The new guy keeps it in perspective.

Laurence Fishburne (Dr Raymond Langston) had never seen an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation when he was first approached about replacing William Petersen (Gil Grissom) as the show's leading man. However, that quickly changed, and Fishburne now considers himself a fan not only of the show, but also of Petersen's character. "I'm very much invested in 'The Bug Man,'" Fishburne told the Los Angeles Times. "I mean, really, they can't kill 'The Bug Man'! Being a fan, I don't know how I'm going to feel when the new guy shows up."

The fact that the "new guy" is Fishburne himself gives the actor perspective. "I've tried to approach this with an open mind -- and a great deal of humility as well," he explained. "And I'm not fooling myself -- I am filling the shoes of a man who is irreplaceable. Once I recognized that, then I knew exactly what my responsibility was. My purpose is to serve the show. That's one of the most important things to remember. This is not about me. This is about the audience."

The build-up to Fishburne's entrance has also been the build-up to Petersen's exit. "What's really wonderful is that the writing team has managed to introduce my character while also giving Grissom a beautiful send-off," Fishburne said. "The way he exits the series is very smart." Having the spotlight on Petersen's departure took some pressure off Fishburne to start with. "The good news is that in the last six weeks, the focus has really been on Billy," the actor shared. "So that has let me just quietly observe, showing up for work and trying to integrate myself as harmoniously as possible. And everybody could not have been nicer."

"I'm in the process of discovering who he is," Fishburne said of his character. "It's a continual process. All I know is that I bring a certain gravity and weight to the series, and the writers and producers have carefully constructed a character that allows me to play to my strengths." Co-executive producer Carol Mendelsohn added that the character's introduction was carefully planned as well. "A tremendous amount of thought went into that," she shared. "We wanted our audience to have the same kind of anticipation of this guy that Grissom has." Mendelsohn described Langston as "a man of magnetism and power."

The original article is from the Los Angeles Times.

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