Post by Jemma on Jan 14, 2009 13:01:59 GMT -5
CSI's William Petersen: I Won't Miss Grissom
For nine years, William Petersen has played a forensic entomologist and the night-shift supervisor of the Clark County, Nevada forensics team on CSI in front of 21 million viewers per week. And in just a few days, fans will have to bid farewell to the character that made him rich and famous. It seems that he's had it all for nearly a decade but Petersen says that was exactly the reason why he decided to hang up his CSI gloves.
"The reason I'm leaving is because I'm afraid I'm becoming too comfortable,'' Petersen told Entertainment Weekly. ''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.''
Now, Petersen has revived his career as a theater actor, playing to audiences of only 300 people. Nevertheless, he seems to have found fulfillment and satisfaction in knowing that he's following his heart and doing what he loves. And while saying goodbye to a character takes a toll on the emotions for most actors, for Petersen that's not the case.
''I won't miss Grissom,'' Petersen told the magazine. ''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.''
William Petersen's final episode on CSI airs on January 15.
"The reason I'm leaving is because I'm afraid I'm becoming too comfortable,'' Petersen told Entertainment Weekly. ''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.''
Now, Petersen has revived his career as a theater actor, playing to audiences of only 300 people. Nevertheless, he seems to have found fulfillment and satisfaction in knowing that he's following his heart and doing what he loves. And while saying goodbye to a character takes a toll on the emotions for most actors, for Petersen that's not the case.
''I won't miss Grissom,'' Petersen told the magazine. ''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.''
William Petersen's final episode on CSI airs on January 15.
