‘NCIS’ Star Diona Reasonover Reveals Pauley Perrette’s Advice to Her

NCIS star Diona Reasonover recently revealed Pauley Perrette‘s advice to her before she was promoted to series regular.

Speaking to TV Insider, Reasonover explained that she was a bit worried about being compared to Abby Sciuto, but that Perrette sat her down on her first day and told her, “just be yourself.”

“And that was really helpful because that’s the only person I can be,” she added. “I’m bringing as much truth to this as I can.”

Reasonover plays Kasie Hines on NCIS. Hines is a graduate assistant working with medical examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard (David McCallum). She was introduced in season 15 and was promoted to series regular for season 16 after Perrette exited the show.

Being that Abby’s goth-style look was so unique, Reasonover shared that she went into her role with the intention of taking somewhat of an opposite approach.

“If you go and look in the wardrobe department, you’ll see Pauley’s wardrobe is black and lace and really beautiful. I’ve got colors and patterns,” she explained. “The costume department is wonderful and has let me have a say in some things. Like, I’m not so into ruffles, things like that.”

During her conversation with TV Insider, Reasonover went on to reveal how well she knew the show before she joined.

“I was not an NCIS superfan, but I was familiar with the show — my family watches it,” she admitted. “When I heard about the role I was like, ‘Science? What? Me? I can’t imagine that.’ My family actually encouraged me to do it. I was so nervous for it, I ended up working on the audition with my mom. She ran the lines with me a lot over the phone.”

The actress also when she boarded the show she found “that the fans were so open and so generous.”

“I was really worried coming into a show that was already established. Fifteen years is a long time. People know [the series] and people love it,” she added. “To be coming in as the new person in this dynamic is really hard.”

As far as what fans can expect to see happen with Kasie during the new season, Reasonover said that “she’s actually going to try her hand at being a field agent this season.”

“We’re going to see her out of the lab and onto the street,” she went on to say. “Kasie is not ready for it. [Laughs.] You’ll see her stuck in this muddy lake and she’s trying to navigate finding evidence.”

NCIS airs Tuesdays on CBS.

Photo Credit: CBS / Monty Brinton