VIVA LAS VEGAS!
November 14, 2000
“As long as a series is fun and creative, I can log in the hours.”
MARG HELGENBERGER won an Emmy playing a hooker on “China Beach,” but finds herself on the right side of the law in the new CBS series “CSI.”
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: Movies have kept you going for a while now, both theatrical and TV. Had you done other pilots in recent seasons? Have you wanted to get back into series work?
MARG: I have and they both were for CBS. In one of them, actually, I played a forensics expert, with GARY DOURDAN, who is in “CSI.” And in the one, I played a cop. So, I seem to always be in law enforcement of some kind.
MARG: It is funny because a lot of times people forsake television series because it can be a grind. Near the ninth or tenth month everybody is burnt out, but everyday on “China Beach” was an adventure. As long as a series is fun and creative, I can log in the hours. I also wanted to stay in town. Most television and cable movies shoot out of town these days. My kid and ALAN(ROSENBERG), my husband, who is an actor, are in town, so I just wanted to stay in town. I like series. I like to become a family for nine or ten months.
ET: How different was the forensics expert that you played in that first pilot from the person you’re playing now?
MARG: Well, let’s see, I also was a single mother, but my child was missing and had been missing for three or four years or something. And I was also a helicopter pilot — a lot of things.
ET: What was important for you in doing another series because obviously, K.C. is one of those TV characters people remember fondly, and I’m sure you wanted to build on that rather than do anything to…
MARG: Right. It was such a great part that is was hard to find another one that could be as interesting and as challenging. And hopefully — I mean, I know this one has the potential to be that. There were many reasons, obviously. This was geographically desirable, because it shoots here. I loved the script and I loved the people involved — Billy (WILLIAM PETERSEN) and JERRY (BRUCKHEIMER).
MARG: Also just the fact that I’ve done a series before, and I always found it to be such a creative process between the writers and the actors, just an ongoing sort of throwing back of ideas and throwing out ideas and going with it. It’s exciting, actually, you know, because you say, “How about that?” “All right, commit.” And then you do it, and it’s really fun. I actually find it’s sometimes a lot more fun that doing movies because you don’t have time to think, you know, or sit in your trailer.
ET: Had you worked with Bruckheimer before and what do you think his contribution to the series will be?
MARG: Obviously Bruckheimer comes from a long history of action films, quite successful action films I might add, so certainly Jerry’s influence will make an impact on how the show goes. I had worked with him on a movie called ‘Bad Boys
ET: And lastly, did you go on any ride-alongs yourself in getting ready for either this or the first forensics expert you played?
MARG: I’ve ridden with cops before, in both Hollywood on a Saturday night and Oakland on a Saturday night, and interviewed detectives. And tomorrow, actually, I’m going to Vegas to meet this woman, Yolanda, who ANTHONY (ZUIKER) based Catherine Willows on, and to visit the crime lab. You know the research is a blast. That’s one of the great things about being an actor is you get to vicariously live through these other people’s lives and not take home the paycheck and risk your life. (laughs)
ET: Is this more physical than roles you’ve had in the past?
MARG: We are not cops, we are criminologists, and so we do all the stuff that is kind of painstaking stuff. We are collecting fibers, saliva samples, prints and so forth. You have to be excruciatingly careful with what you are collecting because it can be all thrown out if you screw up, but I don’t want to imply that the show is going to be plodding. I hope it has a lot of action to it. There are obviously going to be times when my character is going to be in jeopardy and I’m going to have to make fast decisions, I love energetic kind of acting — anything where you can put action behind the words. It is more fun to watch and it is more fun to play.
ET: You did an episode of “Frasier” last year. How did you like working on a sitcom?
MARG: “Frasier” was a blast. The writing was great. It was very NOEL COWARD and the cast on that is superb. They were just superb, what can I say? They’ve really got it down. They were very welcoming and kind and made it easy.