'CSI's' Petersen: 'I won't miss Grissom' - CNN.

com

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/13/ew.petersen/in...

updated 8:17 a.m. EST, Tue January 13, 2009

'CSI's' Petersen: 'I won't miss

Grissom'

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
"CSI's" William Petersen has last episode Thursday
Show's star leaves at the top of the heap -- but he was ready to go
"CSI" adding new character played by Laurence Fishburne
Next Article in Entertainment

By Lynette Rice

Entertainment Weekly
(Entertainment Weekly) -- For nine years, "CSI" star William Petersen has had it
all. And that was exactly the problem.

Stories you may be interested in based on past browsing

"The reason I'm leaving is because

Selena Gomez

I'm afraid I'm becoming too

comfortable," says Petersen.

AMC orders dramas from 'Breaking Bad,' 'Nikita'

producers

"It's 'CSI' -- they pay me a lot of

money, and I don't have to work very

Halle Berry battles ex again over daughter

Stars who vented about their gigs

hard anymore. I've got it all figured

out. And I just realized, God, as an
artist, I'm going to atrophy. You do
William Petersen says he's become "too comfortable" at
"CSI," and that it's time to go.
1 of 2

Pitt talks film, marriage

anything for nine years, it becomes

somewhat rote. I didn't want to be on
the show because they were paying
me money and I liked the money. I

didn't want to be on the show

because it saved me from having to go look for other jobs. Just didn't want it. It
was too safe for me at this point. So I needed to try and break that, and the way
to do that, for me, is the theater."
So, with his final "CSI" episode scheduled to air Thursday on CBS, Petersen is
saying goodbye to the show that made him very, very famous and very, very rich.
He's now living in Chicago, where he's resumed a career as a theater actor.
Leaving fame and fortune behind in the name of artistic integrity? There's a novel
concept for Hollywood. But still, isn't he just a little sentimental about parting
ways with a character that has defined him since 2000?
"I won't miss Grissom," says Petersen matter-of-factly. "It was a complete life for
me that's reached its end, and it's reached it in the right way, I think. So I won't
miss Grissom. And I hope that the audience won't miss him either."
As a producer on the drama since its debut in 2000 and an exec producer since
2004, Petersen is one of the highest-paid actors on television (earning a reported
$600,000 per episode). Over the years, he's watched his show turn into a ratings
powerhouse and -- with syndication and spin-offs -- a veritable billion-dollar
industry for CBS, which will no doubt feel the pain of Petersen's departure.
Don't Miss
CBS: 'CSI: Crime Scene
Investigation'
EW.com: The end of 'CSI'

Petersen has definitely left his mark on this crime

scene. From the moment in 1999 when he persuaded
creator Anthony E. Zuiker to change Gil's last name
from Sheinbaum to Grissom, to the spring of 2007

when he began to map out his character's much-anticipated exit, Petersen has
played a significant role in the direction of his hit show.
"The first day I met Billy, before filming the pilot, he said to me he wanted to
re-create an ensemble feel of a theater company, to have that type of
collaboration," says executive producer Carol Mendelsohn. "It's not the easiest
road to take, to have true collaboration." However, she feels Petersen's insistence
on teamwork "has been an essential element to our success, on every level."
Petersen, who's unapologetic about his occasional my-way-or-the-highway

1 of 3

2/17/15, 7:04 PM

'CSI's' Petersen: 'I won't miss Grissom' - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/13/ew.petersen/in...

antics, says he wanted a producer title to ensure that the cast and crew always
had an advocate. "Otherwise, it's completely unbalanced because everything is
tilted toward the network and the studio and the writers. It can't just be generals.
You have to have a few lieutenants. That's where I came in."
Naturally, then, it was Petersen -- and not producers or the network -- who
decided when and where Grissom would finally step outside the yellow tape. "For
years, Billy had been saying he wanted to go, so we knew that one day he'd ask
to be written out," says Mendelsohn. "We had a game plan for a long time."
Petersen and the writers were set on hammering out an exit strategy that would
seem organic to the world of forensic science. That's where the real-life Grissoms
came into play. "You talk to all of the CSIs we know, and they all have a short
[career] life," says Petersen. "They can do this for a while and then they all try to
become techs (advisers) for our show! None of them want to go back down an
alley and process fingerprints on a garbage can anymore."
The long goodbye officially began in November 2007, when Gil's fiancee Sara
(Jorja Fox) fled Las Vegas for destinations unknown, and it continued with the
tragic shooting death of Warrick (Gary Dourdan) in October of the following year.
In fact, Petersen should have been gone by now: Warrick's death and Grissom's
swan song were originally scheduled to air by last May, but the 100-day writers'
strike shortened the season, so there wasn't enough time to tell all the stories
Petersen wanted -- including the return of the Miniature Serial Killer and Melinda
Clarke's dominatrix, Lady Heather.
Postponing his farewell not only put some much-needed space between the
high-profile exits of Fox and Dourdan, it also gave the show's creative team
plenty of time to find Petersen's successor. After putting out feelers to an
impressive roster of stars (Kurt Russell and John Malkovich were approached),
the producers set their sights on Laurence Fishburne, who hasn't starred on TV
since playing Cowboy Curtis on "Pee-wee's Playhouse" back in the '80s.
While Fishburne is known on screen as a cool character, his first days on set last
September -- as research pathologist--turned-college professor Dr. Raymond
Langston -- revealed anxiety underneath that calm demeanor. "CSI's" Marg
Helgenberger recalls how the 47-year-old actor rode his motorcycle to work on
the first day and ended up clutching his helmet during a meeting with the writers.
"He said, 'I'm just gonna hang on to this because I'm kind of nervous,"' she
remembers. "It was really sweet. I think he feels the weight of the challenge of
taking over that part. I mean, obviously it's not the same part as Gil, but that
character was indelible and well-liked -- all that stuff that Billy was."
Adds Fishburne, "Billy was the daddy of the whole thing and Daddy was leaving.
Then in comes Uncle Fish. A lot of people didn't know what to expect."
When Petersen's final day of shooting arrived on October 10, about 200 members
of the show's cast and crew assembled on the "CSI" soundstage to watch his
character's last stroll through the dimly lit lab. Though everyone knew that
Petersen wasn't gone forever -- he'll retain his producer title and he's promised to
return for the occasional episode, though that probably won't occur until next
season -- it didn't make his departure any less significant.
Co-star Helgenberger can't even think about the "painful" day without tearing up.
"I couldn't stop crying," she says. "It was hard. I'm having a hard time now,
because, you know, we had a great nine years together. It's just over. It's the end
of an era."
First things first, though: The man with the beard still has to take his final bow,
though nobody's revealing how. But an even bigger cliff-hanger is what will
happen to the show after he's gone. "I'm sick he is leaving," says one EW.com
poster named Betty. " 'CSI' is Gil."
Jasmine puts it more bluntly: "Once Grissom is gone from the original 'CSI,' so

2 of 3

2/17/15, 7:04 PM

'CSI's' Petersen: 'I won't miss Grissom' - CNN.com

http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/01/13/ew.petersen/in...

am I."
As he looks forward to the next chapter in his career, Petersen hopes viewers will
adopt his attitude about Grissom's exit: no tears necessary.
"I think there's a way for the audience to remember him, like losing a great
co-worker they've known for years," says the actor, who hasn't ruled out starring
in another TV show -- someday. "He didn't die in a plane crash, he didn't get a
brain tumor. He's out there."
For Entertainment Weekly's complete cover story, and more information on "CSI,"
click here. E-mail to a friend
|
Mixx it | Share
CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly
COPYRIGHT 2009 ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND TIME INC. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED.

From the Blogs: Controversy, commentary, and debate

Top News
Senators 'troubled'
after Rice meeting

Bergen: Senseless
Benghazi obsession

NEWS

VIDEO

TV

OPINIONS

MORE

U.S.

ENTERTAINMENT

CNNGO

CNNGO

POLITICAL OP-EDS

PHOTOS

WORLD

LIVING

LATEST NEWS

SCHEDULE

SOCIAL COMMENTARY

LONGFORM

POLITICS

TRAVEL

MUST WATCH VIDEOS

CNN FILMS

IREPORT

INVESTIGATIONS

TECH

MONEY

DIGITAL STUDIOS

SHOWS A-Z

HEALTH

SPORTS

CNN PROFILES A-Z

ANCHORS AND
REPORTERS A-Z

U.S. Edition

2015 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Terms of service | Privacy guidelines | AdChoices

3 of 3

| | About us | Work for us | Help | Transcripts | License Footage | CNN Newsource

2/17/15, 7:04 PM