THE VIEW – TRANSCRIPT OF MARG’S INTERVIEW
ABC Television
November 13, 2003
Meredith: One of the things Marg Helgenberger has to investigate on the show āCSIā are the conversations that she has on the job. Take a look
(Clip from CSI is shown)
Meredith: I donāt know I have not tried it ( referring to the clip where Catherine says āIām not about to bop a six foot weasel). Please Welcome Marg Helgenberger!
Marg: Hello, Hi
Elizabeth: Hi
Joy: Hi Marg, how are you honey?
Marg: Good to see you.
Star: Hi honey, good to see you.
Meredith: Welcome back.
Marg: Thank you. Great to be back!
Meredith: Six foot weasel, Ooof.
Star: Freud was a freak.
Marg: Yeah, That episode was really a riot to do actually.
Meredith: What do you think? We were talking aboutā¦Oh, go finish up. What were you saying? Why was that a riot to you?
Marg: Oh itā¦just because I had some really fun one liners and this chance to explore this very bizarre subculture known as plushies and furries, that these people who really sort ofā¦
Meredith: I read an article. They go to conventions dressed up as animals. Itās true.
Marg: Yeah and they relate to one another. They choose particular animalsā¦that theyā¦lots of⦠with tails. Itās bizarre.
Joy: Wow.
Meredith: Itās a whole ānother world out there.
Marg: Yeah, Yeah.
Star: One that I donāt want to meet.
Marg: (laughs) No you donāt. Because we had some of them as extras and it was (laughs)
Meredith: You had the real ones?
Joy: The real people?
Marg: Yes we did.
Joy: What are they like?
Marg: Odd
Joy: Creepy
Marg: Very odd
Meredith: Did any of them come on to you? Like did the weasel?
Marg: No. They are very kind of shy reclusive kind of people and I think this was a way for them to kind of hook up.
Joy: Right
Star: Stephanie (points to a lady out in the audience), you cannot dress as a weasel when you come to my house.
Marg (Laughs)
Star: Iām telling you right now.
Marg: As a tiger maybe.
Meredith: Four seasons now with ‘CSI.’ Fourth season.
Marg: Four, I canāt believe it.
Elizabeth: Wow, thatās great.
Joy: Thatās pretty good.
Star: and itās the #1 show
Marg: It is. It is.
Meredith: Do you think at this point with all the experience you have had as a forensic scientist on television, if you were to go to a crime scene now, you could pass yourself off as an expert? Do you think you could?
Marg: Well, with all due respect to the real criminalists, Iād have to say no. But I, between the time I took this job and rode with a criminalist and the time I rode with a criminalist after 2 seasons. I was, you know, I knew so much more. And I could actually say, well did you check this out and did you check this out? And I actually sort of helped solve or gather evidence with one of the criminalists on a crime scene.
Elizabeth: So you went with a real one?
Meredith: A real crime scene…?
Marg: Yeah, a couple actually.
Joy: But if you in your personal life, like if youāre on a date nothing grosses you out anymore. A guy could vomit, I mean really.
Marg: No, that still grosses me out.
Joy: Does it really? So you have not gotten use to the disgustingness of life?
Marg: No, because that is all like prosthetics and itās fake this and fake that.
Star: But is still looks weird to us, Marg. Thatās what I was gonna ask you. Your writers, they must beā¦
Marg: Twisted
Star: Strange, twisted human beings because they come up with some of the most gruesome plot lines that I have ever seen on television. And worst are the floaters. Anytime you all find anybody in any water that freaks me completely out.
Marg: Yeah. We had a bloated floaterā¦there was one – we had an episode in which when we walked in the house, the crime scene, we were handed umbrellas by the detectives and it was raining. Turned out the guy was in a tub that had overflowed. So my line was, āItās raining man juice?ā
All: EEWW
Marg: Yeah, I know.
Elizabeth: Oh, thatās awful
Marg: Just the sensorama. And that was a particularly brilliant prosthetic piece that the make-up artist had done.
Star: Double nasty.
Marg: Double nasty. Even knowing it was fake, it was hard to look at.
Star: Well something that is not double nasty, but I know you always get embarrassed when you talk about it. You know you have been called the Sexiest redhead ever on television.
Marg: Ever? Wow!
Star: Yeah, Well you are the sexiest redhead. Well the quote is āthe sexiest redhead on network television.
Marg: Iāll take that. I donāt know if there is a whole lot on us on it. Butā¦
Elizabeth: Iāll take that anyday.
Star: Now I understand, I mean, I did not know this, that you were a brunette before, for a project.
Marg: Yes. I dyed my hair once forā¦to play Patsy Ramsey, JonBenetās mother.
Star: Thatās right.
(Picture of Marg as Patsy Ramsey shown)
Marg: Yeah, for a mini series called āPerfect Murder, Perfect Townā and it was bizarre going that dark in my personal life. Having to obviouslyā¦
Joy: Did people recognize you?
Marg: No
Joy: They didnāt?
Marg: They didnāt, No. And I actually got called maāam a lot more, which was a bummer.
Joy: Maybe they realized you looked like Patsy and were scared to talk to you.
Marg: In fact, we shot some of it in Boulder. You know where it took place. And in-between takes, I remember walking around as Patsy Ramsey and just kind of freaking a few out. She always wore like plaids and Talbot clothes.
Elizabeth: That would be a little scary.
Marg: Yeah.
Star: Thatās why they called you maāam.
Marg: (Laughs)
Star: A woman with dark hair and plaids, you get called maāam
Marg: (laughs)
Elizabeth: Now you can throw some pretty good parties. I understand you threw a pretty good one just a couple weeks ago for some young people.
Marg: I did. My son Hughie turned 13
(Picture of Marg and Hughie shown)
Marg: Yeah. He was barmitzvahed.
Elizabeth: Congratulations.
Star: Heās a redhead.
Marg: He is a redhead.
Elizabeth: Heās darling.
Marg: Yes. Heās a good boy.
Joy: Does this mean this is natural? (points to Margās hair)
Marg: Yeah. In fact, a lot of my family from Nebraska was visiting and everyone was saying, āWell thatās Margās relativeā because they are all strawberry blondes and redheads. But it was a great party. He did a great job.
Meredith: Thatās a very emotional time for a parent. It really is.
Elizabeth: Congratulations.
Marg: Yeah. Having all the family there and the party was awesome if I do say so myself.
Meredith: Now did you throw candy at him? I went to a barmitzvah recently and everybodyā¦
Marg: Yes
Meredith: You did?
Marg: Yes, pelted. These kids were pelting. I was like this (Marg holds hand in front of face) āhang on a second here.ā
Meredith: I was eating the candy. I didnāt realize you were supposed to throw the candy. So I am glad it is done more.
Marg: Well the Rabbi said, āThatās not to eat. Itās to shower the child with sweetness.ā
Joy: Hard Candy?
Marg: No, no,no. Those little gummy deals.
Star: Those things hurt.
Marg: Yeah, they did.
Meredith: Give your husband our best.
Marg: I will. Alanā¦
Meredith: Alan Rosenberg
(Picture of Marg and Alan shown)
Marg: The Guardian, Tuesday nights.
Meredith: Our thanks to Marg Helgenberger. āCSIā airs Thursday nights. Weāll be right back.
*Special thanks to fox1 for transcribing this interview for AAM.