Pauley Perrette Online

The 4th Anniversary Q&A with Pauley P. (August 2003)

Pauley Perrette Online first entered cyberspace 4 years ago, and noticing that was really just a cue for me to get with the program and do another Q&A with the gal herself. Without further ado...

Q: Based on the JAG episodes that introduced the NCIS team, I think we're looking at a good show and a great character for you to play. What are your thoughts on the new show?

A: I'm a commitment-phobe in general, but if you get locked into a 5 year contract on a show with people that bum you out, you're screwed. Most shows don't go that long, but the very thought of not being able to get out of a bad situation is terrifying. Which is why this new show is very different. I'm working for someone I think is a genius and is also super fun, complex and open. My co-actors are so pro, so cool, so ego-less and so easy. At the end of the day, it's the people that make or break your experience, and I scored on that level. I also love my character Abby. She's so super smart and capable that it is a non-issue that her style may be unconventional to some.

Q: Being a criminology buff (for lack of a better term), I imagine it must be pretty exciting to be playing a forensic scientist. Does NCIS have science advisors that you'll be hanging out with?

A: Oh yeah. It's cool. Being on a show that deals with something I dig. I can't imagine having to think this much about, say, sports. The real NCIS people, ahhh, I just can't say enough good things about them. So smart, so supportive, so interesting. I had the good fortune to go to San Diego to the real NCIS lab for a day, and I'm going to do it more. They spent hours showing me the lab and explaining everything to me. For me to be allowed that kind of access would be how others would feel getting to go backstage at a Stones show. I was thrilled.

Q: Another NCIS question: There's always the chance that the show will have a lengthy run. Are you prepared for that? I'm sure you'll manage to squeeze in other work, but will you miss playing a half-dozen different characters during a single TV season?

A: I'm not a big future person. I'm so "Memento" all that really exists for me is right now. But, yes, CLEARLY, I like to change my characters and hair color so much that I'm a walking personality disorder. Mostly because I get bored in about three seconds and I like to consider myself incognito. There's always wigs and summer hiatus! Having a steady job in television allows you financially to do independent films for no money on your down time. And that is where my heart is.

Q: What goes through your mind when you watch yourself on TV or in a movie?

A: Only whatever was going on while we were shooting, that's it. It's annoying to be with me watching something that I'm in because I'm constantly saying like, "Ha! That was the day that set wall fell over?" or, "That was the day that craft service had that bean salad and everyone was really gassy!" This morning I got home from yesterday at 6 A.M. I know when I see those scenes I will say, "That was the day everyone had worked like five 15 hour days in a row and was so beat they were hallucinating."

Q: The last time I saw you, you had just bought some video-editing equipment and were ready to start putting together videos. How's that been going? Do you have aspirations to direct music videos or perhaps a script that you've written?

A: I have no aspirations for anything and video editing was just one more thing on a string in the life of me. I was like, "I'm gonna start shooting bands I love and editing together footage and making little videos of them!!!!!!!!" SoI shoot, I fiddle around on I-Movie, I decide that I suck at it, I get bored, and I say, "Hey, I know, I'm gonna ______!!!!" and the cycle continues. I would like to revisit that and try again, but it's a struggle battling the shortest known attention span ever not recorded in the human species. As far as being a director for real, I'm far to unreliable and irresponsible. I'm great at shooting of ideas, images, projects and brainstorms at record speed, but don't have the stick-to-it-ness to see anything through. Plus, I don't like to be in charge of anything.

Q: This is a query that's basically just for me... Give me some details on the project that you did with Interpol. I love their debut album (Turn on the Bright Lights).

A: I did a project with these two young directors that were shooting a video for the band (song: Obstacle 1). They shot awesome, gritty live footage with the band and then it was interlaced with footage of my character, who is sort of a lone security guard in an empty building who may or not be obsessive and insane. Just about an hour ago, I got a DVD of it. It's fantastic, it's very cool. GREAT CD, right? Wow, love, love that band.

Q: Before we go, are there any great books, bands, websites, etc. that you'd like to recommend to anybody who might be reading this?

A: To books and websites, my answer right this second is "ALL." Be an information junkie.

Music wise, I think radio sux so much right now, I want to punch mine a thousand times a day. There are a few bright spots in bands, however.

OURS, OURS, OURS. Can't say it enough, I've become so obsessed with this band. It started with the first record, "Distorted Lullabies" and then the second, "Precious". If you get the chance to see them live, or Jimmy Gnecco solo, spend every moment being grateful.

I never miss a show from the band World Without Sundays.

Again, love Interpol.

Love The White Stripes. They will continue to kick ass for a long time.

On the louder, faster harder side, indies The Angry Amputees' new record "Slut Bomb" is on constant rotation, so, so, so good. Stacey Dee (vox/guitar) has got it, baby. Imagine Gwen Stefani with a loud guitar, and cigarette and a bottle of booze.

I have a copy of Texas Terri's new CD she just finished, and my oh my, it is outstanding (of course). She is a legend, she is an original, she is everything.

I want to give my praise to System Of A Down. Love them. I was listening to "Steal This Record" all day today (right now I'm listening to Radiohead, "The Bends," what a mix). SOAD is so necessary in my opinion. I am a huge Rage Against The Machine fan and mourn the end of them. I love Zack DeLaRocha and just want to hear MORE. I am sure I have listened to the self titled record over 3 million times and try to always have several copies on hand so it will always be close to my body. Exit RATM, cry, Enter SOAD. A mad fury of sound mixed with a lyrical/musical spirograph that is so politically important at times, you end up banging intelligence into your head. I remember thinking, "Oh, thank God!" when I first heard them.

Also, yesterday, on set, I was STUNNED to find that out of about 20 people in the room, only 1 guy had ever heard of The Replacements. People, please! A personal anthem of mine, "Here Comes The Regular," and of course "Unsatisfied," are only two of the best songs ever written. And I decided there is no way to ever be in a bad mood while listening to "On The Bus."

Oh, and, my heart belongs forever to Freddie Mercury.

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