TRANSCRIPT OF MARG’S INTERVIEW ON LE GRAND DIRECT DES MEDIAS HOSTED BY JEAN-MARC MORANDINI
May 6, 2011
Thanks so much to forum member NadiaRichard for translating this for us.
Host: Please welcome our guest, Marg Helgenberger!
Host: Hi Marg. It’s true that you’ve been in CSI since the beginning. Will you be staying for next season?
Marg: That’s the question everybody’s asking since I’ve been here. I am going to be returning for season 12, not for the entire season, but definitely for several episodes.
Host: And what did you ask to continue? Money?
Marg: No, I didn’t ask for more money. No, no, I just said, ‘Don’t give me less money.’
Host: We know that there a meaningful departure in the series with Grissom’s departure. Do you have a feeling that since he left that the series has lost some of its interest?
Marg: I don’t believe that it’s not as interesting. Yes, obviously when he left there was a bit of a loss because he was a character loved by so many people, but Laurence Fishburne, who is an excellent actor and a really wonderful person, I think is really…, you know, especially now that we’ve been, he’s been on the show for three season now, we’ve found our way and we’ve just finished season 10 here, I just finished season 11, which is very exciting.
Host: But the ratings have been going down since Grissom left.
Marg: Well, that’s true. We did take a bit of a ratings hit, but you know, the thing is the show’s been going on for so long, that any show loses an audience after a while.
Host: Is it true that you have almost no men in your life in CSI?
Marg: I have a boyfriend now though, in this season.
Host: In the new season? Were you the one that asked for a man?
Marg: I did ask! I’ve been asking for since season 3.
Host: In the new season in the US, we’ve seen Justin Bieber in two episodes? What was it for? To get more ratings or is it because he’s a good actor?
Marg: Justin Bieber wasn’t bad.
Host: Just ‘not bad’?
Marg: He’d never acted before. (laughs) I shouldn’t be saying this, but he was kind of a brat.
Host: On set?
Marg: Yes.
Host: Did it get on your nerves?
Marg: Oh, actually, I only had one small… he was very nice to me, but he locked one of the producers in a closet. Yes, and he put his fist through a cake that was on the food table.
Host: You’ve been an actress for years, had a lot of experience, does it make you nervous to have people on the series that aren’t actors, that are only there because they are well known?
Marg: You know what? It doesn’t. I’m actually pretty open to everyone that comes on the show, as long as somebody’s.., if somebody’s you know, a jerk then that bothers me. If they’re just a so-so actor, that doesn’t bother me.
Host: And Justin is an actor?
Marg: He’s actually better than you think, yes.
Host: He’s not that terrible.
******
There’s one more long question (took the host nearly 2 1/2 minutes to ask it) so it was too much to translate. The question was apparently about Marg’s time on ER as George Clooney’s love interest. Marg’s answer to the epic question: “Yes, he’s a good kisser. Not as good as my boyfriend though.”