It’s been a little over a year since Liz Vassey, the actress who played the charming and vivacious Wendy Simms, was shockingly let go from CSI: Crime Scene Investigation after five years of playing the role. It was devastating news for the actress and fans alike as just prior to the dismissal, progress was being made between the D.N.A. technician and her co-worker and potential love interest David Hodges (Wallace Langham). For the first time since the unsettling news, Vassey spoke exclusively with CSI Files’ Shane Saunders to discuss the events of the past year.

CSI Files: It’s a little over a year since word got out about your departure from CSI. How are you feeling at this point in time in regards to the unfortunate circumstances surrounding the situation?

Liz Vassey: Well, first of all I would say that the entire experience being there for five years was nothing short of fantastic. I think in a business that’s sort of up-and-down and start-and-stop and different as this type of business is, I think when you get five years on any show you got to be very grateful, so that’s first and foremost… and I am from the bottom of my heart.

I bumped into Wally. Wally and I are still in touch and I saw him recently and we had such a nice time. I see some of the other people from the cast and a lot of the writers and I just love them so. It’s been over a year and I still miss a lot of people on a very personal level just because it’s sort of unreal how kind that set is and how fun it is. Especially considering the subject matter. [laughs] But, it has been a year and I have done some other jobs that I’ve enjoyed and I made peace with it and I think they’ve made peace with it and I don’t bare ill will towards them. I just miss a lot of the people there.

CSI Files: And just to be clear it wasn’t your decision to leave, correct?

Vassey: No, it wasn’t my decision. I’m told that they didn’t know what to do with me creatively. I went in and I requested a meeting to find out what had happened, obviously I was pretty curious. [laughs] And I was just told they didn’t know what to do with me creatively. I have no choice but to believe them. I know it wasn’t the money because I had taken a very substantial pay cut to stay for the season prior to that, and no one approached me to talk about money or anything. I was just informed that they weren’t picking up my option. So they told me it was a creative decision and I’m gonna go with that.

CSI Files: The news leaked in sort of an interesting way in that regard via your Facebook. Did you expect it to circulate outside of your private account so soon?

Vassey: I had heard that [Michael] Ausiello had written something about it which is why I went ahead and wrote something. This is what I had heard–it was hearsay–and I actually didn’t read what he had written until days later. I wrote it just because my friends and my family. I wanted them to know all at once because it’s sort of a strange phone call to have to make. So I just did it so they can read that. I guess so people wouldn’t read it in the news without thinking I was fully aware of what happened in regards to what was going on. [laughs]

I didn’t expect it to move that fast… I never expect anything to move that fast. The news just all of a sudden with Twitter and Facebook, nothing’s a secret for very long. You know, I was surprised, but that was very stupid on my part because everything can travel that fast. I will say I’m overwhelmed by the positive response from the fans and how sweet they were about what had happened. That moved me more than they could possibly realize.

Some other writers had left and that made me a little bit queasy. So I actually called before I went on vacation to Germany with my husband–had my manager call, rather–and find out if I was coming back. And I was told I was. Then I got back three weeks later and woke up the morning we got back in the states and I got a call from my manager going “you’re not.” So, I will say that I believe sometimes you get in a situation and you’re there as long as you’re supposed to be there sort of like this big foot coming to kick you into a different part of your life. [laughs] I try to put a positive spin on things and think maybe it was just time to leave that show and move on to other things. It was handled in an odd manner, but I guess anybody would say that who has ever been let go from any job. I don’t know. It was a very difficult couple of months right after it happened.

CSI Files: There was a little bit of closure with Wendy in “Pool Shark.” What was the genesis behind wrapping up the character in such an abrupt way? Was it ever considered to maybe extend the departure over a few episodes like what occurred with Sara [Jorja Fox] or Grissom [William Petersen]?

Vassey: I was never asked. I had a meeting, I actually did ask that I got–I didn’t even ask if I could come back, I just asked that I got a nice write-off. I said out of respect to my character that I’ve played for five years and out of respect to the fans that liked the character and liked what was developing with Hodges to let me know how you are going to write me out and if you could talk to me about it. I want to make sure it was done in a respectful manner and I want to make sure that it’s not done to–like, I didn’t want to be  written out like I had gotten back together with an ex-boyfriend and Hodges was heartbroken, there has to be something a little more positive, like a [job]. So we talked about it. I got a phone call after that meeting and they said they want me to go back and do one episode. I knew it would be really hard to go do, but at the same point, considering I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be coming back, I had gone to the wrap party at the end of the season before and I never got a chance to say goodbye to people. So I wanted to go back and be able to say goodbye specifically to Wally and to a lot of the directors and writers, who I again, was so close to a lot of the people there.

CSI Files: Wendy always wanted to transfer into the field. Were you happy that she was able to reach that goal?

Vassey: Yeah, I was very happy. I was very happy that that happened. I think that the nice thing about that–and I’m not giving any hint and I don’t know a thing about it–but I think the very next thing is a certain character’s gonna be written off in a way where there’s no possibility of them ever coming back. I think if there were a chance for an episode or two and they wanted me to do it it’s kind of nice because my character got trained, I’m obviously a different person now. I think it would be interesting. And I certainly like the fact that as a character she got to be fulfilled professionally and I think there’s a sort of symmetry to the fact that Hodges kept using the lab over her and then she finally got a job and she had to choose the job over him. Y’know, it worked. I was happy with it.

CSI Files: It was certainly nice for the fans seeing you return for an episode. I think it’s fair to say many were stunned and disappointed that they weren’t bringing you back. When it was announced that you would be in “Pool Shark,” it was like a little sign of hope that maybe things would change. They obviously didn’t do so…

Vassey: Nope! They didn’t. [laughs] I don’t know… I feel like Wally and I have really great chemistry. I enjoyed every minute of screen time I had with him. I enjoyed every time I got to work with those writers. I enjoyed everybody, I was obviously very close with the lab rats. I’m not gonna lie: it would be really nice to go work with them in that capacity sometime again. It would be fun to see them again.

Having said that, it has been a year. It’s been nice. I’ve been writing a lot of things. I got to go be on Two and a Half Men for a while, I got to be on Castle, [and] I just got back last month from shooting a movie for a month. So I have moved onto other things and I’m keeping busy with them. I don’t look back, I’m not angry about it.

Yeah, like, I love that Louise [Lombard, Sofia Curtis] got to go back and shoot an episode, I think that’s great. I know she had a great time and everybody there loves her, so it was really cool. So, maybe. It’s like I said, it’s open.

[But let me just say] I was far more angry about other people being let go than myself. [laughs]

CSI Files: The news prompted a petition titled “WE WANT LIZ VASSEY IN THE 11 CSI SEASON!” on Facebook. Did the amount of support on that page ever have any impact as to the producers possibly changing their minds?

Vassey: I don’t know, because I haven’t talked to the people that are left on CSI about it, to be honest. I will say that I was in New York with my husband and my niece Kenzie, I was taking her there for her sixteenth birthday, and she saw it.  She showed it to me and we got there reading what people had written and again, I can’t say enough how grateful I am for that support. I make a practice at not looking at what people write about me online because I think it’s a very slippery slope personally. I think it can effect your work and sometimes people write things you shouldn’t read. I try to keep away, but I read that. It was nice that in the grand scheme of things I wasn’t one of the CSIs and I wasn’t carrying the show but for people to care about my character it just meant the world to me. I don’t know if any of the producers read it or it had any effect, but it did on me. It meant so much.

CSI Files: Just prior to all this, you were working pretty heavily both in front of the camera and behind-the-scenes. Not only were you promoted to series regular, but you also worked on a story for “Field Mice” with Wallace Langham. Do you think if your status remained as recurring the outcome of the situation would be different?

Vassey: Maybe. I don’t know, I just don’t know. I’ve thought about it so much from all different angles. I can say this: nobody ever asked about demoting me. When I first came on [in "Secrets and Flies"] I did ten episodes the first year, I think. I could be wrong though, it could be eight. It was somewhere in that ballpark. [laughs] But nobody ever talked to me about the possibility of coming back or something. Which, again, because I cared about these people and have had so much fun on that set, I would of done it. But it wasn’t ever discussed. I don’t know, it was very abrupt and very final.

I will say that getting to write an episode was one of my highlights of being on that show, though. It was an exceptionally fine experience getting to do that with Wally. Going on tech scouts and casting, it was fascinating and especially inspired me to write a lot more.

CSI Files: It was your first teleplay and you did a great job! It was really phenomenal.

Vassey: Thank you. Thanks a lot. I had written a couple times before; I sold two pilots that weren’t made, but it was really great to be able to sell them. Wally had done the same, so we talked about it–we hadn’t even talked about it to the producers. They approached us after doing a commentary for the DVD and they asked! They were like, “you can totally think about it if you want.” It was Naren [Shankar]. He came up and said, “do you want to write? Carol [Mendelsohn, executive producer] is on board if you are.” And we were like “nooo, we want to do it!” It was great, it was an honor to be asked.

CSI Files: If I remember correctly Naren was a big supporter of the lab rats episodes.

Vassey: Yeah, I don’t know if there’s enough words in my vocabulary to describe how much I like that man. He’s great, his wife Cheri is great, my husband and I are very close with them. He did so much for my character. For the lab techs in general, like, I don’t understand how Jon Wellner [Henry Andrew] is not a star of a comedy, I think he’s brilliant. I think every one of those rats down the line in that first show, most of us never really worked together before. I never really had a scene with Archie [Kao, Archie Johnson] before, if I did it was like one line. Sheeri Rappaport [Mandy Webster], we hadn’t worked together really. It all just clicked. I admire Naren for trusting us with that and letting us carry the show. It was so fun and we all took it so seriously. [laughs] It was great. I think the world of every one of those lab rats. They’re all incredibly talented. Even Wally. [laughs]

CSI Files: You’ve worked on a couple projects since. CBS’ Two and a Half Men, the new TV series 9ine; which I hear has been picked up for a second season, and an episode of ABC’s Castle. Was it an easy adjustment to play someone other than the charming Wendy after all five years of playing her?

Vassey: Well, the Two and a Half Men was really interesting. I had done one in the first season as a different character and I came back on to do two this past season, and I showed up and it was funny, my husband goes “Do you think they’ll remember you?” And I walk in and Charlie Sheen had watched CSI a lot. [laughs] A lot of that cast had but it was an interesting welcome, it was really fun. It was really nice to go in and come from a show that was so well regarded and highly regarded and have them welcome me like that.

I just finished a movie in Massachusetts, it’s called Broken Silence. It’s an incredibly emotional movie. I’d say that was the biggest departure because one of things about playing on CSI for five years is that you don’t display emotion a lot of the time. You’re kind of stoic and meticulous and you don’t really wear your emotions on your sleeve in that type of capacity. So going and doing this movie for a month where it was all so emotional was really different and interesting.

Playing a bad guy in Castle was also fun being on the other side of the interrogation table.

CSI Files: Was Broken Silence the film you were just working on where there was the tornado warnings?

Vassey: Oh, yeah! [laughs] I was tweeting about them because we were all scared to death. All of us were either from Boston or from L.A. So we all of a sudden had tornado watches and tornado warnings, we’re all down in the basement with a lovely group of people–great crew–certainly didn’t want to have to go through a tornado with them, but eighty of us were down in this basement. [laughs] It was actually kind of comical. Somebody was like, “get under the stairs!” and somebody else goes, “no, get in the bathtub!” I was like, “have none of you ever been through one of these before?” And everybody was like, “no!” [laughs] It was really the blind leading the blind. I texted my husband saying hey, I’m downstairs ’cause there’s a tornado coming and he thought I was kidding because they hadn’t had a tornado in Massachusetts since 1953. Very strange.

CSI Files: You mentioned earlier about working on a pilot. Is this something you’re just writing or aspiring to star in as well?

Vassey: Hopefully both. I had this idea a little bit ago and it was something that was kind of percolating for a while and I just sat down and wrote it five or six months ago. Then I got a producer attached, so I learned the joy of rewriting a lot. He’s been great, he’s been very helpful. During pilot season somebody read the pilot that I had written and she asked me to come in for a staff writing job on her show should it be picked up. I kind of stumbled into this area a little bit more. I definitely wrote it with me in mind as this character so I hope it works out. We just did our first table read and it was so much fun. It’s been great and very educational.

My husband laughed at me because I don’t sit still very well, but I can sit and write for eight or nine hours straight. He just thinks it’s the funniest damn thing.

CSI Files: One of your first major roles was starring as Emily Ann Sargo Martin in All My Children, a role which also earned you an Emmy nomination. A plethora of soap opera alumni have been invited back to reprise roles since of many daytime suds are being cancelled. Any idea if you’ll be going back for a cameo?

Vassey: No, I would go back–I would do anything on that show. They gave me my start, I was sixteen; I moved up from Tampa, Florida, I was in Hell’s Kitchen with my mom in New York from the age of sixteen to nineteen while I was on it. It was a magical part of my life. Sixteen was a while ago, so to be perfectly blunt I don’t even know producers there anymore, I don’t know a lot of the cast–of course Susan [Lucci] is still there, Michael Knight is still there. But I haven’t worked on that show in such a long time that I don’t even know if I would pull up on their radar, you know what I mean? It’s been so long.

CSI Files: You still keep in touch with Wallace and Jon, do you keep in contact with anyone else from CSI?

Vassey: Well, I just texted Marg [Helgenberger, Catherine Willows] the other day. We had a little texting conversation because she’s getting her Hollywood star, which I think is the coolest thing. Marg is everything any of her fans would want her to be. She’s so talented. We sang together for a charity event and it was just great to get to know her in that kind of context. She’s got a hell of a voice, that woman. I was in Spain on vacation with my husband and she happened to be there in the same tiny, little town on the same night. So we had dinner with her, drank red wine until way, way, way late in the evening. We had a great time. Great lady. So I still keep in touch with her. David Berman [David Phillips] is probably one of my dearest friends. He lives five minutes away from me, he’s shooting a documentary right now actually.  So he’s out of the country, it’s weird, I’m going through withdrawals because I usually see him once a week. We’re incredibly close. Still stay in touch with writers Allen MacDonald, David Rambo, Sarah Goldfinger, Naren Shankar, we’re all in constant contact, too.

CSI Files: So, should the opportunity present itself, you would be willing to go back to the Las Vegas Crime Lab, correct?

Vassey: Yeah! Honestly, I know they’re bringing on some new people, that’s been sort of publicized. [laughs] I think with everything that’s going on I don’t foresee that happening. I’m not exactly waiting for a phone call, I don’t really think that that’s going to be in the plan.  Specifically, if I got to go back and work more with Wally, I think it would be fun to go back and talk about my time in Portland as a CSI. I think it would be great to go back for a couple episodes.

CSI Files: The fans who continue to send you their support and remain hopeful for your return, what do you have to say to them?

Vassey: Oh, God. Just… thank you. This is such an odd business. My family thinks I’m half crazy for being in it in the first place. It’s a business where you hear far more “nos” than “yeses.” But ultimately, you’re doing it for the fans. You’re hoping the fans like you; they’re the ones that keep you employed and let you have your job. Being appreciated like that and having support like that is more than I can ask for. I’ve appreciated every little nice note or post that anybody has sent me. Huge thanks, love, and a lot of appreciation.

Shane Saunders is a freelance writer and reviewer. His work can be seen on EDGE Network and ShaneSSaunders.com.

The ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ Supervising Producer drops a few hints about the final two episodes of season ten in the second of our sweeps preview interviews. Spoilers inside!

With serial killer Dr. Jekyll now in possession of Langston’s badge, things are heating up on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Supervising Producer David Rambo offers a preview of what’s to come and looks back on the episodes leading up to the big finale on May 20th.

CSI Files: What’s in store for the Las Vegas CSI team in the final two episodes of the season?

David Rambo: I hate spoilers, as you know. But I can tell you that an unexpected and controversial figure from Langston’s past will appear as the team is tracking down Dr. Jekyll. The finale episode has some terrific science in it, one of the wildest and creepiest murder techniques imaginable — which is something I always enjoy!

CSI Files: What was the genesis of the Dr. Jekyll character?

Rambo: From my recollection, it was Naren Shankar who started spinning the idea of a “mad surgeon” in the writers room almost a year ago, and we all responded to it. What we liked is that this killer would have skills similar to those of Langston, and at first it would be very difficult to connect the victims. We loved the idea that the killer could or could not be Langston. Things sort of took off from there.

CSI Files: Will we learn Jekyll’s identity by the end of the season?

Rambo: Yes.

CSI Files: We’ve heard Langston himself will be a suspect in the Dr. Jekyll case. How does he find himself in this predicament?

Rambo: Remember the “means, motive and opportunity” trinity? On examination, it becomes apparent that Langston may have had all three where these victims are concerned.

CSI Files: Can you hint at the connection between Dr. Jekyll and serial killer Nate Haskell?

Rambo: One hint: red sauce.

CSI Files: Langston is a somewhat controversial figure among the fans. Why do you think he’s so polarizing?

Rambo: He’s not the first CSI character fans have held strong feelings about for and against. But, whatever the degree, any polarization is troubling to me, because I think Laurence Fishburne is a superb actor and a strong presence on the show. He stepped in when one of the most iconic figures in TV history left, and that’s a challenge for any actor facing another guy’s loyal audience. Also, because we didn’t want to just bring in a new guy and suddenly have him in charge of the team, we struggled to find his character. It all sort of happened while we were already off and running. We consulted Laurence. We tried things. Some worked, some didn’t, but I think we’ve got the character right now, and I love his interaction with the team, especially one-on-one.

CSI Files: In “Sin City Blue”, Langston didn’t want to give his DNA to Wendy (Liz Vassey) as an elimination sample. Will we find out the reason for that?

Rambo: Well, speaking hypothetically, either you’re leery of personal information ending up in a database, or you’ve got something to hide. Hmmm….

CSI Files: Will we find out more about Langston’s anger issues?

Rambo: Yes. He’s a complex character with an Achilles’ heel.

CSI Files: Nick (George Eads) and Langston have developed a pretty strong bond over the last season and a half. What is it that draws these two together?

Rambo: I think it’s mutual respect, on and off the screen. They’re great together! Real give-and-take.

CSI Files: Marg Helgenberger has gone on record saying that her contract is up at the end of the year, and she doesn’t yet have a new one. Should we be worried about Catherine Willows?

Rambo: That one’s out of my hands, but I’d personally hate to see CSI without Catherine.

CSI Files: Catherine and Detective Vartann (Alex Carter) have embarked on a romance this season. What was behind the decision to pair them together, and will we see more of their relationship before the season is done?

Rambo: It seems that every season, when we talk with the actors about where their characters could go in the coming year, the subject of Catherine having a love life comes up. Not only is Catherine a very attractive woman, Marg is an actor of tremendous range and willing to explore the emotional boundaries of a character working long hours at a potentially life-threatening job as years go by. Carol Mendelsohn came into my office one day this season and said she’d been thinking that Catherine and Vartann would make a natural couple. It sounded right to me, and to others on the staff. When Jackie Hoyt ran it by Marg before starting “Sin City Blue,” she loved the idea. As to how much of the love life we get to see, we have to remember that the show’s about crime scene investigations, but I don’t expect a flame that hot to flicker out quickly.

CSI Files: Jorja Fox has been in quite a few episodes this season. Any chance Sara Sidle will be back in the lab full time next season?

Rambo: I don’t know the answer to that one. But hasn’t it been great to see her back this season?

CSI Files: Greg Sanders (Eric Szmanda) was expressing job frustration earlier in the season over his case assignments. Is he still feeling dissatisfied, or has that passed?

Rambo: I’d like to think that over the course of the season, Greg discovered that the team does respect him. He’s worked with everyone, and shown he’s as capable as any of them. I think Greg loves his job, and knows that this is the best place he could be. By the way, Eric and I really had fun filming “Take My Life, Please” at the end of the season. He so admired Tim Conway and Jennifer Tilly, and the humor in that silly case I wrote.

CSI Files: Wendy finally made a move on Hodges (Wallace Langham) in “Field Mice”! What’s in store for our favorite lab rats?

Rambo: I hate to be cagey here, but with those two anything could happen. They’re so brilliant, yet utterly awkward. You just know that deep down each of them thinks they’re smarter than the other. And they are.

CSI Files: Of all the CSIs on the show, which one do you think has changed the most in the seven years you’ve been with CSI?

Rambo: Great question. They’ve all developed and grown. I’d have to say, though, that Nick is the one who’s come the greatest distance. He’s confronted fears, ghosts, and torture and come through it stronger and more compassionate. He’s a leader who knows how to listen, and a follower who knows how to speak up.

CSI Files: Have there been any discussions about season 11 in the writers’ room? Do you know how the cliffhanger will be wrapped up?

Rambo: You really want me to spill all the secrets, don’t you? I can’t do that. Look, we’ve just managed to craft a tenth season of this show. When I think of what it takes to create just one episode, then a season — it boggles the mind to think it’s been going on for ten years. I hope the fans appreciate that without Carol Mendelsohn, there wouldn’t have been ten years. She’s the constant. And she is simply amazing. She loves the show, and never, ever stops coming up with ideas. She asks everyone to take a good idea farther, take a good script deeper, dare to think bigger, scarier, funnier; to go where we haven’t gone before. You have no idea how generous and tireless she is. She has ideas for Season 11, and there are a lot of variables that have to fall into place, but I can promise you it will be another season that you won’t want to miss.

“Fight On” was created by counselor Cameron Lymon to give seniors a chance to reflect on their lives and understand one another. Each graduating student wrote about a past or present struggle they faced, and the essays will be gathered into a book that will serve as a tribute to the class of 2010. “Really what this is all about is something for my seniors to leave behind to help future students and educators better understand that kids go through stuff,” Lymon told Southwest Riverside News Network. “It’s to give them that sense of pause.” He added to the Press-Enterprise, “Even after they’re gone, they’ll have an impact on the campus. The whole premise was everybody has a story, everybody has a fight.”

Before he came to speak to the students, Rambo read about 50 of the senior essays. “I was knocked out by reading them; by their honesty and their humanity and the views of the world that come from them,” he shared. “I thought I had a tough time in high school; but not like these journal entries. It is a terrible time, a horrible time (being an adolescent).”

Rambo spoke to about 200 seniors at the high school. He told his own life story, explaining that he wanted to be in show business from the time he was very young. However, his parents’ divorce meant there was no money for him to attend college. “So I packed up and moved to New York City,” Rambo said. “And I didn’t let go of my dream.”

Playing piano in night clubs led to acting, and acting led Rambo to Los Angeles. When that career path didn’t pan out, he got into real estate. “Every real estate deal was a play in itself,” Rambo revealed, and it was on the back of an open house flyer that he penned his first script. After battling a potentially-fatal hemoglobin virus for six months and ending up in the hospital, Rambo became a playwright. “It was then that I knew I wanted to write,” he said. “[W]riting is what makes me happy, it’s what I am.”

Rambo wrote a freelance script for CSI before he was offered a full-time job with the series. “That was seven years ago,” he shared. “Many times I felt that was where my life was heading all along.” He added, “When I graduated high school, I never dreamed I would be doing something that would touch 90 million people around the world. Any one of you could do this.”

One thing Rambo regrets about his life is not going to college. He asked the students how many were planning to continue their education, and a majority of the seniors raised their hands. “I’m so proud of that,” Rambo said. “You’re doing something I should have done.” He encouraged them to go to school and to follow their dreams. “Just about everything good that has happened to me was because I had a really good public school education,” Rambo said. “Someone is always going to be prettier, or stronger or whatever. I say so what.”

Sources: Southwest Riverside News Network and Press-Enterprise.

(There are two embedded videos after the jump—please be warned that one of the videos may make a sound when the page loads.)

Actor George Eads (Nick Stokes) was at the ceremony with executive producer Carol Mendelsohn to accept the award. “Coup de Grace” was honored for its depiction of racial prejudice in the police force. “When we first started the show, [William] Petersen (Gil Grissom) said to me, ‘Can we do something significant? Can we tell a story that will have impact, that will impact the world? Can you write an episode that people will remember?’ That always stuck with me,” Mendelsohn told the Academy. “Billy really was saying to me, ‘I think we’re going to be cancelled in 13 episodes, so can you at least make the show a critically acclaimed failure?’ But we all listened to what Billy said, and we have tried over the years to tell stories of conscience.”

“It’s not that we set out at the beginning of the season [saying], ‘We’re going to tell four stories that have important subjects,’” Mendelsohn clarified. “But they come from our writers, stories that they want and need to tell, and David Rambo and [Richard] Catalani came to me with the story for ‘Coup de Grace’, a story about racial profiling that had nothing really black and white about it.”

The episode “was about a white cop who shot an off-duty black cop,” Mendelsohn explained, adding that there were twists and turns but, in the end, science revealed the truth. “It was such a compelling story and so provocative and a real character study of this white cop, and he was played by Jack Blessing, who was one of the most amazing guest stars that we’ve ever had,” she said. “With Laurence Fishburne (Dr Ray Langston), who is just the consummate movie star that can make these small moments just come to life, and George Eads and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows), we just had one terrific episode, so it was both entertaining and provocative.”

It was important to tell the story, Eads said. “We have a responsibility as a show that gets a high rating and a high amount of viewers every week to take a little bit of a social responsibility and teach the audience a thing or two instead of just [providing] an entertainment factor,” he shared. “When it comes to an episode that deals with some racial prejudice, I think it’s important for us to delve pretty deep into it and handle it in a professional manner.”

“On the surface, it looks like we’re dealing with some hardcore racism and straight up bigotry,” Eads told Entertainment Tonight of the episode’s plot. “Our team was trying to get to the bottom of what happened in a fair way based upon the evidence, although we were getting all these signals from both sides that it was a racial issue. We just tried to maintain our composure and get to the bottom of it as quickly as possible, in the most professional way possible, and [the episode] was deemed socially conscious.”

Fans can find pictures of Eads and Mendelsohn at the Emmy website. Paris Barclay is also featured in some of the photos. He directed “Coup de Grace” as well as another Television Academy Honor recipient, the Glee episode “Wheels”. “Wheels” focused on several stories, including important disability issues. There are also pictures of Barclay, Mendelsohn and Eads from the event on Life.com.

You can find the videos featuring the previous quotes embedded below:

Sources: The Associated Press, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and ET Online. Thanks to speedystokesgirl and Blackflag from TalkCSI for the links.

The concert will be presented without an intermission and will be followed by a question and answer session with Rambo. Tickets for the event are $40 each ($10 for Santa Monica College students with identification). For more information—or to hear samples of the music to be performed—visit the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s website.