INT: Marg Helgenberger

The
48-year-old mother of three Marg Helgenberger is one of the premier
MILFs on network TV, where she stars on the hit show
“CSI”. As street-smart criminologist Catherine Willows,
she’s capable of making even the most tedious forensics-related
dialogue seem sexy. Oh yeah baby, tell me again about the DNA you
found on that piece of lint. Oh yeah, you know what I like…
But I digress. In
the new thriller MR.
BROOKS, Helgenberger brings her milfiness to the big screen,
playing the devoted wife of a closet serial killer Earl Brooks
(played by Kevin Costner) and mother to their lovely daughter Jane
(played by achingly hot Danielle Panabaker). Last week she stopped
by Le Meridien Hotel in

Beverly Hills

to talk about Kevin Costner, serial killers, and the upcoming season
of “CSI”. Check it out.

Marg
Helgenberger

How
did you get involved with this project?

Just
my typical fashion in that my agent had given me the script and was
a fan of it, and said “It’s a really cool script, Kevin’s
attached to the title character.” The combination that it was one
of the few scripts that I read that truly was a page-turner,
continued to surprise me and was unpredictable. The characters were
compelling which was darkly comic in some places which is my
favorite form of humor. The fact that Kevin was attached to the part
was very intriguing to me because he’s mostly known as a heroic,
kind of iconic good guy or whatever. I they’re a bad guys, they
have a good side to them.

This
character does have some good sides to him, but ultimately, he’s
the ultimate bad guy because he’s so diabolical and so disturbed.
So it was the combination of those two things. And the experience
itself was fantastic. Kevin was just the coolest guy, so interested
and supportive and inclusive of my ideas, thoughts and opinions. The
process of improvising the scenes was great and just made you feel
like “Oh yeah, remember when we did this in acting class or in
college?” It was just cool and I felt like I was in such wonderful
company with all the actors.

Did
you have a favorite scene that you shot?

I
did. It was the scene in the car after the event in which Kevin’s
character is honored and we’re chatting and then all of a sudden,
here comes Bill Hurt — William Hurt, rather. It was interesting how
are we going to stage this, all of a sudden now, what’s this? Are
we in a Steven King film? What the heck’s going on here, what’s
the audience going to see, why is she not aware of this guy? So the
staging of it, but also the playing of it, because I’m oblivious
to him.

Here
I am with these two great actors, these intense guys and here I am
just talking about the event itself and the speech and they’re
doing the plotting. I like car scenes, especially if you like the
people that are in the scene with you because they are intimate,
physically intimate, because you are on top of each other, you’re
stuck inside a car that is attached to a tow truck and there’s
nowhere to go. It was a Friday night in

Shreveport

and we’re shooting and there was a lot of revelry going on around
the town. Everyone was in a good mood and it was fun. Both these
guys are great, intense and sexy, what’s not to like about all
that?

How
difficult was it to act oblivious to William Hurt?

That
was tough, because he’s so damn good and he’s so intense and so
sensitive. I was intimidated by him because he’s such a presence
and so smart. But he was really sweet and very much part of the
process and really likes his fellow actors. And if there’s a
sequel, I certainly will be oblivious to him too unless they come up
with a clever way of a fantasy sequence where I can actually play
off him.

Spoilers
Ahead!!!

As
the mother, what would your feelings be in terms of how your
character protects her daughter?

If
there is a sequel, that’s where they will focus their attention,
on the family’s dynamics. Clearly in the scenes I do have in the
film, I do talk about our daughter and why she’s not at this event
and how disappointed I am and he’s the one who always defends her.
That’s clearly the relationship that we’ve had all along.
Whatever she does is right. A mother-child bond is greater than a
husband-wife bond, far more intuitive and I think someone can be
completely smitten by a love for someone of the opposite sex, or
same sex depending upon your partner, so I think that’s where the
suspicions are going to come from, the daughter’s aberrant
behavior. I’m interested to see how it will play out and I know
Kevin is interested in seeing that as well and hopefully that will
happen. Because what do you do when your child is a murderer?
That’s almost worse than having your child murdered. It’s
horrible, I can’t imagine what that must be like. I’m not trying
to belittle having your child murdered because that must be
horrible, bust geez, that’s tough.

Did
you know that they were planning on potential sequels to Mr. Brooks?

Not
really. Way back when we met at lunch, he eluded to something where
the two of us would go off in the car falling off into the lake
because I know what’s up and instead of giving himself up and me
giving him up – because I don’t know necessarily if I would give
him up – out of love, I guess I would not give him up. But he
makes the choice, but I don’t want to speak too much because that
is something he eluded to but I don’t know if that’s their
plan.

Do
you think your character was more aware than she let on?

In
this movie? No, no. I do believe that Emma (her character) was aware
of a darkness that he retreats to from time to time. I don’t think
the thought ever crosses her mind that he’s capable of murder and
a serial type of murderer. I think in every marriage or long
relationship, part of what makes it a success is that you allow the
person their own differences or their own hobbies and you kind of
let them be and give them their space and I think that’s what Emma
does. She thinks that it’s business trips or whatever and she just
allows that because for the most part, he’s the perfect man.

What
else have you been working on during your time off from CSI?

I
just did a movie with Val Kilmer called Columbus Day and that was a
little indie directed by a very talented young guy and a small, but
really nice part for me. It was completely the antithesis of what I
do on CSI, more of a non-glamorous part, a good person but she has
kind of a meager existence as the ex-wife.

It’s
an odd little story in that he’s a criminal who’s pulled off a
heist and wanting to sell what’s inside the briefcase and making
deals, he’s waiting in Echo Park and meets up with a young boy and
they strike up a conversation that leads up to this relationship
which ends up being very cathartic to him and he realizes the
importance of people in his life that meant something to him, one of
them being his ex-wife. So most of it was over the phone, these
conversations in which he’s wooing me back and traveling down
memory lane. I eventually do succumb and I come and pick him up at
the end of the film. He was great. He was charming and funny and all
that stuff.

Can
you tell us if there are any CSI storylines from last season that
are going to continue?

The
only ones that will continue because this whole season we did this
little miniature serial killer and her signature was to leave behind
a miniature of the crime scene which was actually kind of clever and
interesting and drew you in. It was a good season actually, it was
one of our strongest yet. Anyway, they need to wrap that up because
one of the central characters was essentially kidnapped and whether
she’s coming back or not, nobody knows. Nobody knows.

Can
you compare the serial killers on CSI to Mr. Brooks’ character?

Most
of the serial killers on our show have not been carried out for a
whole season like this one which was unique. You never knew who this
person was – you just assumed this was a guy and it wasn’t, it
was a young woman. Unusual, but nonetheless, it was fun to do. Mr.
Brooks, elegant, classy, very smart and someone you wouldn’t
suspect because he’s

Portland

’s Man of the Year. The man of the year cannot be a serial killer.
My husband can’t be a serial killer.

Will
there be more shuffling of the CSI
cast, like you did last season?

I’m
not exactly sure. Everyone’s contract is up this year and it will
be interesting what happens after this one. They’ve eluded to the
fact that if Billy decides to leave that instead of bringing on
another guy to replace him, they’ll bring on someone to do
four-episode arcs like they did with Liev Schreiber this year, which
was awesome. I loved working with him; he was funny, smart, great
actor and everybody was inspired by that. Also, when you have new
energy, it steps up everybody’s game. That I look forward to. So
anything is possible.

When
you choose a movie role, are you consciously trying to break away
from your character on CSI?

That’s
what was so nice about this part I did in the Val Kilmer movie
because she was so non-glamorous, trying the online dating thing,
and I don’t want to say meek because we had great dialogue
together…but someone daffy. Sometimes on CSI, I’m pretty
confident, sassy, self-assured, and cerebral. And that’s what
I’m asked to do. So yeah, something unexpected and someone who
wouldn’t be glamorous, like a regular person.

Would
you like to do comedy?

Oh
yeah, I’d love to do a comedy. Absolutely. Comedy is so
challenging. People have a real knack for it and I’d look forward
to it.

Do
you ever let your husband read scripts for roles that you’re
offered?

I
didn’t with Mr. Brooks. I have with my husband before, certain
other scripts, whether I should do them or not. My husband is an
actor and I trust his opinion implicitly. He’s got great taste and
he’s directed before too. He knows me, he gets me and he knows
what I’m capable of, so many times I do show it to my husband, but
not this one. This one, I didn’t. This one came to me from my
agent who was a fan of the script and Kevin was already attached.
The combination of the two really sold it for me.

Questions?
Comments? Manifestos? Let me know at [email protected].