CSI Files
Captain
It isn't quite <font color=yellow>Charles Dickens</font>.<p><I>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</I>'s <font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> (Gil Grissom) described <I>Dublin Carol</I>, the play he is currently performing at the Steppenwolf Upstairs Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, as "a little Christmas play about an Irish alcoholic on Christmas Eve in a funeral parlor in Dublin." The actor told <A class="link" HREF="http://www.northshoremag.com/">North Shore Magazine</a>, "I think it's a perfect antidote to these perky little Christmas plays that we are all tired of."<p>He said the play shows a different side of the holidays, particularly for those who don't have a family. "I think it's a realistic view of how lonely Christmas can be," Petersen continued. "But there's a lot of hope in it. It's funny, touching. It's a great hour and a half in the theater. It eventually puts people closer to what Christmas really should be."<p>The actor shared a story about his personal near-death experience. In the 1980s, he cut himself badly while doing a play and needed to go to the hospital. "I had gone out. Literally, my pulse and all of that had sort of disappeared," he explained. "While I was out I was sort of on the road to the other side. I don't think I would have died, but whatever happened to me, whatever sort of plane I went to after I passed out, was certainly part of the other side." He described the experience as a dark tunnel leading toward a bright light. "And there was a great desire to get to the light. I could tell it was a great, great place. Full of love and peace and crap like that. You know, postcard stuff," he continued. "I remember the whole rest of the night I was sort of blissed out by having seen that."<p>The actor said he would be prefer anonymity to recognition. "With the show, it's good and bad," he explained. Being on <I>CSI</I> provides "a great opportunity, and a great audience, and world distribution," Petersen said. However, the flip side of the coin is that he can't go out without being recognized. "At least I don't have paparazzi chasing me around," he continued. "They're not interested in old guys."<p>The original article is from <A class="link" HREF="http://www.northshoremag.com/cgi-bin/ns-article?article=/feature/11-08-qa.html">North Shore Magazine</a>.<center></center>