Marg Helgenberger is leaving "CSI" next week after a twelve-year run playing Catherine Willows on the hit procedural drama. Tuesday on "CBS This Morning," (weekdays, 7 a.m. EST on CBS) Helgenberger looked back at her tenure on the show and reflected on her character's transformation from stripper to forensic scientist.
"The character was introduced in the pilot script as Catherine Willows, CSI-3, single mother, ex-stripper," Helgenberger told Charlie Rose and Gayle King. "Some of the female producers thought about changing that backstory once we got picked up and put on the air, and I said, 'No, no, no, this is a woman who, that journey she took is much different than most people who go into law-enforcement, and I thought it really informed the character and the story. So I'm glad I stood up for my stripper-dom," she joked.
When King asked about what Helgenberger would be looking for in her next project, the actress revealed that she's on the look-out for a role that would mix things up. "Well, because I'm so identified with her after twelve years, I'd like to do something that's quite different perhaps." In jest, King suggested she might consider playing a stripper.
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Check out the official description, and photos from Helgenberger's final "CSI" episode:
"Willows In The Wind" -- The CSI team says goodbye to Catherine Willows as she makes a life-changing decision, on CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION, Wednesday, Jan. 25 (10:00 - 11:00 p.m., EST/PST) on the CBS Television Network. Guest stars include Matt Lauria as FBI Agent Pratt, Titus Welliver as CEO Mark Gabriel and Annabeth Gish, as his wife, Laura Gabriel.
