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Parade article, 2/27/2005
Q I'm a big fan of William Petersen, who plays Grissom on CSI. Why are the producers phasing him out?--Tricia Ellliott,
Frisco, Tex.
A They're not. Petersen, 52, simply is reducing his workload because of health concerns. But the producers tell us the
tension between Grissom and crime-scene partner Catherine (Marg Helgenberger, 46, one of our favorites) will continue-to keep
viewers guessing.
Petersen lays it on the table, USA TODAY 2/2/2005
Petersen lays it on the table
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — William Petersen picked the cafe for its quality.
Complex man: William Petersen, in CSI's autopsy room, says he's healthier since he "stopped fighting for everything."
By Dan MacMedan, USA TODAY
"This is the worst of the coffee places on the block. The others are crammed. Nobody likes (this place), so it's
great," he says.
Not so great if you're a coffee lover. Quite appealing if you're the lead star of CSI (tonight, 9 ET/PT) and are used
to attention at airports, Las Vegas casinos and even the neighborhood drugstore, where moments earlier he signed an insistent
fan's shopping bag.
Hollywood success stirs contradictory feelings in Petersen. He accepts fame but doesn't embrace it. He has been handsomely
rewarded, but he rails against corporate greed. He talks proudly about the CBS series and says it will be remembered as groundbreaking,
but he sounds angry, wistful and even hurt about talent and CSI potential lost to two spinoffs.
"When they started to copy it and take people away to go do those shows, it was like (the breakup of) a love affair,"
he says. "You thought you'd done everything right, and you found out you were just one of many."
Since the forensics drama rose from last scheduled pilot to the most watched (an average 26 million this season) and copied
scripted series, Petersen, who plays bug whiz and reluctant boss Gil Grissom, has been known to drop the occasional bomb during
interviews.
He has compared the CSI spinoffs to creating McDonald's franchises and, in a Playboy interview in 2004, suggested tongue-in-cheek
that he'd like to see CBS chairman Leslie Moonves and CSI producer Jerry Bruckheimer as guest corpses on the show. ("He
is an artist, and he is passionate. He puts a lot of feeling into everything he does," says CBS entertainment chief Nina
Tassler.)
The Chicago theater veteran, sitting down for a rare, 90-minute interview, is smart and straightforward, if not tactful.
But he's not looking for a fight. Part of the reason is philosophical: "They" — network and production
executives, powers-that-be — "do what they do, and that's up to them. I can't fight that anymore. That's not
something I'm going to win."
Besides, "the show does well whether I fight or not."
And part of the reason is health. A summer medical "wake-up call," a bunch of risk factors rather than any specific
event, caused him to reduce his workdays from 14 hours to eight or nine (five days a week) and rethink his pugnacious style.
"I was truly every one of those clichés of the workaholic: overworked, bad diet, bad blood pressure, too much stress.
I'm OK as long as I don't work too much," says Petersen, 51, looking relaxed in a gray T-shirt and jeans. "I also
stopped fighting for everything. I used to fight for everything."
Revealing personality
He has had fewer scenes in recent shows, though rearrangement of Petersen's shooting schedule is expected to raise his
screen time close to earlier levels.
Petersen's shortened workday is evident in tonight's episode, "Nesting Dolls," which intertwines domestic abuse
with mail-order brides. However, his scenes are significant, marking one of the rare occasions in which CSI goes home with
a character to peel back layers of personality.
In the episode, Grissom visits the apartment of suspended subordinate Sara Sidle (Jorja Fox) to ask why the abuse case
triggered an outburst that endangered her job.
CSI is at its best when solving crimes, Petersen says, "not when people are crying." Yet he sees room to reveal
personality through characters' reactions to crimes.
Scenes between Grissom and Sidle also stir up the complexities of a five-season relationship that has featured sometimes
awkward flirtation and hints of deeper meaning.
"It's this weird sort of mysterious dance. We rarely know from one season to another how we're going to play the
relationship," says Fox, whose character was first imagined as a love interest for Grissom.
The actors help influence the shaping of their characters, Fox says. "One of the things I adore about Billy is that,
coming from Chicago and that theater experience, he said, 'This is going to have to be a collective thing. We have to talk
about things together.' "
About that raise...
The thought that CSI could have lost Fox and George Eads bothers Petersen. The pair, who were fired last summer during
a salary dispute, eventually were rehired at their old pay.
The matter was resolved properly, says Petersen, who adds that the network "would have been looking for me"
if the dismissals had stuck. "You want a raise and that's wrong? When did that become wrong in this country? When did
you have to get castigated for it?"
Petersen talked to Fox and Eads but didn't go to Moonves, saying it was their business. He trusts Tassler, who matched
him with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker, but appears to group Moonves with many he says have changed with success. "I'm good
friends with Les when Les is a good guy."
Petersen also disputes the notion that actors are interchangeable parts on procedural dramas.
"You can call it a procedural. You can say it's all about the science. If that were true, then these 30 million people
would be watching the Discovery Channel. They're not," Petersen says. "They want to see Marg (Helgenberger) and
Billy. They want to see George and Jorja. They want to see Gary (Dourdan) and Eric (Szmanda)."
He believes that actor chemistry, along with a wry sensibility, sets CSI apart from the two spinoffs, CSI: Miami and CSI:
NY. Today, however, Petersen isn't railing against the creation of those shows, as he has in the past. He's resigned to their
existence but disappointed at the loss of writers, directors and technical advisers to the spinoffs. "Why shouldn't we
have access to all the ideas, stories and forensics advisers?" he asks.
Even without the spinoffs, there would still be copies. Success breeds imitation, he says. "CSI is everywhere on
every network at all times. Mostly on CBS," he says. "They're going to put it on until it doesn't work anymore."
As it is, CSI is doing "as well as can possibly be expected." He likes a lot of the writing and says its film-quality
look is unique for TV.
Petersen, who has rumbled in the past about leaving before his contract ends in 2007, says he isn't planning to depart
anytime soon: "I'm not going anywhere unless they want me to go."
As an executive producer, along with longtime producing partner Cynthia Chvatal, Petersen acknowledges being paid "a
lot of money." Reported estimates have run as high as $500,000 an episode, but he says it isn't that much.
And though he says he doesn't want to be seen as whining, he also refers to the actor's lot in Hollywood as "high-priced,
well-dressed serfdom."
'One to go his own way'
Joan of Arcadia's Joe Mantegna, who knows Petersen from Chicago theater days, says he isn't conventional. When Mantegna
and others took an '80s Chicago production of Glengarry Glen Ross to Broadway, Petersen passed on what seemed a great opportunity.
"I think it's part of his nature. Bill has always been one to go his own way," he says.
Petersen gets most animated discussing the acting moments with his co-stars, whom he praises. He has concerns about CSI's
recent structural split, in which Grissom's night team was divided, with Catherine (Helgenberger), Nick (Eads) and Warrick
(Dourdan) moving to the swing shift. He wonders whether the chemistry will suffer.
"I don't know how that's going to play out. You have to try to do stuff after 100 episodes," he says. "As
an audience member, I'm not as interested in it, but who knows?"
Despite his fears that spinoffs might lead to story drought, Petersen marvels at CSI's plots. Some of the most outrageous
attract the most viewers. November's 100th episode examined the mutilation of a transgendered person.
"In the middle of that episode, I kept thinking, 'Now we've gone too far,' " Petersen says. It drew a CSI-record
31.5 million viewers.
This month's "King Baby" episode is on infantilism. "I was looking at this guy in diapers, and I'm saying,
'Now we've gone too far.' "
Post-Janet Jackson, it's not clear how much of diaper man will make it onscreen. Network concerns focus on skin and sex,
Petersen says, not "how many times we plunge a knife into somebody's chest."
That's just one of the many things about Hollywood that Petersen either doesn't understand or agree with. But he lives
with it.
"The why and wherefore of all the rest of it is beyond me. It can make me angry, it can make me laugh, it can make
me sad. And I can understand it on some level. But it is unacceptable to me.
"Yet here I am in the midst of it. That's my dilemma."
Dissecting William Petersen
Born: Feb. 21, 1953, in Evanston, Ill.
Theater: Long active on the Chicago stage; helped create the
Remains Theater with longtime producing partner Cynthia Chvatal.
Movies: Highlights include William Friedkin's To Live and Die in L.A. (1985); Michael Mann's Manhunter (1986), in which
his character, also an investigator, squared off with Hannibal Lecter; Mulholland Falls (1996); and The Skulls (2000).
TV: Return to Lonesome Dove (1993); 12 Angry Men (1997); The Rat Pack (1998).
Personal: Has a daughter from his first marriage and a 16-month-old grandson; married longtime girlfriend Gina Cirone
in 2003.
Passion: Former Idaho State University football player, he's a
die-hard sports fan and roots for the Chicago Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks.
Las Vegas Celebrity Golf
Michael Douglas & Friends Presented by Lexus: Las Vegas Celebrity Golf Event Set for May 1
Thursday April 28, 6:10 pm ET
Lexus, Caesars Palace, Dr Pepper, Pioneer Electronics and the Tourism Authority of Thailand Sign on to Support Celebrity
Fund-Raiser for Motion Picture & Television Fund
WOODLAND HILLS, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The Seventh Annual Michael Douglas & Friends Presented by Lexus celebrity
golf event will be held Sunday, May 1, 2005 at Caesars Palace/Las Vegas and the Cascata Golf Club. The tournament will air
on NBC Sports on Sunday, May 15, 4-6 p.m. EDT, immediately following Arena Football. Proceeds of the golf event will help
the Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) continue to provide health and community services to entertainment industry
people in need.
Celebrities confirmed now to join Michael Douglas as 2005 tournament players include Alice Cooper, Kenny G, Andy Garcia,
Teri Hatcher, Matt Lauer, Heather Locklear, William Petersen, Richie Sambora, Martin Sheen, James Woods and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
The celebrities divide into foursomes and are guided by renowned golf coaches Butch Harmon, Jim McLean, and Dean Reinmuth.
Spectator tickets for the May 1 Michael Douglas & Friends Presented by Lexus celebrity tournament are available through
Ticketmaster, at $30 per person ($15 for kids under 10) (plus any applicable service charges.)
Just posted this because Billy will be in it. If you want to read the whole story
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050428/lath141.html?.v=3
May 28, 2005
So this is what happens when you hand the grisliest show on television over to the Jackson Pollock of cinematic violence:
A touch of what passes for light conversation in Quentin Tarantino's world — Grissom's nattering on about Roy Rogers'
horse, for starters — a sicko with an ax to grind and neatly placed dog entrails. All that, and Nick Stokes buried
alive in Plexiglas and dined upon by fire ants, too. The flimsy plot connecting Tarantino's signature visuals was as arid
as they come. Even so, "Grave " proved to be a worthy conversation piece, and watching the actors wrestle with the
director's jaunty dialogue made you appreciate Gary Dourdan and William Petersen's usual quiet brooding.
I did'nt put the whole thing here just the CSI part.
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ar.../505280302/1023
Posted on Mon, Jun. 20, 2005
Petersen of 'CSI' tees off for local YMCA
Actor has strong family ties to region
BY JENNA ROSS
Duluth News Tribune
William Petersen sees his fair share of drama starring on the hit CBS television show "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."
But he thinks Duluth is pretty dramatic, too.
"I remember lying in bed in my grandfather's house, listening to the ore boats whistling at night," Petersen
said. "That sound gets right into your gut. I've always found Duluth to have that kind of drama."
Today, Petersen, an actor who also has starred in numerous feature and television films, will visit northern Minnesota
— a place he spent time in as a child. He summered on a lake near Grand Rapids with relatives of his mother, June
Hoene. Now, he returns about every two years for family reunions.
Born in Evanston, Ill., Petersen has strong ties to Duluth — 87 of them.
"My mother was born in Duluth, the oldest of 12 kids," he said. "I have 87 first cousins from Duluth."
One of them, Kevin Hoene, is the reason Petersen is visiting.
Hoene is a committee member for the Duluth Area YMCA. The organization will hold its sixth annual fundraising golf tournament
today at Ridgeview Country Club.
Hoene hopes the participation of his cousin "Billy" will bring more interest to the event.
"I'm getting a lot of inquiries about how he's related: 'Can we come to your family party?' " Hoene said. "I
think that will translate into bigger attendance at the golf tournament."
Participants each paid $150 to golf in the 18-hole scramble. Afterward, the organization will hold a dinner and silent
auction at the course. Petersen plans to auction off a day on the set of "CSI."
"I'm glad I can help the YMCA out. When I was a young, starving actor I stayed in YMCAs," he said. "And
now I work out at the Hollywood Y three times a week."
On "CSI," which is about detectives working at the Las Vegas Police Department Crime Scene Investigations bureau,
Petersen plays senior forensics officer Gil Grissom. In 2003, he was nominated for a Golden Globe for the role.
Petersen said he would continue his work as a producer and actor on "CSI" as long as the quality remains high.
He doesn't want to get to the point of "churning out" television for the network.
"That's why I was upset with all of the spinoffs," he said. "It kept depleting our creative group."
http://www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress...al/11936692.htm
SAG : Performers with Learning Disabilities : 7-26-2005
Invisible entertainers
Fifteen years after ADA, disabled actors underrepresented
By Greg Hernandez, Staff Writer
Flanked by his "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" cast mates, actor Robert David Hall said at a press conference
Tuesday that performers with disabilities are still significantly underrepresented in the entertainment industry 15 years
after the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law.
Hall presided over the Screen Actors Guild's release of the report, "The Employment of Performers With Disabilities
in the Entertainment Industry," which revealed that less than 2 percent of characters on television shows display a disability
and only one-half of 1 percent have speaking parts.
"The ADA was a quantum leap in the right direction, and SAG has been a tremendous advocate," Hall said. "But
today we have the first real documentation of what performers with disabilities and their advocates have long suspected: We
have far to go to achieve true equality of opportunity. Without it, everyone loses -- the performers, the studios, the viewers.
The images we see and the stories we tell say a lot about our society. We are part of the story."
A double amputee who lost his legs in a car accident, Hall plays the medical examiner on the top-rated CBS show. He said
he is "keenly aware" that he is one of few exceptions to have landed a regular role on a network series.
"It's a jewel of a role," said the actor, who chairs SAG's National Performers with Disabilities Committee.
"No one mentions (his disability) on the show, and I love that. Being disabled doesn't mean you lack ability."
CSI stars William Petersen and Marg Helgenberger spoke in support of Hall and other performers with disabilities at the
press conference held at SAG's Mid-Wilshire headquarters.
"When we were casting the role of the coroner, we had to find someone who was smart with a sense of humor and someone
who could handle the language," said Petersen, also one of the show's producers. "We didn't cast David because he
was disabled. And we did not not cast him because he's disabled."
Added Helgenberger: "The fact that David is an integral part of the most-watched drama today speaks volumes."
Petersen called on the heads of the major movie studios and television networks, by name, to work to include more performers
with disabilities in movies and shows.
"I think it has to start at the top," Petersen said.
The report, commissioned by SAG and funded by a grant from the SAG-Producers Industry Advancement and Cooperative fund,
is a comprehensive profile of union members with disabilities in 2003. It is based on a mail survey sent to 1,237 SAG members
who identified themselves as having a disability or using adaptive equipment, and 40.1 percent responded.
Over the one-year period, 103 performers were cast in 426 lead roles and 357 supporting parts. Sixteen of the performers
had a total of 316 voice-over roles. Work in commercials accounted for 51 percent of their auditions, followed by television
(25 percent) and films (18 percent).
Among the other findings:
Thirty-three percent of union members with disabilities seek some reasonable accommodation to help them with their work,
but 60 percent never ask for any kind of special help because they are afraid an employer would be reluctant to hire them.
Only one-third of SAG members with disabilities reported working in a television or theatrical production in 2003.
The performers worked an average of 4.1 days a year, with males working an average of five days and females two days.
Those under the age of 40 also worked more.
Thirty-six percent said they felt that despite ADA, they had encountered some form of discrimination, including not being
cast or being refused an audition.
Actress Anne-Marie Johnson, chairwoman of SAG's Ethnic Employment Opportunity Committee, said while 15 years since the
passage of ADA is a short time in terms of social change, it's important to continue to "reject the fiction of the homogeneity
of the American people.
"We still have our work cut out for us in casting, in the portrayals we put in front of America, in the reasonable
accommodations we make to move beyond the stereotypes and limitations that still confine these performers and this industry."
Greg Hernandez, (818) 713-3758 greg.hernandez@dailynews.com
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