Pauley Perrette Reveals What She Took From the ‘NCIS’ Set

Pauley Perrette may have bid farewell to Abby Sciuto Tuesday night, but she kept one little item from the NCIS set to remember her time on the series.

Following her emotional farewell episode, which saw eccentric goth genius Abby Scuito leaving the NCIS team in order to repay a debt she felt she owed, actress Pauley Perrette is revealing the single item that she took from set in order to commemorate her time on the popular CBS crime drama and her character of nearly 16 years.

“I have never stolen anything from set,” Perrette begins in a video posted to the NCIS YouTube channel, going on to make the confession. “However, they told me that I could take whatever I wanted. And that’s a lot of stuff, and so I took one thing, and that is Abby’s parasol, because I bought it. It’s mine.”

“When we first started the show, I bought that parasol for Abby…When I read the character I bought that parasol,” she continued. “I brought it to the producers and I said ‘Abby will never be seen outside without this parasol.’ And she never has been. So when I was leaving I was like ‘You know what? That’s mine.’”

Abby quickly won over fans, and even the real NCIS, with her trademark goth look and her keen ability to help the Naval Criminal Investigative Service crack cases, and after 16 years, 15 seasons, and more than 350 episodes, fans were forced to bid the character goodbye in a bittersweet episode that aired Tuesday night.

While her storyline initially seemed set for a tragic end after the May 1 episode, titled “One Step Forward,” ended with Abby and Clayton Reeves (Duane Henry) being mugged at gunpoint and Abby seemingly being shot, the series surprised fans when, after joining the team just last season, Reeves was the one in the body bag and Abby was in the hospital in critical condition. She managed to pull through, though, and left the NCIS team to arrange Reeves’ funeral plans to be buried next to his mother in London and then repay him the debt she felt she owed.

Perrette’s exit from the show came after she had been on the show since the beginning. In fact, Abby was one of the characters to introduce the series in a backdoor pilot that aired on JAG before the spin-off got its own life.

Perrette made the decision to leave in 2016 and announced it to fans in November, stating that “I think I’ve earned some time to myself (to) stay home, go to church.”

Ahead of the heartbreaking goodbye, the actress told fans that while Abby may be missing from the series, she lives on through the girls and women she has touched.

“There’s never been a character like Abby on television. She’s a brilliant scientist with this whole alternative look to her but she’s [also] a good girl with a huge heart. She’s a church kid. She bowls with nuns. It’s so many things wrapped up into one,” Perrette told TV Guide. “Abby’s legacy is going to be forever. The effect that she’s had around the world, especially in young girls pursuing math and science. There [are] young women out there who’ve gotten their degrees and are in the field of science and math and forensics because of this TV character.”