McDowell Discusses His Visit To ‘Miami’

Malcolm McDowell agreed to appear in the CSI: Miami episode “LA” because it was helmed by his good friend, horror director Rob Zombie.

McDowell was one of several big-name guest stars who participated in the episode. “I had a great time because of my friend Rob,” McDowell told Fangoria. “If it hadn’t been for him, of course, I wouldn’t have gone near it. To be honest with you, I’m used to doing Heroes and Entourage; that’s cutting-edge stuff. [The CSI: Miami team] do a terrific show for what it is, but I wouldn’t want to do another one.”

The episode gave Zombie a chance to try his hand at directing a crime drama instead of his usual horror films. “I believe Rob wanted to show that he can do something besides a horror movie, which he can; he’s a damn good director,” McDowell said. “But unless you actually show it to people, for some reason they can’t connect the dots. He did a fantastic job, and the episode was really good, we had some fun and he let me improvise a bit, which I was amazed at for network television.”

“The writer, Barry O’Brien, was there and he’s a very nice guy, the producers were great and we had a very good crew,” he continued. “I believe it was smart of them to get somebody like Rob to take them out of their comfort zone. Maybe some of the [regular] cast didn’t appreciate that, but it sure worked.”