Petersen: I Was Saying Hello To Myself

William Petersen (Gil Grissom) was sad to leave CSI: Crime Scene Investigation during the show's ninth season, but he's glad he made the decision to return to the theatre.

Saying goodbye was "bittersweet," Petersen told TODAYonline. "I miss Grissom. I liked him very much and I lived with him for so long." However, the actor said he does not regret moving on. "I was saying goodbye to Grissom but I was saying hello to myself," Petersen explained. "I had to decide whether I was going to play Grissom for the rest of my life or whether I wanted to go to back to being an actor in theatre and do some other things."

Petersen immediately went to Chicago to do a play after he filmed his final episode of CSI, so he didn't have to absorb the change right away. "It was only after the play was over and I went back to Los Angeles that I realised I wasn't in the show any more," the actor revealed. "The hardest part is I miss the cast and crew. It's such a different feeling when I go back and visit the set."

Petersen is pleased with Laurence Fishburne's addition to the show as Dr Raymond Langston. "Laurence is such as tremendous actor and a great guy," he said. "And it's a daunting task for him to come in to replace – well, not that it's hard to replace me, but the character of Grissom leaving, leaves a hole in some people. I think he's done a great job in the transition. We didn't want someone like Grissom, and it's a process for him to sort out how that's going to work."

The full interview is from TODAYonline.

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