CSI Files
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<p><font color=yellow>Robert David Hall</font> first showed up on <i>CSI: Crime Scene Investigation</i> as Dr. Al Robbins in <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season1/who_are_you.shtml">"Who Are You?"</a> and has been playing the crusty, lovable coroner ever since. In anticipation of Robbins' venture outside the morgue in the upcoming episode <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season9/the_gone_dead_train.shtml">"The Gone Dead Train"</a>, Hall took the time to speak to CSI Files about what takes Doc Robbins out of the morgue and into the field, as well as the coroner's relationship with the newest team members and his projects outside of <i>CSI</i>, including an upcoming CD. Some spoilers ahead! <p><b>CSI Files:</b> This season has brought quite a few changes to <i>CSI</i>. What was your reaction when you found out <font color=yellow>Laurence Fishburne</font> was joining <i>CSI</i>? <p><b>Robert David Hall:</b> I couldn't believe how fortunate we were to get such a great actor. He's like one of those wish list guys. I've been working with him now for six months. He is a generous, generous actor, and he brings kind of a gravitas to the thing. It's a different vibe from <font color=yellow>William Petersen</font> (Gil Grissom), but I think it's a great one. The crew loves him because he's professional and respectful of everybody who's doing the job. And the cast, we're pretty well oiled--we've been working together for so long, and he just fit right in. The thing you notice about him is that he's very serious about developing his character. And I think that will pay off for the audience, too. He and I have a little camaraderie or chemistry based on the fact that we worked together all of those years ago, and I just like working with him. I loved working with Billy, but Billy wore several hats. He was also an executive producer as well as the star of the show, and he had pressures on him that Laurence doesn't have. There's no replacing Billy, but Laurence is his own man, and we're actually having a good time working with him. Me especially--I worked with him twenty years ago on a movie. <p><b>CSI Files:</b> You worked with him on <i>Class Action</i>. <p><b>Hall:</b> It was <font color=yellow>Gene Hackman</font> and <font color=yellow>Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio</font>'s movie, directed by <font color=yellow>Michael Apted</font>. Laurence was Larry Fishburne back in those days, and he had done <i>Apocalypse Now</i> back when he was 14 or 15, and he was on <i>Pee Wee's Playhouse</i> playing Cowboy Curtis. My son is all grown up, but I remember I used to make pancakes on Saturday morning and we'd sit down and watch <i>Pee Wee's Playhouse</i> and there was Laurence Fishburne! <p><b>CSI Files:</b> Ray Langston and Doc Robbins seem to have a rapport right off the bat. They really seemed to get along and bond right away. <p><b>Hall:</b> The characters do because he's a physician who can also legally and medically perform an autopsy. And I think the two guys respect each other as medical professionals, but it turns out as we find out in this episode coming up, <A class="link" HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/episodes/csi/season9/the_gone_dead_train.shtml">"The Gone Dead Train"</a>, they're both huge blues fanatics. So that's going to be revealed in the episode. They also have almost a Laurel and Hardy relationship when they get out of the lab. They're very professional guys, but there was a comedic element to this show that I just enjoyed. I think the fans of the show will enjoy it. It has the feel of an older <i>CSI</i> episode, but it's got some comic turns in it that made me laugh. <p><b>CSI Files:</b> What can you share about the episode? <p><b>Hall:</b> This particular episode really centers around Doc Robbins. He had four bodies in the space of three weeks where he can't identify the cause of death, and in nine years this has never happened. He's like me, Irish and Welsh, and he's not going to take it lying down. So he does something a little bit illegal: he sort of talks Catherine (<font color=yellow>Marg Helgenberger</font>) and Langston into helping him go out of the lab to do a little more research to find out what happened, how these particular deaths occurred. The adventure ensues. Doc Robbins and Langston go on a road trip to Reno to illegally examine medical records. Doc Robbins goes with Catherine out to a trailer park where she's almost murdered by a person who has rabies. It's been very dry here in Southern California, but we were out on a Friday night and they decided the scene would look better in rain so I'm standing under this giant hydraulic hose for most of my scenes! I loved it. Most of the time I do all of my scenes in a day or two, and [in this episode] I got to work seven out of our nine shooting days. So I had a ball. <p><b>CSI Files:</b> What about these four cases gets under Doc Robbins' skin so much?<p><HR ALIGN="CENTER" SIZE="1" WIDTH="45%" COLOR="#007BB5"><p>To read the full interviews, please click <A HREF="http://www.csifiles.com/interviews/robert_david_hall.shtml">here</A>.<center></center>
