Pauley Perrette on John Walsh, civil rights, and Abby’s neck tattoo on NCIS
Before our intrepid TV Club correspondents traveled to this summer’s Television Critics Association press tour, we asked readers to submit questions that we could pose to the TV pros attending the event. (And we made one up ourselves.) With those questions and the answers they prompted, we bring you the TV Club Questionnaire.
Given that she’s been playing the role for a dozen years now, it would be easy enough to forget that Pauley Perrette actually began her acting career before NCIS made its debut in 2003. In fact, Perrette has been a familiar face on the small screen since the mid-1990s, earning her first significant break when she picked up the recurring role of Gwen in season two of ABC’s Murder One. For the majority of viewers, however, Perrette remains known first and foremost for her work as Abby Sciuto on NCIS, which kicks off its 13th season this week.
If you could be working on any other television series currently on the air, which one would it be, and why?
Pauley Perrette: John Walsh’s The Hunt. Because America’s Most Wanted was my favorite show ever. And now he’s got The Hunt on, and I just want to help John Walsh catch bad guys. For real.
The A.V. Club: So would you be a co-host, or would you actually go out in the field and on the hunt?
PP: I actually went out in the field with America’s Most Wanted a couple of times. So, yeah, I’d go on the hunt!
What are your earliest memories of TV, and did they have any bearing on you wanting to have a career in TV?
PP: I actually did not grow up watching much TV and film. I had a very, very, very, very, very, very church family, and a lot of, like, secular stuff was not around my house.
