Fox's Fate Is Confirmed

Sara Sidle may have survived in the desert, but Jorja Fox is saying goodbye to CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Fox herself did not confirm that she was leaving CSI, but multiple sources have done so according to Ask Ausiello. Fox's contract expired at the end of season seven, and there have only been rumors since then about whether she would remain on CSI. Fox did not sign a new long-term deal with the show, and Sara will be making her exit in November.

When asked what caused her to leave the show when the season is partially over, Fox could not answer because she is still under contract. "I'm not actually allowed to talk about storylines that haven't aired yet," she explained. "So since I've already been sitting in a pile of secrecy since last April, I'm going to have to keep the secret a little longer. I apologize." Fox also would not state whether the rumors about her refusing to show up for filming at the end of season seven were true. She said that she makes it a point not to answer those types of questions. However, she did say that "it was true that my contract was up, and so CBS and I had been in active conversations since about January of '07."

Fox's contract ran out a year before the rest of the cast because of a tradition. "[E]very couple of years, people put in for a raise," she said. "And a couple of years ago everybody put in for a raise, and I decided not to take the raise that was offered me. And If I had taken that raise, it would've added a year to my contract. I'm the only one who didn't take the raise." While Fox said that CSI has been a rewarding experience, she explained that, at the time this raise was offered, she was having doubts. After the firing and re-hiring of herself and George Eads (Nick Stokes), she was not sure if she wanted to sign up for extra time on the show. "And the raise was terrible, to be frank," she added. "An extra year for that amount of money? No thank you. Thank you very much, it's very flattering, but no thank you."

Despite the fact that Fox is leaving the show, she said that she has enjoyed being a part of the CSI family. "I've been one of the luckiest people in the history of TV getting to play the character of Sara," she said. She particularly enjoyed the storyline between her character and Gil Grissom (William Petersen). "I feel like the writers have been extremely generous in terms of giving me a lot to do, especially all the interesting relationship stuff between Sara and Grissom," she said. "I've always had mountains of subtext to do, all under the umbrella of this procedural, which actually made it more fun."

The fate of Grissom and Sara's relationship is up in the air as Fox prepares to exit the show. Executive producer Jonathan Littman stated over the hiatus that the storyline between the two would end in season eight. "I can't contradict what one of our producers said, but I can only tell you from my experience, I don't think you're going to get that," Fox explained. "This might sound vain, but the story of Sara and Grissom is a little like a fable. And most great fables don't really have 100 percent resolution."

Fox did not reveal any information about her remaining episodes on the show, but she did speak about how the season is shaping up overall. "There's going to be a wealth of information that we're going to find out about Sara and Grissom in season eight," she said. "We shot five episodes so far, and I think it's going to be a really exciting, interesting season. The writers have done a phenomenal job. There have been so many twists and turns already, and little bombs that we've dropped, I'm already blown away. I'm like, 'Where's this going? We're only in episode five.'"

The full interview can be read at TVGuide.com. Fox's final episode is expected to air on November 9 and is rumored to be titled "Hello, Goodbye".

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