‘CSI: Las Vegas’: Marg Helgenberger Missed Catherine Willows But “I Wanted To Make Sure There Was A Reason She Would Come Back To The Job”
deadline.comWhen Marg Helgenberger left the first iteration of CSI back in Season 12, she did it because, well, she needed the break. She was the original female lead opposite Billy Petersen. “I played the role for so long.
It felt like it had become a part of my identity,” she told reporters Friday during CBS’ TCA panel.So when the CSI: Vegas producers called Helgenberger to join the cast in Season 2, it took a minute before she could commit to stepping inside the yellow tape again. (She couldn’t join the spinoff in the first season because she was busy on All Rise, which ultimately went to OWN.)“I wanted to make sure there was a reason Catherine would come back to the job,” explained Helgenberger, who modeled her character after a real-life forensics expert who stepped away from job at age 50. “It’s a tough gig.
Why would Catherine, at this age, come back? That was important to me. I had several conversations with [showrunner] Jason Tracey about that.
I really want to get it right and we did.”Since then, Helgenberger said everyone on the cast, which includes Paula Newsome and Matt Lauria, have been “excessively welcoming.
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