Liev Schreiber joins CSI

It must be really tiring filming all those episodes of CSI – there’s the long hours, the hard work of trying to make peering at a strand of hair under a microscope look really, really, cool and – for William Petersen, at least – coming up with those snappy puns before the credits roll (“Looks like this film won’t have a happy ending”, or “They came to a dead end”). Admittedly that last bit is usually down to the writers, but you get our drift.

That explains why Petersen, who is on record as not wanting to stay on the show forever, is taking a break early next year. And his replacement is surprising – Liev Schreiber is stepping into his shoes as an experienced crime scene investigator posted to Vegas. Surprising because Schreiber’s usually known for artier, character-based fare, and doesn’t do telly.

Still, he’s up for it… "After meeting the people who run CSI, it immediately becomes apparent why it has consistently been one of the top shows on television. I am a fan, how could I say no?" Schreiber blabbed in a statement. We’re going to guess that a hefty pay offer also helped convince him.

"I'm a huge Liev Schreiber fan. On stage or in film, I think he's one of the finest actors of his generation," Carol Mendelsohn, CSI’s executive producer gushed." "We first sat down with Liev earlier this summer to discuss the possibility of him appearing as a recurring character on CSI. We knew it was a long shot. But he was patient and I think amused, as we promised that we'd create a character for him that he couldn't refuse to play. Excitingly for us, he collaborated in this process. And we've got a wonderful, complex character as a result."

The current sixth season of the show is airing now in the States. Chances are we’ll see Schreiber later next year.