Sinise Happy To Walk 'Into A Known Commodity'

Gary Sinise might never learn the minute details of his character Mac Taylor's life, but he accepts CBS's decision to keep CSI: New York in line with its predecessors, focusing more on the cases than the characters.

"I think in my subconscious I knew," Sinise told Entertainment Weekly of CBS's decision. "You can't suddenly throw a brand new version of CSI out there and hope it flies. You have to rely on the blueprint that makes those other two shows work, which is one of the reasons I decided to do it in the first place. It was walking into a known commodity."

Sinise has been disappointed with the selection of film roles offered him in recent years. Describing the offerings as "kind of lean," he tired of the Hollywood game. "I played the game for a while, but it became something I didn't care about," he commented.

That didn't mean he was an easy sell on the television role, however. Sinise was offered the role of Mac Taylor after fellow thespians Andy Garcia and Ray Liotta passed. "I wasn't thinking about settling down and playing the same character," Sinise revealed.

A few selling points and CBS's willingness to work with him changed his mind. Some of Sinise's concerns centered around his "quality of life," according to CBS President Les Moonves. "One of the things he wanted was to [film] in the Valley so that he could get to his kids faster at the end of the day," Moonves said. CBS agreed to Sinise's request.

New York showrunner Anthony Zuiker was quite pleased when Sinise signed on. "I was having a nervous breakdown," he said of the duration of the talks with Sinise. And when Sinise finally accepted the role? "I almost started crying," Zuiker confessed.

To read the full article, pick up Entertainment Weekly issue #790, or visit EW.com for more coverage of the CSI shows.

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