We told you yesterday about William Petersen leaving his role as Gil Grissom on CBS' CSI. Now comes word that a bunch of actors have either been asked to take his place or have at least been talked about taking his place.
First on the list is John Malkovich, who was actually asked to take over the role but said 'no' (that would have made him a strong contender for this award next year). Other names that have been brought up include Kurt Russell and Laurence Fishburne.
Wow, those are two exciting names, actually. Two strong movie actors with TV ties. I can picture both of them in the role and really giving the show a little jolt. Personally, I think they should hire Tim Daly, have the team go private, and change the show's title to Eyes.
After the jump, some more names that might be added to the list...
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
7-16-2008 @ 3:14PM
ORKMommy said...
By "take his place" I hope they mean someone to play the person they hire to replace Gil. Nobody can play Gil Grissom after Peterson!
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7-16-2008 @ 3:17PM
Elf said...
Steven Weber
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7-17-2008 @ 12:04PM
Tony B. said...
Mandy Patinkin would be a dreadful choice. He is the biggest male "diva" in all of Hollywood. Laurence Fishburne would be way cool or perhaps Anthony Edwards
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7-16-2008 @ 3:26PM
Malren said...
I love the idea of Mandy Patinkin in a new Grissom-like role. He's the only one on the list who can play a new character but have it fill the same archetypal and emotional space as Petersen did.
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8-06-2008 @ 10:30PM
tingrin87 said...
i was going to say Fishburne, all-in...
but then i saw Patinkin... and i /LOVED/ him as Rube.
7-16-2008 @ 3:32PM
Dan Chichian said...
Gary Cole - but that may be too similar the two actors usually play the same type
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7-16-2008 @ 3:50PM
Brian Haggerty said...
What about Gary Busey? Now that would be a whole new direction for the show:).
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7-16-2008 @ 4:00PM
Lorie said...
I wouldn't mind seeing Kurt Russell in this role. Too bad they killed off Liev Schreiber's character.
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7-16-2008 @ 4:26PM
Dave said...
John Travolta. He can brood with the best of them.
Bruce Willis. Ditto.
Denzel Washington. Silent leader type.
John Lithgow. Needs a job.
Danica McKellar. Smart as they come, and easy on the eyes. She might not be old enough to hold the job, but I'll suspend disbelief for her.
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7-16-2008 @ 4:29PM
Jessica said...
William Fichtner-he was in the sheriff in Invasion. He is due for a lead role in a show. He is very nice to look at plus I think he is an engaging actor.
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7-16-2008 @ 5:21PM
paintist said...
Rick Moranis!
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7-16-2008 @ 4:39PM
Lorie said...
Good call, Jessica. I forgot about William Fichtner. I like him.
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7-16-2008 @ 4:57PM
fettzer said...
Ray Liotta
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7-16-2008 @ 5:32PM
anomaly5x said...
Fichtner or Liotta, yes. All of those in the Vote box, no.
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7-16-2008 @ 5:34PM
Darren said...
Bring back the Foxy one - Jorja - She needs to come back and lead the team!
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7-16-2008 @ 6:00PM
Brian said...
Well I personally think Carla Gugino would be a great replacement (she was awesome in Threshold), but I don't think she's such a big name where anyone would agree with me...Heather Locklear could always be the replacement. Haha then her and Marg could compete weekly in "Who's gonna be hotter in this episode?"
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7-16-2008 @ 6:07PM
Preach said...
Everyone's thinking that they'll bring in someone around the same age as Petersen, to play a character that takes over his position.
Petersens shoes are just too big to fill to actually replace him with someone else. Sometimes something like that works (like in Criminal Minds, when Joe Mantegna took over for Mandy Patinkin), but most of the time experiments like that fail miserably.
The best thing that the producers could do, would be to move Catherine Willows up the CSI-ladder, make her the new shift-leader, and bring in a younger character, that they can build up to slowly take over Grissoms spot.
Candidates? There's lots of them, none of which were mentioned above. Examples?
- Lee Tergesen (OZ, Wanted)
- Michael Kelly (Dawn of the Dead, Kojak '04)
- Cole Hauser (Pitch Black, K-Ville)
- Eamonn Walker (Justice, OZ)
- Johnny Messner (Killer Instinct, The OC)
But my perfect candidate would be Sean Pertwee (Honest, Cadfael). Yes, he's an englishman (but then, so's Eamonn Walker), but that'd be a positive. A forensic scientist, who recently moved from the UK to the States, a fish out of the water, who looks at things differently than the rest of the team. Sort of like Grissom, only that it's not because of weird hobbies and interests, but simply because of his upbringing...
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7-16-2008 @ 6:30PM
DVTGAL said...
Alton Brown from the Food Network. He can bring along those scientific sock puppets. ...but seriously no one can replace William Petersen as Grissom !!
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7-16-2008 @ 8:51PM
RetUSMCGunny said...
Did I see someone suggest JORJA FOX? Puhleeze, she was the least likeable character (and that romance with her and Grissom - UGH, and it pained me that a professional like him would fraternize like that!) on the show!
Fishburn and Russell sound like good choices; Patinkin shouldn't even be up for consideration with how he left Criminal Minds. I have an eclectic suggestion - Tim Curry.
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7-16-2008 @ 9:01PM
WhatI said...
Edward Norton - of course!
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