Rebel with a cause

Many visiting US stars to Australia continue to lead the glamorous life, partying at nightclubs, being ferried in limos, and shopping at boutiques.

Pauley Perrette, who plays the unconventional NCIS Forensic Specialist ‘Abby Sciuto’, had other ideas whilst in Sydney -as she explains to TV Tonight.

“The first day we didn’t know where we were going, which is the best thing to do in any new city. So we ended up at Darling Harbor and ate seafood. Everyone kept saying ‘Eat seafood, eat seafood.’ I’ve never had a Barramundi before in my life, and now I’ve had it every single night. It’s delicious,” she says.

“Then we walked up Oxford Street, which was great.”

“Then there was a church I wanted to go to in Petersham, so we took the train out there, and on the way back some of the guys from the church had said to ‘Go to Newtown’, so we ended up spending all day in Newtown.”

Perrette has always been a strong advocate for civil rights, supporting charities including animal rescue, the American Red Cross and gay rights. Her visit to a church was a personal mission.

“Religion has become so exclusionary to many groups. But I believe the opposite to that. I am a God person and a faith person and I believe everyone is welcome and I work with a lot of LGBT rights as far as that goes,” she says.

“So whenever I travel anywhere I have to find a church where everyone is welcome. Everyone.

“My church in Hollywood is like that. It’s gay, straight, every colour, every shape in the world. That’s the way I believe God would want it so I always want to try and find a church. The one they told us about was in Petersham, so I thought, ‘I’m going out there!’

“I asked at the hotel, I asked in Oxford Street, I asked everywhere. There’s gotta be a civil rights church and there always is.”

Despite arriving late, Perrette spent time with churchgoers ‘having tea’. Some suggested she visit the inner suburb of Newtown via train no less.

“No-one in a million years would think that I would ever be taking the train. People think, ‘Wow she looks a lot like that girl but she would never get the train.’

“You just go do normal stuff as much as you can. Sometimes it’s impossible. I’ve had to leave places before when it gets to be a little bit crazy.”

Perrette, who holds degrees in sociology, psychology and criminal science, insists that her interest in philanthropic causes began before her fame. Thanks to NCIS she is now able to direct attention to specific causes, including a strong political stance against the consitutional amendment that blocked same-sex marriage in California.

“Before I was in this industry I was a volunteer and worked for Non-Profits. So now with my job I’m saying the same things I’ve always been saying, but more people are listening. So that definitely came first,” she says.

“I did everything against Prop 8 I possibly could. It was a tragedy. A travesty. It’s an enormous embarrassment. It’s so humiliating. There’s a lot of reasons that it happened that are not good, not nice. It was financed by people outside of our state with a lot of lies, a lot of propaganda,” she explains.

“It was the same day as Obama (winning the Presidency). We were all ‘Yay’ and then ‘Whaaat?’ I was so excited about Obama and then a puddle of tears. No-one thought that would pass. And it shouldn’t have. I don’t think it would again. But people were saying ‘Yes on 8’ or ‘No on 8’ and passing out propaganda that was intentionally made to confuse people.”

More recent concerns for Perrette include the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, especially given she was born in New Orleans and raised in the South.

“Right now we’re probably in the middle of one of the worst disasters that could ever happen with the oil spill.”

During her promotional visit to Australia, Perrette has been doing the rounds of media interviews, plus The Circle, The 7PM Project and an upcoming appearance on Good News Week. Last night she was guest of honour at drinks with media held by the TEN Network in Melbourne. Again proving she didn’t subscribe to Celebrity, she worked the room, posed for photos and stayed well beyond publicists expectations.

No visit to Oz would be complete without coming face to face with a kangaroo and a koala, or as she cheekily insisted, a ‘koala bear.’

“I’m also doing Save the Children. I didn’t know they had it here. My show is so supportive of all the charity work that I do. We’ve had Save the Children, Doctors without Borders, Pet Finder which is an animal rescue. My producers have allowed us to put all these things in the show, which is amazing. I love them for that.

“Last week’s episode we had mentioned Save the Children and in the States I did a PSA for them afterwards. They knew I was here so I’m going to hang out with a whole bunch of kids in Melbourne. Can’t wait.

“And then a koala ‘bear’,” she grins.