Petersen: “I Spend More Time Playing Grissom Than Playing Me.”

As most fans are aware by now, CSI star William Petersen is currently enjoying a sabbatical from the show to return to his theater roots for a five-week run of Conor McPherson’s “A Dublin Carol.” Petersen feared that if he went any longer without doing theater, he might develop stage fright or lose his skills.

Petersen says it’s hard doing the same thing week after week. He enjoys having different kinds of feelings and thoughts. “It’s great that they’d let me do this, that a lead actor would be allowed to leave in the middle of the season to do other work,” he says. “I think they know how much theater means to me. If you can’t revive yourself and take some risks, then you get too stale.”

CSI Executive Producer Carol Mendelsohn said, “Billy Petersen brings his immeasurable talent to ‘CSI’ weekly. He has infused Grissom with nuanced life and made him the smartest, coolest nerd on TV. And like Grissom, Petersen is the leader of our team.”

Petersen is equally valued in theater. According to Robert Falls, artistic director of Goodman Theater, who has worked with Petersen in Chicago, “Billy is one of the most physically fearless actors around. … But there’s a real delicacy, sensitivity, and beauty in his work.” Falls continues on to say, “Even in stillness, you can’t take your eyes off Billy. There’s an explosiveness under the surface.”

To read the story in full, visit The Press Enterprise.

Additionally, Trinity Rep has photographs on Petersen in “A Dublin Carol” available on their site. To view the pictures, head over to Trinity Rep.

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