Petersen Hoped For 'Niche Audience'

"I've got a wife, a dog, a cat, and a grandson, all of which is good...I haven't been this comfortable in a long time," CSI: Crime Scene Investigation star William Petersen declared, though he admitted that his bowlegged condition is unlikely to improve.

Speaking to The Philadelphia Inquirer via The Ledger Online, Petersen said that he spent "the better part of 50 years trying to ruin my body", citing numerous injuries from football and baseball.

And despite his success on CSI, the actor maintains that his happiest show-business memories stem from a theatre company he ran in Chicago for 16 years.

"I wonder how many women would want to wallow around in maggot farms at night, because that's really all Grissom could give them," he laughed about his current character, Gil Grissom, noting that the show's enormous success initially surprised him.

"We thought we would have a niche audience of loyal viewers like X-Files or West Wing. But we have a huge audience that crosses all kinds of boundaries. It's unique. It's bizarre."

Now he credits the viewership to the quality of the show "and the characters and their chemistry." Each week, he said, "is a puzzle, a really well done puzzle."

However, he added that he prefers his privacy and is somewhat cynical about the movie business, having turned down numerous offers to play cliched cops.

To read more about how Petersen got the drama bug and how many Kennedys he has played, read the full article here.

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