William Petersen says he is leaving CSI after nine years with the show. Petersen plays the character Gil Grissom. Since the start of the show Petersen has been a producer, then an executive producer, and have been an integral part of the show’s success. Now he says he’d like to challenge himself as an actor by returning to the theater in Chicago:

"It’s ’CSI’ — they pay me a lot of money, and I don’t have to work very hard anymore. I’ve got it all figured out. And I just realized, God, as an artist, I’m going to atrophy. You do anything for nine years, it becomes somewhat rote. I didn’t want to be on the show because they were paying me money and I liked the money. I didn’t want to be on the show because it saved me from having to go look for other jobs. Just didn’t want it. It was too safe for me at this point. So I needed to try and break that, and the way to do that, for me, is the theater."

Laurence Fishburne will fill the spot Petersen vacates.

Lawrence Fishburne and his actress wife Gina Torres are expecting a child. Torres’s rep confirms the actress is due this summer.

The couple was married in 2002 and this is their first child together. Fishburne (45) has two children from his previous marriage to Hanja Moss.

Torres (37), who stars in the FOX drama Standoff, will costar in the upcoming Chris Rock film I Think I Love My Wife. Fishburne can currently be seen in the Emilio Estevez-directed Bobby.

The cast of Mission Impossible III (left to right), Maggie Q, Laurence Fishburne, Michelle Monaghan, director JJ Abrams, Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Phillip Seymor Hoffman, posed in Rome, Italy for a group photo in front of the ancient Coliseum during the world premiere of MI-3 this morning at the Palazzo Colonna. They all attended a photo call and press conference later on in the day. Tom Cruise missed this group photo, but was at the press conference. I don’t recognize the person on the end. Perhaps someone could leave a comment if they know this person’s name.

Lots more pictures in the gallery.

Technorati Tags: Mission Impossible, Movies, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Keri Russell, Laurence Fishburne, Maggie Q, Michelle Monaghan, Philip Seymour Hoffman

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