Sinise Looks Forward To Stable Role

Gary Sinise, who portrays tough New York CSI Mac Taylor, admitted that its not easy for even an actor of his talent and reputation to get steady work in feature films.

"Movie stars are made when they are young, basically," Sinise told Voice of America's Penelope Poulou. "I never had that kind of career that some of the younger stars like Tom Cruise and people like that have had," Sinise continued. "I've been a character actor playing supporting roles and occasionally [a] leading role. I haven't done a movie where I was the lead character that made a lot of money. You could be the worst actor in the world, but if you're in a movie that makes a lot of money you'll get another job. They'll offer you another movie. So, for actors like me it's always going to be a little uncertain."

Despite the nature of the motion picture industry, Sinise's decision to take the lead in CSI: New York wasn't necessarily an easy one. "That was a tough decision for me because I've had some good success in the movies and things have gone pretty well," Sinise said of his career. "But the past couple of years the opportunities that have been presented to me haven't been that interesting."

When the actor was offered the role of Mac Taylor, he pondered a long-term move to television. "[W]hen I was presented with the opportunity to do CSI I said, 'Do I want to settle into one character for what could be a long period of time if the show is a hit?' And that was a tough decisio," he said. Ultimately, the benefits outweighed any negatives. "[I]t's a very good deal," Sinise said of the stability offered by a lead role in a successful franchise. "And it's a wonderful opportunity for me to be at home with my kids and work--[have] steady work, rather than having to worry a lot about the next movie job and those movie offers that aren't coming in. Now I know that I have a job and I'm going to be there and let's see what happens."

Sinise added that CSI creator Anthony Zuiker intends to differentiate the third CSI series from its predecessors by adding depth and detail to the characters' personal lives. "[Zuike is going to] be our main producer and he [is going to be] writing a lot of the episodes. So, he's determined to make this a little bit different than the other two [shows]," Sinise revealed."[He wants to make it] a little bit more character-driven, where you actually see a little bit of how working as a crime scene investigator might affect these people. And certainly we will explore a little bit what has happened to my character in the past," Sinise said of his character, whose wife was killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centers.

To read the complete transcript, please visit Voice of America online!

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