CSI: Why Did William Petersen Really Leave CSI As Gil Grissom?

Meghan Markle faces an interrogation in CSI: NY scene

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation was a classic Noughties cop show airing on CBS and is likely to have paved the way for the likes of NCIS. The police procedural saw a crack team of forensic experts cracking cases using science. CSI first debuted on the small screen in 2000 and was on until 2015, spawning several spin-offs including CSI: Miami, CSI: New York and CSI: Cyber.

Why did William Petersen really leave CSI as Gil Grissom?

The original series starred William Petersen as a CSI senior supervisor working for the Las Vegas Police Department and along with his colleagues took on various cases.

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American actor and producer Petersen was part of CSI for nine season before he left.

Petersen was replaced Raymond Langston (played by Laurence Fishburne) with D.B. Russell (Ted Danson) then coming in later on.

He reprised his role for CSI finale as the show prepared to bow out for good.

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READ MORE: CSI cancelled after 15 years but to end with TV film

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CSI aired for 15 years and spawned many spin-offs (Image: GETTY)

CSI: William Petersen left the show after 9 years (Image: GETTY)

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Speaking to CNN in 2009, Petersen addressed his departure, saying: "The reason I'm leaving is because I'm afraid I'm becoming too comfortable.

"It's 'CSI' -- they pay me a lot of money, and I don't have to work very hard anymore.

“I've got it all figured out. And I just realized, God, as an artist, I'm going to atrophy.

“You do anything for nine years, it becomes somewhat rote.”

CSI: William Petersen played Gil Grissom (Image: GETTY)

He continued: “I didn't want to be on the show because they were paying me money and I liked the money.

“I didn't want to be on the show because it saved me from having to go look for other jobs. Just didn't want it. It was too safe for me at this point.”

He added: “So I needed to try and break that, and the way to do that, for me, is the theatre [sic]."

Petersen said he wouldn’t miss Grisson and felt the character had reached its natural end.

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CSI: William Petersen could be back as Gil Grissom (Image: GETTY)

However, he remained an executive producer on CSI after stepping away from the front of the camera.

The star wanted to pursue more stage work and has subsequently had a few roles on screen including TV shows Blue and Manhattan.

On reprising his role briefly for the finale, Petersen said to Entertainment Weekly in 2015: “It’s like going home for Thanksgiving. You get to meet your family again.”

Although CSI may have ended, Deadline recently reported how CBS was looking at an event series – much like 24 and The X-Files, which have done limited runs in recent years.

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According to the report, Petersen and Jorja Fox are in negotiations to appear in the series called CSI: Vegas.

The show hasn’t officially been ordered by CBS but its said to be a sequel to the original CSI series which was set in Las Vegas.

Additionally, the show is said to be casting for four new characters to join Petersen and Fox.

Petersen is also said to be an executive producer on the new show which will see Grissom make a comeback.

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