Ann Donahue: 'We Don't Think Actors Are Replaceable'

Ann Donahue recently attended the Talent Managers Association's An Evening With CBS, where she took the opportunity to praise the actors of CSI.

The show was faced last year with criticism following the firings of George Eads (Nick Stokes) and Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle), but the Miami producer reassured the audience that every CSI actor is important. "I am very proud of the CSI franchise in that we don't think actors are replaceable, like some other franchises do," Donahue said. "We don't think they're interchangeable -- they're unique."

Donahue may have referred to the Law and Order franchise, where actors join and leave the show on a regular basis. Another source of instable work is the 11-year-old ER. Last year, the producers of the show did not renew Alex Kingston's contract because they felt her character had, "run its course." The decision came as a surprise even to the actress, and had fans wondering if the letters ER stood for, "everyone's replaceable."

On CSI, however, the actors' contributions extend beyond the portrayal of their characters, which the producers feel makes them valuable assets to the development of the show. When William Petersen found Gil Grissom to be too perfect, he remedied that by going straight to the top. "We were writing him as a hero," Donahue said of Grissom. "[Petersen] brought all the writers in a room [together], and he said, 'Can I be wrong?' And we're like, 'No, you're a star.' And he said, 'No, no--I mean in the script, can I be wrong?'"

Making Grissom imperfect worked better in the long run, and years later the producer doesn't hesitate in giving Petersen the credit. "It really opened up a lot for us that Billy was confident enough to know that there's more power and there's more drama in not always being right," Donahue added. "That speaks to the power that an actor has -- actors are usually the smartest ones in the room."

To read the rest of the article, which includes quotes from other CBS casting directors, visit Backstage.com.

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