Marg Helgenberger: “I Feel Like Getting Some Air”
The original interview was published in French and can be found on the France-Soir website.
After eleven years of embodying Catherine Willows in the original version of CSI, the actress now wants to distance herself.
By Gaëlle Guitard
France-Soir – May 7, 2011
Visiting the capital, Marg Helgenberger, who plays Catherine Willows on CSI: Las Vegas, talks about her character, the evolution of the series. And she laid her cards on the table.
FRANCE-SOIR: You announced your departure after season 10, but you’re in the credits of the 11th season (aired in the U.S. now). Do you still intend to go?
Marg Helgenberger: In fact, three major cast members have already left the show and the producers were afraid that I’d follow suit, so they insisted that I stay. I wanted to have time to travel, do theater… take some air! Eleven months a year was too much. So, I ended up doing 19 out of 22 episodes in season 11, and I will be present in only half of season 12.
F.-S.: If you’re on the show less, who could replace you?
MH: Logically, it should be Nick (George Eads).
F.-S.: Has the departure of William Petersen harmed the show in the U.S.?
MH.: The ratings were a bit down, but this decline is normal for a broadcast show that’s been there for so long. The viewers loved Grissom; he was smart and eccentric. William wanted to reconnect with his roots, doing theater in Chicago. For my part, I do not want to leave Los Angeles.
F.-S.: What is your relationship with Laurence Fishburne (who plays Raymond Langston)?
MH.: He is very cool. One day, a man was flirting with me. He and my ex-husband had the same name and other things in common. Laurence turned into Morpheus from Matrix and said, “It’s like a sword, there are two sides. One worn and dull and the other one shiny and new.” [Laughs] He’s a very deep guy.
F.-S.: Do you feel responsible when you hear that criminals have learned to hide their tracks from watching your show?
MH: CSI analyses the crime scene, so obviously we educate criminals, but also potential victims: at the beginning of season 7, Catherine wakes up in a motel, drugged and possibly raped, and she must find out how she ended up there. It was my idea. I received many messages from young women. The date rape drug is a scourge in the United States.
F.-S.: What is your greatest fear, as a woman and as an actress?
MH: As an actress, to be bad at my job [laughs]. As a woman, not giving good advices to my 20-year-old son, Hugh. ♦
