'NCIS' star Pauley Perrette wouldn't marry fiance until gay marriage legal, so what's she waiting for?

Pauley Perrette. (Reuters)

"NCIS" star Pauley Perrette is a woman who definitely puts her money where her mouth is, especially when it comes to her personal convictions like not getting married until marriage is a universal right.

A few years back, she became engaged to Thomas Arklie, a former British Marine and actor. But instead of going ahead with the wedding like most engaged couples do, the two made the announcement that they wouldn't take their vows until their gay friends also had the right to say, "I do."

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So, you can imagine that after having worked for the cause for several years, Perrette was thrilled when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage on Friday, June 26. At that time, she tweeted out: #LoveWins. But what she didn't do was the set the date.

"We have been engaged for four years because we worked for a federal, marriage-equality law, and that Friday was the strangest day," Perrette told FOX411. "My life as a civil rights activist and as a straight ally has been marching, speaking, donating, marching, donating, speaking, marching, speaking, rally, holding poster signs, and then it was over. It was so weird."

Possibly because she worked so hard to make marriage for all a reality, she says it hasn't sunk in yet that she can now set a date for her own wedding. As for why she hasn't, Perrette, who works on behalf of more than 30 charities, including the Thirst Project, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, the homeless, and is an accessibility advocate for people with disabilities, brushes aside the question when pushed for an answer, saying she still has things to fight for.

"We have a lot of things to do like transgender rights," she says. "We have a long way to go, but it’s very strange for me that, we've been engaged for four years, and … my best friend, Darren, is married to his husband. Their daughter is my goddaughter. So state by state, my friends are all getting married."

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Even though Perrette isn't rushing to the altar, she is aware that there is a practical side to marriage, which may just make her bite the bullet and do it.

"There are certain benefits," she says. "With us, we have different insurance and things. There are certain benefits that we would have from being married, and every time I thought about it, I thought, 'How many same-gender couples have been together 25 years and can certainly benefit from that, too?' So, for me, now, it’s pretty exciting."

Perrette will be back as Abby Sciuto when "NCIS" returns for its 13th season on Sept. 22 on CBS, but first she is starring as the voice of the Crimson Witch in "Scooby-Doo! And Kiss: Rock and Roll Mystery."

"I'm basically the bad guy, this very, scary bad guy, and I’m doing all this stuff," she says."We got a pre-copy of the movie, and I told my fiancé...I'm like, 'Babe, I have no idea what I'm going to see.' It’s one of the craziest movies I've ever seen. Just awesome. We loved it. It's just nuts."

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"Scooby-Doo! and KISS: Rock and Roll Mystery" is currently available on Digital HD and Blu-ray Combo Pack & DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment.

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