Actors Do Double Duty

You've got questions, they've got answers.

David Berman (David Phillips) and Jon Wellner (Henry Andrews) portray two supporting characters on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, but the actors have another important role to play in the creation of the show. "Every day, Jon and I get questions," Berman told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "It's our job to find the answers."

Berman and Wellner are researchers for CSI. They spend forty hours or more each week making phone calls, sending e-mails and searching the internet to find out anything the CSI writers need to know to make each episode as accurate as possible. "We basically have a list of 250 contacts in all areas of law enforcement and forensic science," Wellner said. Research for storylines could require them to consult experts in various fields, such as law, trace evidence, DNA, ballistics, toxicology, fingerprinting, odontology (forensic dentistry) and handwriting analysis.

The show can't be 100% accurate, even with careful research. "Sometimes you have to take, not so much short cuts, but sometimes you need to exaggerate and expand," Berman said. "It's on CBS. This is a fictitious drama. This isn't the History Channel." Even so, Wellner told Beaver County Times, "We’re definitely one of the most realistic shows out there." That also includes the equipment used by the CSI lab. Although beyond the reach of most forensic labs' budget, everything seen on the show is real and state-of-the-art. "It’s one of the most well-funded labs in the world," Wellner said.

"We feel very lucky to do our jobs, both the researching and the acting," Berman said. "We kind of have a unique perspective where we work intimately behind the camera with the writers and in front of the camera. And we think there are very few people in Hollywood who could share that perspective."

The original articles are from Beaver County Times and Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

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