Corriere TV Spotlight: CSI, Sherlock Holmes For the 21st Century

This interview was done by Italy’s Corriere TV and was posted on July 21, 2010. You can watch the interview on the Corriere TV website or by clicking here. The transcript showed on this page was transcribed by Anne and is owned by Margamania. Please credit us when you use the content of the transcript.

Corriere TV – July 21, 2010

I know. I have done ten seasons. I guess we’re doing something right.

I always describe…I always describe CSI as a modern day Sherlock Holmes…it’s twenty…it’s Sherlock Holmes for the twenty-first century. Um, obviously it’s a mystery show, and we solve the crime through use of forensic science and with the use of all the visual effects and the, uh, what’s now been called the “CSI shot”. Um, you know, with the…a bullet traveling through the body. Um, that’s the twenty-first-century technology that we’ve incorporated into old-fashioned storytelling.

I had a very strong hunch when I read the script of CSI, the original script, that it had a very, um, very strong chance of becoming um, a success. I wouldn’t have guessed it to be um, as successful as it is. It has become in that…you know, it’s a world-wide success as well as how it’s inspired generations of uh, kids to become criminalists. And…I wouldn’t have anticipated it to become a global hit, but you know, as I always say, too, that a great mystery show will always be popular.

Catherine is a very strong woman. Yeah she is a role model and I…I feel a responsibility towards the young people. I want to make sure that I’m presenting this character in the best possible light, and uh, somebody who’s got all the qualities I would…I’d like to see in a young person. You know, uh, intelligence, someone who’s thorough, someone who’s passionate about what they do, someone who’s um, competent, somebody who’s got incredible integrity and strength…

Well, in television, there are multitudes of opportunities for women. Not just in front of the camera, I mean, clearly there’s more…much more opportunities for actresses on, uh, on television, than there are on film, unfortunately. But um, but fortunately for us, television exists.

Many of the stories on CSI are based on, um, real crimes. In fact, those are the ones that I, as an actor, feel most compelled to do justice to because either I have access to the police reports or I have access to perhaps even some of the people who were involved in solving that crime, um, to hear, you know, their stories and hear what they went through when they were involved in that case, which you can’t help but be riveted to and to, you know, do them justice, and be honest and truthful.

Because audiences are fascinated with the show and fascinated with how we solve crimes and the use of forensic science, they come to expect certain things out of, um, out of crime scene procedurals, the way real cops solve crimes, the way real criminalists solve crimes, but, you know, obviously we take liberties in storytelling, we have to speed up the process of analysis because, you know, normally it takes two weeks perhaps to get like a toxicology report or a DNA result.

I think people are now smart enough to realize that there are steps that you cannot cut out when you’re dealing with life and death – real life and death. So I think the whole “CSI Effect” is, I think that term has sort of died down a little bit.

[Laughs] Well, having down 220 plus episodes over the past ten seasons, we’ve explored worlds in which I never would have been exposed to. There were, there was an episode we did a few years back, in which we explored the world of “plushies” and “furries” which very few people know about because it’s a very small subculture of kind of a reclusive personality. It kind of was one of those jaw-dropping sort of sights in which we were both left kind of speechless but it helped us when we were shooting the episode because it would…When something is so foreign to you, it’s hard to relate to it, but once it’s sort of within your grasp, you have a visual on it, you’ve actually spoken to people that are a part of that world, then it becomes somewhat a part of you and then you’re able to portray it and able to bring it to life.

I once shot a movie in Kentucky with Steven Seagal which was kind of a unique experience. It’s hard to like, get into too many details about that, but he’s a unique individual, Steven Seagal, and there’s quite a few stories that came out of that particular movie experience.

I actually knew, I know, a lot of the producers and writers on ER, because the first television series I did in the States was called China Beach and they all were a part of that program. And I knew a lot of the crew. So I felt very comfortable there when I walked onto the set. And it was the second season of ER when it was just the hottest show in the world, right, and uh, George Clooney was becoming a huge star at the time and had, I think, had just shot one film, or maybe, I’m not exactly sure. He was becoming a movie star. And he was great. He was fun, he was energetic, he was easy to work with, he was quite beloved on the set. And he made it a real enjoyable experience.

Yes, I worked with Steven Spielberg a very long time ago, I’d say twenty, at least twenty years ago in a film called Always. Which was a very good film, Richard Dreyfuss was in it, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman. I remember one time when we were shooting in kind of a remote area in Washington State and Steven was, uh, we were getting ready to shoot this one particular scene and I remember just, Steven just standing there, just saying to whoever was willing to listen, saying “God, I love making movies.” And it was, he’d already made so many great films at that point and I think he just, that kind of boyish enthusiasm and his complete love for the storytelling, for the craft of movie-making, and I don’t think that’s something that a person can ever lose is a touch. It’s certainly somebody as successful as Steven.

Jerry Bruckheimer, who is the producer of CSI, is similar in that way, in that he’s, you know, loves the craft of movie-making, and loves the marketing of movie-making and loves sort of the bigness…both he and Steven share that bigness of what the cinema can do. And Jerry was very successful in taking the visual of, that he does so well for his films and bringing that to the small screen.

It’s been a pleasure working with, I mean, both of them, it was a pleasure working with.

Well, having just met with the producers a couple of weeks ago back in Los Angeles, they gave me some hints at what was, they were planning. There’s some special guest stars which I don’t want to reveal because it will spoil the surprise but in terms of the, what’s going to be happening, I know in the beginning of the season we’re going to wrap up how our tenth season ended, cause it was a bit of a cliffhanger.

And also Catherine has a boyfriend on the show now which I couldn’t be happier with because it’s something that I’ve wanted for a while and it’s just I wanted to show a little bit more intimate side of Catherine cause she’s always so kind of contained and together and this shows her vulnerability and shows her passion. That’s what, I can speak on behalf of what Catherine’s about. I can’t speak for anything else…      ♦