Laurence Fishburne left CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for a specific reason. The show, which premiered on CBS in 2000, was created by Anthony E. Zuiker and ran for 15 seasons, in the process spawning half a dozen spinoffs including CSI: Miami, which ran for 10 seasons, and CSI: NY, which ran for nine. The flagship show, which followed a Las Vegas Police Department crime scene investigation team, featured a rotating cast of stars over the years, which included William Petersen, Marg Helgenberger, Gary Dourdan, George Eads, Jorja Fox, Paul Guilfoyle, Eric Szmanda, Robert David Hall, Louise Lombard, and Elisabeth Shue.
Laurence Fishburne joined the CSI franchise in 2008, first appearing on the flagship show in season 9 as former medical doctor Raymond Langston and becoming a main cast member two episodes later, after the departure of Petersen's longtime character Gil Grissom, who had been a part of the series since the pilot. During his tenure, Fishburne also portrayed Langston in crossover episodes of NY and Miami, in addition to voicing the character in the tie-in video games Deadly Intent and Fatal Conspiracy. He remained on the series for 60 episodes until departing at the end of season 11 in 2011.
Over the course of its many seasons and spin-offs, The CSI franchise had delivered some of the best stories, and characters on television.
Laurence Fishburne Left CSI To Focus On Feature Films Again
He Is Best Known For His Movie Roles
According to a Deadline report from the time, Fishburne departed the series after two-and-a-half seasons because his contract was up, andhe was interested in taking on more work in feature films. In fact, at the time he left, he was already set to appear in a major role in Steven Soderbergh's Contagion, which debuted in theaters just four months after his final episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. While he opted not to renew his contract at the end of season 11, he had previously renewed it for another season at the end of season 10.
Fishburne was third-billed in the closing credits of Contagion, which featured a vast ensemble cast that also included Matt Damon, Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Sanaa Lathan, and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Considering the number of movies that Fishburne had made before joining the series, it makes sense that he would want to continue working in that medium. In addition to his role as Morpheus in the Matrix trilogy, which helped him gain an even wider audience, his pre-CSI filmography includes such notable features as Apocalypse Now, Death Wish II, Rumble Fish, The Color Purple, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and Boyz n the Hood. In fact, an insider told Deadline as much, saying that "nobody expected him to be on the show for 7 years, it’s Laurence Fishburne."
What Laurence Fishburne Has Done Since He Left CSI
He Has Made Both Movies And TV
Laurence Fishburne has appeared regularly on television since he left the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. This includes playing prominent roles such as the recurring character Earl Johnson in all eight seasons of Black-ish and major character Jack Crawford in all three seasons of Hannibal. He has also appeared in shows such as Roots, MacGruber, Clipped, Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, and the upcoming season of Netflix's The Witcher. However, he did take a roughly two-year break from episodic television acting after his final episode of CSI.
[Fishburne] has appeared in a variety of major post-CSI blockbusters...
Additionally, the number of movies that he has made since 2011 far exceeds his television roles. He has appeared in a variety of major post-CSI blockbusters including Man of Steel, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Ride Along, and every movie in the John Wick franchise so far since Chapter 2. He has also appeared in many smaller movies made by respected directors, including Clint Eastwood's The Mule and the Richard Linklater titles Where'd You Go, Bernadette and Last Flag Flying. His upcoming roles include a supporting performance opposite Rami Malek in the thriller The Amateur.
Who Replaced Laurence Fishburne In CSI
Another Major Star Stepped In
As was the case when Fishburne originally joined the series to fill in for William Petersen’s character, a new star arrived in the main cast in the wake of his 2011 departure. The Good Place and Cheers star Ted Danson boarded CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as D.B. Russell at the beginning of season 12. While his character did not occupy a similar position in the team, he did replace Fishburne as a major name-brand star at the core of the show, a position he held until the series concluded at the end of season 15 in 2015.
In this long-running, classic crime procedural, a team of investigators searches crime scenes to collect forensic evidence, analyze it, and use it to catch the criminal of the week.
Release Date
October 6, 2000
Cast
William Petersen
, Marg Helgenberger
, George Eads
, Eric Szmanda
, Elisabeth Shue
, Laurence Fishburne
, Paul Guilfoyle
English (US) ·