William Petersen: Basically, we are a whole world of people desperately trying to figure out what is the dark side of our natures and how much can we explore without becoming something else.
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William Petersen: I assume that part of it is due to the quality of the show and the characters and their chemistry. People like the way it twists and turns on itself. Each week is a puzzle, a really well-done puzzle.
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William Petersen: I didn't want to play a lawyer. I didn't want to play a doctor. I didn't want to play a single dad. I wanted to do something I felt I could learn from, something that would be a challenge and something that would not dry up.
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William Petersen: I'd lulled myself into the insularity of competence. I'd forgotten that, to do good work as an actor, you have to keep alive that part of yourself that's rebellious, that's an outlaw, that's... that's stark, raving crazy.
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William Petersen: If I stayed a football player, my career would have been over 20 years ago. As it is, my knees are shot. I found I got the same good feeling in acting that I had in sports, but I found I could have a more profound impact on people.
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William Petersen: I get a lot of stuff from Germany - stuffed bugs and tarantulas.
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William Petersen: I have to say, I'm an Illinois resident, ... But when I was a child, as we crossed the state line, we always felt the air was better up here.
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William Petersen: I snuck into Bonnie and Clyde as a kid. I was underage. I wasn't supposed to be there. It's unbelievable to work with her. I'm just watching saying this is fabulous, look how good she is.
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William Petersen: It's just two pieces of paper, ... I don't know what the big deal is.
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William Petersen: It's really about the evidence. It's about making sure that the toothpick gets its close-up.
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William Petersen: I've been telling anybody who would listen that I wanted to do a series for the last 10 years. But I wouldn't do it if I was just another cop pushing bad guys up against the wall.
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William Petersen: I've never been in this business for the recognition or the awards. I just want to do good work, grab a decent paycheck, and move onto the next job.
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William Petersen: I want to live and work in Chicago for the rest of my life. You know when you were growing up and you wanted to become president? What I want now is to be mayor of this damned town in ten years.
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William Petersen: I wonder how many women would want to wallow around in maggot farms at night, ... because that's really all Grissom could give them. Women think, 'Boy, could I make improvements on this guy,' and of course Grissom is scared to death of any improvements being made.
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William Petersen: Maybe they know my name, maybe they don't, but we're going to get that damned play on, even if I have to hit a liquor store.
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William Petersen: Now I'm seen by more people in one episode than I was in 20 years of theater and movies. It's gratifying to have an impact on 25 million people a night, but I can say goodbye to my lunch-pail life as a working actor. I'm scared I might be a celebrity.
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William Petersen: On CBS, as long as I stay younger than Mike Wallace and Dan Rather, I'm OK.
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William Petersen: One of the things I love about theater, one of the reasons I'll never give it up, is that it's fifty percent the audience's responsibility.
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William Petersen: Sure, I always chose rebels to identify with - I still do - but to me a rebel isn't so much someone who breaks the law as someone who goes against the odds.
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William Petersen: That's how television works, you find something that hits and you mass produce it. I understand that. I just didn't want to do it myself.
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William Petersen: The (conservatives) are seeking a more binding type of communion, one that is more doctrinal.
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William Petersen: The culture had just been through this postmodern period of green tea and Buddhism, with everybody asking the big questions. People were lost. These guys had answers. You see a close-up of a broken toenail inside a shoe, and that becomes an important clue. Instead of the big things, it's about the littlest things. And they become the most important things. It's a new way of perceiving, and I think that spiritual aspect of the show is why people keep watching.
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William Petersen: The name change isn't for those of us here in New England. The name change is for those folks entering the region.
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William Petersen: Unfortunately, for many lawyers, judges and prosecutors, people expect to see CSI in the courtroom. They can't always provide that. Not every case is all about DNA.
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William Petersen: We're getting to the age when we're starting to see that responsibility isn't such a bad thing, when we see maturity as the key to sustenance.
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William Petersen: 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.
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