There’s a home for fortysomething actresses: It’s called television.
Marg Helgenberger has thrived there for the past seven seasons on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation,” in which she plays Las Vegas forensic cop, single mom and former exotic dancer Catherine Willows.
Long-term success has allowed Helgenberger to fit movies in on hiatus, such as “Mr. Brooks,” which opened Friday. But she knows where her bread is buttered.
“A lot of women watch TV,” she said. “Most movies that are financed are catering to an age range of teenage boys.”
So she seizes the smaller opportunities on the big screen. In “Mr. Brooks,” she plays the good woman standing by her man, played by Kevin Costner.
“I just wanted to make sure I’m in the pocket, that we appear to have a loving relationship,” Helgenberger said.
Did we mention that Costner is playing a Jekyll-and-Hyde serial killer? One can imagine the director yelling, “OK, Marg, do blissfully ignorant.” Helgenberger jokes that her “CSI” alter-ego would have “nailed his ass.” But in this alternate reality she is “blinded by love” as her spouse continues his nocturnal hunting with his devil’s advocate subconscious (portrayed by William Hurt).
Helgenberger has a pretty comfortable routine for an actress defying the industry’s age bias. She cranks out 20 or so episodes of “CSI,” finds a movie gig to keep her out there on the big screen and maybe squeezes in a vacation with her husband, actor Alan Rosenberg, and son Hughie in Hawaii.
Time off is happening less because Rosenberg is keeping busy as president of the Screen Actors Guild. Asked to name the most pressing thespian labor issue, Helgenberger answered, “Protecting residuals. That’s an actor’s life blood. I know so many friends who survive on residuals.”
Helgenberger has collected a few residuals herself. She broke in on “Ryan’s Hope” after being spotted in a Northwestern staging of “Taming of the Shrew”; earned an Emmy in 1990 as a hooker to GIs on “China Beach”; and made a prime-time comeback with “CSI,” which premiered in October 2000. It was the sixth-highest-rated show during May sweeps. (One of its two spinoffs, “CSI: Miami,” was seventh.)
How long “CSI” will occupy its Thursday night slot on CBS is anyone’s guess. Helgenberger says she is taking each season at a time. She remains under contract for one more year.
As for “Mr. Brooks,” she and Costner are talking about a sequel. She says Costner has told that her the movie must make in the $40 to $50 million range, “and we’ll be fine.”
Humble Midwest roots prepared her for show business. Helgenberger’s hometown of North Bend, Neb., boasts a population of 1,219. Back when the renamed Marg Helgenberger Street was just the place where Helgenberger and her parents lived, thinking of a career in acting was plain kooky.
“I had absolutely no role models,” she said. “It seemed like a pipe dream to me.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
