NCIS Was Forced To Separate Scenes Between Pauley Perrette And Mark Harmon After Things Took A Turn Behind The Scenes

Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon’s feud got so bad that the two actors weren’t allowed to film any scenes together for NCIS.

With 20 seasons and more than 450 episodes, NCIS is one of the most popular and longest-running procedural TV series of all time. Although it initially started as a spin-off of another popular series, NCIS became so popular that the show quickly sprouted many other franchises.

Despite its successful 20-year run on the air, the making of NCIS has not been easy. While the cast seems to get great along in front of the cameras, things are very different behind the scenes. For instance, two of the show’s most beloved actors, Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon, couldn’t stand each other. Things got so bad that NCIS producers had to stop filming scenes with both actors together.

Were Mark Harmon and Pauley Perrett Feuding Behind the Scenes?

Fans loved the interactions between Abby Sciuto and Leroy Jethro Gibbs on NCIS. However, it seems that the relationship between the actors portraying these characters, Pauley Perrette and Mark Harmon, wasn’t so wholesome behind the scenes.

While Perrette and Harmon didn’t have any bad blood when they began working together, things changed at some point in 2016. One day, Harmon brought his dog to set with him, and the dog ended up biting a crew member who needed 15 stitches. Despite this incident, the actor continued to bring his dog on set, although it made the cast and crew uncomfortable.

Ultimately, Perrette decided to confront Harmon, and that’s when the rift between the two started.

“In Pauley Perrette’s case, there was an incident with the show with a dog. 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,” executive producer Charles Floyd Johnson revealed.

Harmon didn’t have the best track record while working on NCIS. For instance, the actor once got physical with his co-star, Michael Weatherly, while going off-script during a heated scene. According to reports, Harmon also had a rocky relationship with the show’s creator Don Bellisario, with the two of them constantly arguing on the set. Some claim that Harmon was the reason why Bellisario was ultimately fired from NCIS.

Pauley Perrette And Mark Harmon Had To Be Separated From One Another While Working On NCIS

Following the incident with Mark Harmon’s dog, things got tense between him and his co-star Pauley Perrette. Things ultimately got so bad that the two stars made an arrangement with the producers so they wouldn’t have to be in the same scenes moving forward. This is why Harmon and Perrette didn’t appear in any scenes together throughout NCIS’ season 15.

Moreover, a source working on the set of this procedural series revealed that from this point onward, producers made sure the two actors were never in the same room together. Scripts were written deliberately so they didn’t have to film together.

“She did her scenes on one day, and he did his work on other days, and they still produced a great show,” the source explained. “It was simply scheduled that they did not work the same days.”

Even in Perrette’s final episode on the show, she and Harmon didn’t shoot any scenes together. “The episode featured flashbacks focusing on the almost father-daughter bond between Gibbs and Abby, but Harmon and Perrette never appeared together in Abby’s finale,” Bill Keveney wrote for USA Today. Although in the final scene of this episode Perrette and Harmon appear side by side, this was done purely through editing.

Did Pauley Perrette Leave NCIS Because Of Mark Harmon?

In late 2017, Pauley Perrette announced that she was departing from NCIS, telling CBS Sunday Morning that although it had been her choice, she was “still grieving.” Although she appeared in the CBS sitcom Broke shortly after leaving NCIS, Perrette retired from acting altogether in 2020.

Although she’s never openly talked about why she quit NCIS, after a decade on the show, Perrette has hinted that Mark Harmon played a key role in her departure. Shortly after leaving the show, Perrette made several cryptic posts on Twitter, alluding to her feud with Harmon.

“No morals, no obligation to truth, and I’m just left here, reading the lies, trying to protect my crew,” the actress once wrote in one post. “Trying to remain calm. He did it.”

In 2019, a fan asked Perrette on Twitter whether she’d be open to reprising the role of Abby on the show. The actress responded, “NO I AM NOT COMING BACK! EVER! (Please stop asking?) I am terrified of Harmon and him attacking me. I have nightmares about it.”

Despite her feud with Harmon, Perrette maintains a good relationship with her other NCIS castmates, including Brian Dietzen, who played Jimmy Palmer on the show.