Since 2003, Pauley Perrette has been a familiar face to television audiences as Abby Sciuto, the goth-styled forensic scientist on NCIS. While Abby spent over a decade helping her team catch fictional criminals, Perrette’s real-life background wasn’t far off: according to Biography, she earned a master’s degree in criminology with plans to pursue a career in law enforcement.

Instead, she caught the acting bug. After appearing in commercials for brands like Volkswagen and Sprint, Perrette landed a recurring role in the 1996 legal drama Murder One, performing under the moniker “Pauley P.” That break opened the door to steady screen work, including a series-regular role on the sitcom That’s Life, appearances in films like Almost Famous and My First Mister, and a starring turn alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jennifer Garner in the Party of Five spinoff Time of Your Life—all before landing her career-defining role on NCIS. Despite spending more than a decade as one of television’s biggest stars, there is still plenty fans don’t know about this multifaceted performer.

She Spent Years as Television’s Most-Liked Female Star

In Hollywood, celebrity likability is often measured by Q Scores, an industry-standard metric derived from consumer surveys to gauge how audiences respond to public figures. In its early 2010 Performer Q study, Entertainment Weekly reported that Perrette earned an impressive score of 43.

Her appeal only grew from there. By 2018, The Wrap noted that Perrette’s Q Score had climbed to 44—more than double the 21-point average for female television stars at the time. Even Empire star Taraji P. Henson, the second-highest-ranking TV actress on the list, trailed behind at 36. While NCIS’s eight-year streak as the world’s most-watched drama certainly boosted her visibility, the timing of her peak rating was bittersweet: the 2018 report came out just days before her final NCIS episode aired, right after she announced her departure from the show.

She Has Appeared in Dozens of Music Videos