William Petersen Quotes

Sure, I always chose rebels to identify with - I still do - but to me a rebel isn't so much someone who breaks the law as someone who goes against the odds.

The show can go on without me, and probably will, but I want to come back to act in Chicago. My wife and I just bought a condo downtown, and I want to do theater.

I know a lot of actors who've just gotten bitter because they did something and then nobody ever saw it or whatever.

Corporate Hollywood thinks I'm a geek to go back and do theater. They don't understand why I don't want to be a movie star, why I'm not pursuing Mel Gibson's roles.

I've never been in this business for the recognition or the awards. I just want to do good work, grab a decent paycheck, and move onto the next job.

I had panic attacks during rehearsal. There were times when I really thought I wasn't going to be able to do it.

One of the things I love about theater, one of the reasons I'll never give it up, is that it's fifty percent the audience's responsibility.

I want to live and work in Chicago for the rest of my life. You know when you were growing up and you wanted to become president? What I want now is to be mayor of this damned town in ten years.

I've been telling anybody who would listen that I wanted to do a series for the last 10 years. But I wouldn't do it if I was just another cop pushing bad guys up against the wall.

If I could change on thing about myself, I would: Have better knees. Mine are shot because of injuries. You're only as good as your legs, whether you're an athlete or an actor.

I get a lot of stuff from Germany - stuffed bugs and tarantulas.

I won't miss Grissom. It was a complete life for me that's reached its end, and it's reached it in the right way, I think. So I won't miss Grissom. And I hope that the audience won't miss him either.

Basically, we are a whole world of people desperately trying to figure out what is the dark side of our natures and how much can we explore without becoming something else.

A smart person is not one that knows the answers, but one who knows where to find them.

Writing is a vessel...with readers the ocean and authors as its sails.

I can't figure out how they decide on those things. So I don't have any regrets about anything that I did that didn't get a lot of people to see it.

Theater in Chicago will always be my first love.

Grissom is pretty asexual. He's not that interested in anything other than work - except for Lady Heather. She's the closest to getting his heart of anyone.

There’s no greater search than that of lost love.

Grissom is a character who doesn't really want people poking around in his life. He likes to poke around in his work.

I think you can find yourself on one of these shows for a long period of time and think that all you'll ever be able to do is that character. Certainly people think of you that way.

A smart person is not one that knows the answers, but one who knows where to find them...