Petersen to Quit 'CSI' for Theater

By WENN| Thursday, September 21, 2006

HOLLYWOOD - Actor William Petersen is set to turn his back on his starring role in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation to make a return to the Chicago stage.
The 53-year-old contract with the CBS show came to end when filming on the seventh season concluded, and he has not signed a new one to guarantee his character Gil Grissom will feature in the planned eighth season.

He says, "I plan to go back to Chicago and do plays starting next year.

"I've been talking to (artistic director) Dennis Zacek at Victory Gardens Theatre, and we're going to do a play as soon as we can get enough time to make it worth everyone's while."

Zacek says, "I'm trying to have something custom-made for him, but it's in the making. It's not finished.

"I'm not sure this means we won't see him in any more movies or in any more TV stuff, but I do think there's a hunger to get back to the demands and the purity and the risks of live theater."