‘THE TALK’ (TRANSCRIPT OF MARG’S INTERVIEW)
December 9, 2010
Julie: Welcome back to The Talk. Our first guest is an Emmy award winning actress, best known for her role as Catherine Willows for eleven seasons on the CBS hit drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Please welcome, Marg Helgenberger!
(applause)
Julie: Please, have a seat.
Marg: Okay.
Julie: Now, you and I have known each other…
Marg: Yes!
Julie: for so many years, and I cannot believe – since we first became friends and your little guy was an itty, bitty guy – and your son is now 20 years old.
Marg: Yes.
Sharon: Excuse me!
Julie: She has a 20 year old son.
Sharon: 20?
Marg: 20. Well, oh…I just saw some pictures…because I brought two pictures – one was after the first season. I don’t know; they just showed it – and then the one was just taken last week and I just…Yeah, that’s when it puts it all into perspective because…
Sharon: 20 years old! You look amazing.
Marg: Oh, thank you!
Sara: What’s your relationship like with him now that he’s like an adult?
Marg: It’s actually… well, when he was in high school, we kind of butted heads a little bit, you know, because he was…he had a tendency to play too many video games, and I didn’t know if the homework was getting done… But umm, now it’s actually pretty great. Because he’s… he’s home. The college he was at didn’t work out, and so I’m selfishly – because I only have one…
Sharon (pointing at Julie): “You’re laughing.”
Marg: But he’s doing well though. He’s taking classes at Santa Monica College, and he’s got this job that he’s…It has been really good for him, so umm…we have a much better relationship now than we did when he was a teenager.
Sharon: Listen, life is the best university.
Marg: Well said. Good answer. Yes. Absolutely.
Julie: What is the greatest lesson you’ve learned raising a 20 year old boy?
Marg: The greatest lesson I’ve learned… Gosh. So many. Oh boy. I, you know, when he was…going back to when he was a teen, because sometimes it’s hard to get through to them, you know, because they’re… And I try to have, like, a lot of sympathy for what they’re going through with all of the hormonal changes and the peer pressure, and so on and so on. Ummm, but I remember one time – when he was a little boy, I used to take some of his stuffed animals and I would put voices to them, you know, to try to understand what he was upset about and stuff. So I decided to do that when he was like, one time when he was like fifteen or something.
(Everyone laughs)
Marg: I’m not joking! And there was like a stuffed bear that was, like, wedged up in the closet and I grabbed it and I put a voice to it and I said, you know, in some goofy voice, ‘So you’re upset at your mom, right?’
(Everyone laughs)
Marg (laughs too): Right? And he responds!
Leah: He did?!
Marg: Yes! He says, ‘Yeah. Yeah, well, she doesn’t understand because… blah, blah, blah, blah.’
(Everyone laughs)
Marg: I swear! So when your kids are teens, you know…
Sharon: I tell you, Marg, I hope he’s not watching…
(Everyone, including Marg, laughs)
Sharon: You will be in so much trouble!
(Marg laughs)
Leah (imitating Hugh): Mom, I was only kidding! We were playing around!
Marg (laughs): But I understood what was bothering him because he wouldn’t tell me otherwise. I just…it’s actually…I’m saying this as advice to people when they’re…who are dealing with their teenager in ways that…because sometimes it’s hard, right?
Sara: Yeah.
Leah: Oh my God. Are you kidding me? (Laughs).
Sharon: Sometimes? All the time! (Marg laughs)
Sara: I’m curious. I know you recently got divorced after 20 years of marriage, and I want to know what it’s been like to get back in the dating scene.
Marg: Ummm, well…. I do have a boyfriend. (Audience applauds). Umm, yeah.
Sharon: I am not surprised.
Marg: Ummm. We’ve been – actually it’s been a year that we’ve been seeing each other.
Sharon: Congratulations!
Marg: Thank you. Thank you. Yes, and we have incredible fun together actually.
Julie: Can you tell us anything about him? Do we know who he is?
Marg: Uhhh, you probably don’t because he’s not in the business.
Julie: Okay. That’s refreshing.
Sharon: Smart move.
Marg: Yes. Yes. (Looks at Julie pointedly). He uhh…his name is Alan…
Julie: Which is the name of your ex-husband.
(Everyone laughs)
Marg: Yes. Mmmhmm.
Julie: That keeps certain things simple.
Marg: Yep. Mmmhmm. Yes.
Sharon: Get out of here!
Marg: Yes, his name’s Alan. Mmmhmm. And he’s a Jewish guy from New York, as was my ex-husband.
(Everyone laughs again)
Julie: I think we just figured out Marg Helgenberger’s type! Marg Helgenberger, everybody! CSI airs Thursday nights at 9:00PM right here on CBS. We’ll be right back.