette’s exit from NCIS came after she claimed in October 2017 to have suffered “multiple physical assaults” on the show’s set. “Maybe I’m wrong for not ‘spilling the beans’ Telling the story, THE TRUTH. I feel I have to protect my crew, jobs and so many people. But at what cost? I.don’t know. Just know, I’m trying to do the right thing, but maybe silence isn’t the right thing about crime. I’m… Just… ?” she wrote on social media at the time. “There is a ‘machine’ keeping me silent and feeding FALSE stories about me. A very rich, very powerful publicity ‘machine.’ No morals, no obligation to truth, and I’m just left here, reading the lies, trying to protect my crew. Trying to remain calm. He did it.”

She continued, “I’ve been supporting anti-bullying programs forever. But now I KNOW because it was ME! If it’s school or work, that you’re required to go to? It’s horrifying. I left. Multiple Physical Assaults. I REALLY get it now. Stay safe. Nothing is worth your safety. Tell someone.”

In June 2019, Perrette alleged former co-star Mark Harmon was why she exited NCIS. “NO I AM NOT COMING BACK! EVER! (Please stop asking?) I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me,” Perrette alleged on social media at the time. “I have nightmares about it.” CBS subsequently responded to the allegations in a statement. “Pauley Perrette had a terrific run on NCIS and we are all going to miss her,” the network wrote. “Over a year ago, Pauley came to us with a workplace concern. We took the matter seriously and worked with her to find a resolution. We are committed to a safe work environment on all our shows.”