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NCIS fans shouldn’t hold their breathe for Pauley Perrette to return as Forensic Specialist Abby Sciuto anytime soon — or ever.
Why did Pauley Perrette retire from acting?
Perrette confirmed in an interview with Hello! on October 1 that she will “never again” return to the screen because of how much her life has changed since she left NCIS six years ago and retired from acting four years ago.
“I’m not ungrateful for the benefits that it gave to me,” Perrette said. “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.”
Perrette started acting “accidentally” in the 1990s after she studied criminal science and sociology in college with plans to work for the FBI, while making guest appesrances in shows like Frasier and movies like Almost Famous. She made her debut as Abby Sciuto, a Forensic Specialist for the NCIS, in Season 1 of the CBS military police procedural and starred on the show for more than a decade until her exit in Season 15.
Three years after she left NCIS, Perrette announced her retirement from acting entirely. What she’s focused on next is making documentaries. (She was recently an executive producer for Studio One Forever, a documentary about Los Angeles’ iconic disco of the same name which became popular among the LGBTQ+ community in the 1970s and ’80s.)
“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. My character didn’t have all of the problems that I was having,” she said. “It’s why I only watch documentaries, I want the truth. For me, 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 previously announced her retirement from acting in a series of tweets in 2020 where she confirmed that her co-star Mark Harmon, who played Supervisory Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs in NCIS, was the reason she exited the series. “I refused to go low, that’s why I’ve never told publicly what happened. But there are tabloid articles out there that are telling total lies about me. If you believe them? Please leave me alone. You clearly don’t know me. (Sorry guys, had to be said),” she tweeted at the time.
She continued in a second tweet, “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… ?”
In another tweet, Perrette suggested that she quit over a lack of support from CBS over her issues with Harmon. “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 tweeted. “I’ve been supporting ant[i]-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.”
She also confirmed in another tweet at the time that she plans to never return to NCIS again because of her issuess with Harmon. “NO I AM NOT COMING BACK! EVER! (Please stop asking?) I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me. I have nightmares about it. I have a new show that is SAFE AND HAPPY! You’ll love it! #HappyPlace Love y’all!” she tweeted.
CBS, for their part, also issued a statement at the time of Perrette’s tweets in which they confirmed Perrette reported a “workplace concern,” however, they didn’t specify whether that was with Harmon. “Pauley Perrette had a terrific run on NCIS and we are all going to miss her,” the statement read. “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.”
“Pauley Perrette had a terrific run on NCIS and we are all going to miss her,” it read. “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.”
Executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson revealed to The Hollywood Reporter in 2023 that the incident between Perrette and Harmon had to do Harmon’s dog, who bit someone on set. “The dog was Mark Harmon’s, and apparently the dog bit someone. Pauley was a huge, huge SPCA [Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] animal person. And then the dog kept coming with Harmon, and she felt it wasn’t safe for the show. By the end of that year, she just felt like it wasn’t working for her anymore, and it was time to move on,” Johnson said.
