Character Builder

Character Builder
Sarah Nicholson
June 21, 2006
The Courier Mail

GEORGE Eads doesn't have to think too hard when asked about his most memorable CSI episode.

The native Texan quickly responds it was the double instalment directed by Quentin Tarantino which saw Eads' character Nick Stokes buried alive in a Perspex coffin, but the episode doesn't stand out in Eads' mind for the reasons you might think.

It's not because he filmed several scenes covered in biting ants, or because of the claustrophobic space he had to work in. It was because he got to step past what was normally expected of him during a CSI episode to explore another side of the character he has played since the series pilot back in 2000.

"I am a character actor trapped in a leading-man's body and, as an actor, I have always wanted to prove that I can get past looks and go deeper into the soul of a character," he says.

"During the episode that was exactly what I was able to do, to go deeper, and I have found that formed a kinship with the fans because I have gone past the surface of my character.

"I was going to such a dark place, I have never been in a position where I was forced to contemplate my death for such a long time, and I was thinking about how I don't see my family enough and I was able to throw that all into the character.

"I also loved working with Quentin, I want to take my career further than acting to become a producer or director myself and getting to watch him I was able to learn so much.

"He is a kind man, I was completely vulnerable because of what my character was going through and he would say a kind word to me after a scene, whisper something in my ear or give me a pat on the forehead."

While Eads is now considered to be one of television's hottest stars he had to pay his dues before he got his big break and worked as a teacher, in public relations and as a photocopier salesman before CSI.

When he drove from his home town in Texas to Los Angeles back in the 1990s he could only travel during the day because his truck, which he had to borrow from his father, had no headlights.

"When I got to LA I decided it was a rough place that was cold and unwelcoming but I made a promise that I wouldn't let the city win and drive me out," he says.

"I had to get this close-knit group of friends just so I was able to survive living there, which includes Jorja Fox from the show, and they all refused to let the city run them out too.

"I bought this house in the hills, a one-storey fixer-up that I had to do a fair amount of work on, but it has become my sanctuary on top of the hill and my dog Maverick sleeps right up there in the bed with me, which might be why I am still single.

"I live off Mulholland Drive, and I love to ride my motorbikes, so I can put my full-faced helmet on and go riding, which is a neat way to detach myself because I am a very private person."