INTERVIEW WITH MARG HELGENBERGER
May 31, 2007
by Thomas Leupp
The 48-year-old mother of three Marg Helgenberger is one of the premier MILFs on network TV, where she stars on the hit show āCSI.ā As street-smart criminologist Catherine Willows, sheās capable of making even the most tedious forensics-related dialogue seem sexy. Oh yeah baby, tell me again about the DNA you found on that piece of lint. Oh yeah, you know what I like? But I digress. In the new thriller āMR. BROOKS,ā Helgenberger brings her milfiness to the big screen, playing the devoted wife of a closet serial killer Earl Brooks (played by Kevin Costner) and mother to their lovely daughter Jane (played by achingly hot Danielle Panabaker). Last week she stopped by Le Meridien Hotel in Beverly Hills to talk about Kevin Costner, serial killers, and the upcoming season of āCSI.ā Check it out.
How did you get involved with this project?
āJust my typical fashion in that my agent had given me the script and was a fan of it, and said āItās a really cool script, Kevinās attached to the title character.ā The combination that it was one of the few scripts that I read that truly was a page-turner, continued to surprise me and was unpredictable. The characters were compelling which was darkly comic in some places which is my favorite form of humor. The fact that Kevin was attached to the part was very intriguing to me because heās mostly known as a heroic, kind of iconic good guy or whatever. If theyāre bad guys, they have a good side to them.
This character does have some good sides to him, but ultimately, heās the ultimate bad guy because heās so diabolical and so disturbed. So it was the combination of those two things. And the experience itself was fantastic. Kevin was just the coolest guy, so interested and supportive and inclusive of my ideas, thoughts and opinions. The process of improvising the scenes was great and just made you feel like āOh yeah, remember when we did this in acting class or in college?ā It was just cool and I felt like I was in such wonderful company with all the actors.ā
Did you have a favorite scene that you shot?
āI did. It was the scene in the car after the event in which Kevinās character is honored and weāre chatting and then all of a sudden, here comes Bill Hurt — William Hurt, rather. It was interesting how are we going to stage this, all of a sudden now, whatās this? Are we in a Steven King film? What the heckās going on here, whatās the audience going to see, why is she not aware of this guy? So the staging of it, but also the playing of it, because Iām oblivious to him.
Here I am with these two great actors, these intense guys and here I am just talking about the event itself and the speech and theyāre doing the plotting. I like car scenes, especially if you like the people that are in the scene with you because they are intimate, physically intimate, because you are on top of each other, youāre stuck inside a car that is attached to a tow truck and thereās nowhere to go. It was a Friday night in Shreveport and weāre shooting and there was a lot of revelry going on around the town. Everyone was in a good mood and it was fun. Both these guys are great, intense and sexy, whatās not to like about all that?ā
How difficult was it to act oblivious to William Hurt?
āThat was tough, because heās so damn good and heās so intense and so sensitive. I was intimidated by him because heās such a presence and so smart. But he was really sweet and very much part of the process and really likes his fellow actors. And if thereās a sequel, I certainly will be oblivious to him too unless they come up with a clever way of a fantasy sequence where I can actually play off him.ā
Spoilers Ahead!!!
As the mother, what would your feelings be in terms of how your character protects her daughter?
āIf there is a sequel, thatās where they will focus their attention, on the familyās dynamics. Clearly in the scenes I do have in the film, I do talk about our daughter and why sheās not at this event and how disappointed I am and heās the one who always defends her. Thatās clearly the relationship that weāve had all along. Whatever she does is right. A mother-child bond is greater than a husband-wife bond, far more intuitive and I think someone can be completely smitten by a love for someone of the opposite sex, or same sex depending upon your partner, so I think thatās where the suspicions are going to come from, the daughterās aberrant behavior. Iām interested to see how it will play out and I know Kevin is interested in seeing that as well and hopefully that will happen. Because what do you do when your child is a murderer? Thatās almost worse than having your child murdered. Itās horrible, I canāt imagine what that must be like. Iām not trying to belittle having your child murdered because that must be horrible, bust geez, thatās tough.ā
Did you know that they were planning on potential sequels to Mr. Brooks?
āNot really. Way back when we met at lunch, he eluded to something where the two of us would go off in the car falling off into the lake because I know whatās up and instead of giving himself up and me giving him up because I donāt know necessarily if I would give him up out of love, I guess I would not give him up. But he makes the choice, but I donāt want to speak too much because that is something he eluded to but I donāt know if thatās their plan.ā
Do you think your character was more aware than she let on?
āIn this movie? No, no. I do believe that Emma (her character) was aware of a darkness that he retreats to from time to time. I donāt think the thought ever crosses her mind that heās capable of murder and a serial type of murderer. I think in every marriage or long relationship, part of what makes it a success is that you allow the person their own differences or their own hobbies and you kind of let them be and give them their space and I think thatās what Emma does. She thinks that itās business trips or whatever and she just allows that because for the most part, heās the perfect man.ā
What else have you been working on during your time off from āCSIā?
āI just did a movie with Val Kilmer called āColumbus Dayā and that was a little indie directed by a very talented young guy and a small, but really nice part for me. It was completely the antithesis of what I do on āCSI,ā more of a non-glamorous part, a good person but she has kind of a meager existence as the ex-wife.
Itās an odd little story in that heās a criminal whoās pulled off a heist and wanting to sell whatās inside the briefcase and making deals, heās waiting in Echo Park and meets up with a young boy and they strike up a conversation that leads up to this relationship which ends up being very cathartic to him and he realizes the importance of people in his life that meant something to him, one of them being his ex-wife. So most of it was over the phone, these conversations in which heās wooing me back and traveling down memory lane. I eventually do succumb and I come and pick him up at the end of the film. He was great. He was charming and funny and all that stuff.ā
Can you tell us if there are any āCSIā storylines from last season that are going to continue?
āThe only ones that will continue because this whole season we did this little miniature serial killer and her signature was to leave behind a miniature of the crime scene which was actually kind of clever and interesting and drew you in. It was a good season actually; it was one of our strongest yet. Anyway, they need to wrap that up because one of the central characters was essentially kidnapped and whether sheās coming back or not, nobody knows. Nobody knows.
Can you compare the serial killers on CSI to Mr. Brooksā character?
āMost of the serial killers on our show have not been carried out for a whole season like this one which was unique. You never knew who this person was – you just assumed this was a guy and it wasnāt, it was a young woman. Unusual, but nonetheless, it was fun to do. Mr. Brooks, elegant, classy, very smart and someone you wouldnāt suspect because heās Portland ās Man of the Year. The man of the year cannot be a serial killer. My husband canāt be a serial killer.ā
Will there be more shuffling of the CSI cast, like you did last season?
āIām not exactly sure. Everyoneās contract is up this year and it will be interesting what happens after this one. Theyāve eluded to the fact that if Billy decides to leave that instead of bringing on another guy to replace him, theyāll bring on someone to do four-episode arcs like they did with Liev Schreiber this year, which was awesome. I loved working with him; he was funny, smart, great actor and everybody was inspired by that. Also, when you have new energy, it steps up everybodāyās game. That I look forward to. So anything is possible.ā
When you choose a movie role, are you consciously trying to break away from your character on āCSIā?
āThatās what was so nice about this part I did in the Val Kilmer movie because she was so non-glamorous, trying the online dating thing, and I donāt want to say meek because we had great dialogue together, but someone daffy. Sometimes on āCSI,ā Iām pretty confident, sassy, self-assured, and cerebral. And thatās what Iām asked to do. So yeah, something unexpected and someone who wouldnāt be glamorous, like a regular person.ā
Would you like to do comedy?
āOh yeah, Iād love to do a comedy. Absolutely. Comedy is so challenging. People have a real knack for it and Iād look forward to it.ā
Do you ever let your husband read scripts for roles that youāre offered?
āI didnāt with āMr. Brooks.ā I have with my husband before, certain other scripts, whether I should do them or not. My husband is an actor and I trust his opinion implicitly. Heās got great taste and heās directed before too. He knows me, he gets me and he knows what Iām capable of, so many times I do show it to my husband, but not this one. This one, I didnāt. This one came to me from my agent who was a fan of the script and Kevin was already attached. The combination of the two really sold it for me.ā