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

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



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

"The reason I'm leaving is because I'm afraid I'm becoming too comfortable,"
says Petersen.

"It's 'CSI' -- they pay me a lot of money, and I don't have to work very hard
anymore. I've got it all figured out. And I just realized, God, as an artist,
I'm going to atrophy. You do 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.


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
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 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."

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