CSI star Petersen finds time for Cannes: exclusive interview
Sunday 29 March 2009
Having finally stepped away from his role as Gil Grissom after six years — a period during which CSI: Crime Scene Investigation has become the world’s most-watched TV show — Billy Petersen is finally free to make an appearance at MIPTV.
“I would have come to the event sooner but I was always so busy filming,” he said. “I’m delighted to finally be able to visit and I’m particularly looking forward to meeting the people from the many territories who have supported us throughout the years and helped make the show such a huge success.”
Before Petersen became a global celebrity he spent 15 years in repertory and, since leaving CSI in January, has gone back to his acting and familial roots. “I performed in Steppenwolf’s Dublin Carol in Chicago recently and I’ll be back there again in Blackbird this summer,” Petersen said. “It was 10 years since I ‘d trodden the boards and I didn’t want to be afraid of a live audience. It was great to get back in front of a live audience and also to be able to spend more time in Chicago.”
While the transition from Petersen to Laurence Fishburne was brilliantly and seamlessly handled in the series, leaving the show was not easy for Petersen. “The cast is a truly great group of people so it was genuinely hard to walk away from such a great ensemble and crew, but I’m still involved as executive producer and so I swing by the set from time to time,” he said.
“The hardest thing is to resist the temptation to stick my oar in. And in fact I do have the option to re-appear. Grissom is still out there in the ether so it’s okay to pop in from time to time. And I’m also really enjoying my role as a producer. It’s a job that, when you do it right, is very creative. The Watchmen film is a great example. It’s a brilliant interpretation of a cult novel that does justice to the original while also drawing in a much wider audience. That’s what being creative as a producer can do.”
This and more in the MIPTV daily News, online now!
“I would have come to the event sooner but I was always so busy filming,” he said. “I’m delighted to finally be able to visit and I’m particularly looking forward to meeting the people from the many territories who have supported us throughout the years and helped make the show such a huge success.”
Before Petersen became a global celebrity he spent 15 years in repertory and, since leaving CSI in January, has gone back to his acting and familial roots. “I performed in Steppenwolf’s Dublin Carol in Chicago recently and I’ll be back there again in Blackbird this summer,” Petersen said. “It was 10 years since I ‘d trodden the boards and I didn’t want to be afraid of a live audience. It was great to get back in front of a live audience and also to be able to spend more time in Chicago.”
While the transition from Petersen to Laurence Fishburne was brilliantly and seamlessly handled in the series, leaving the show was not easy for Petersen. “The cast is a truly great group of people so it was genuinely hard to walk away from such a great ensemble and crew, but I’m still involved as executive producer and so I swing by the set from time to time,” he said.
“The hardest thing is to resist the temptation to stick my oar in. And in fact I do have the option to re-appear. Grissom is still out there in the ether so it’s okay to pop in from time to time. And I’m also really enjoying my role as a producer. It’s a job that, when you do it right, is very creative. The Watchmen film is a great example. It’s a brilliant interpretation of a cult novel that does justice to the original while also drawing in a much wider audience. That’s what being creative as a producer can do.”
This and more in the MIPTV daily News, online now!
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