Six years after Pauley Perrette left the hit CBS drama, NCIS, the 55-year-old has revealed she will “never again” return to acting.
Four years removed from her last acting gig, Perrette has figured out what it means to be her authentic self, and it’s the only thing she desires.
“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,” Perrette told Hello!. “It’s like a drug because I didn’t have to be me, I could be somebody else. My character didn’t have all of the problems that I was having.”
Perrette began acting in the 1990s after she “accidentally” came across the profession. She had plans of working in the FBI, but after guest spots on Frasier, and appearances in Almost Famous, and Time of Your Life, she found herself joining CBS’ newest series, NCIS as Abby Sciuto, a forensic scientist.
She played Abby on NCIS from 2003 until 2018 when she departed the show. Shortly after her last episode aired, she posted a few cryptic tweets referring to “multiple physical assaults” that took place on set.
Perrette constantly fielded questions about her possible return to NCIS. In 2019, she tweeted, “No I am not coming back! Ever! Please stop asking?”
She also addressed the reason for her departure from the hit show.
“I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me. I have nightmares about it,” she wrote referring to her former co-star Mark Harmon.
While she’s not ungrateful for all the benefits she was given as an actress, she’s ready to move on.
“But I’m a different person now and I want to be here for it – the good and the bad and the painful. 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.”
We certainly miss seeing Pauley Perrette as Abby on NCIS, but it’s so great to hear that she is thriving as her authentic self outside of the entertainment business.
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READ MORE:
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