The Reason Behind Marg Helgenberger's Exit From CSI

Marg Helgenberger started her acting career on the soap opera "Ryan's Hope" in 1975, fresh out of Northwestern University. She went on to star in scores of television movies and series, eventually winning an Emmy for her role in "China Beach." Her next big role was opposite George Clooney in "ER," where she played his love interest.

After landing a few roles on the big screen, including in "Erin Brockovich," Helgenberger settled down for her long stint on "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" in 2000. The actor played Catherine Willows, a crime scene analyst and single mother working and living in Las Vegas, which earned her two Emmy Award nominations and two Golden Globe nods, per CBS.

Helgenberger stayed with the series for twelve seasons before stepping away from the role in 2013. After filming her final episode that December, the actor returned as Willows for the series finale in 2015, and while there were a "few tears," she told The Hollywood Reporter she didn't miss her character when she left in 2013. Years later, Helgenberger revealed the true reason she walked away from the show.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" fans watched Marg Helgenberger as Catherine Willows for 13 seasons, but her decision to leave the show was a personal one. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, she stated, "I had played Catherine Willows for so many years. It's like a part of me. In fact, one of the reasons I left the original show is because I felt like it had become too much of my identity. I was really burned out, I just kind of had to step away from that character. It wasn't that I was done playing her."

In another interview, Helgenberger shared that she would be spending her time off going on hikes with her dog and possibly taking on another role (via Today). However, she wasn't completely done with "CSI." She claimed one of the reasons she was able to leave the show was because producers were open to her coming back as Willows anytime. "If I'm available and I'm up for it you betcha. You haven't seen the last of me," she revealed. After the show's cancellation in 2015, "CSI" came back on air as a spinoff, and true to her word, fans saw Helgenberger as Willows once again.

"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" returned as a spinoff series, "CSI: Vegas" in 2021. Although producers asked Marg Helgenberger to reprise her role as Catherine Willows, it took some time for the actor to agree. As reported by Deadline, Hargenberger couldn't join Season 1 due to her role in "All Rise." However, when she was available for Season 2, the actor had to think long and hard about her character. "I wanted to make sure there was a reason Catherine would come back to the job. It's a tough gig. Why would Catherine, at this age, come back? That was important to me. I had several conversations with [showrunner] Jason Tracey about that. I really want to get it right and we did," she revealed.

Since joining the cast, Helgenberger has no regrets and stated, "I feel the respect toward me, I'm so grateful. It's been a hell of a lot of fun working with everybody. The set is vastly different than the original set. I'm still discovering new rooms, in fact. Of course, I miss some of the old gang but I got over that pretty quickly because everybody has been so welcoming and gracious."

What's more, Helgenberger isn't the only original "CSI" cast member returning to the franchise. Parade notes that Eric Szmanda is set to make a guest appearance on "CSI: Vegas," reprising his role as Greg Sanders for a guest appearance on the forensic drama.