Regina Taylor (‘CSI: Vegas’): ‘The moment I read the script, I started crying’ [Exclusive Video Interview]

“The moment I read the script, I started crying,” reveals Emmy-nominated actress Regina Taylor about “CSI: Vegas.” For our recent webchat she adds, “I was very deeply moved by the journey of these two women, their relationship. I think it is very much about the tenacity of a mother’s love.” Watch our exclusive video interview above.

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“CSI: Vegas” is the follow-up to the long-running Emmy-winning CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and the fifth series in the CSI franchise. The crime drama stars Paula Newsome, Matt Lauria and Mandeep Dhillon, with CSI alums William Petersen, Jorja Fox, Marg Helgenberger, Wallace Langham, Paul Guilfoyle and Eric Szmanda reprising their roles from the original series in various episodes throughout the show’s two-season run (to date). Originally branded as an epilogue limited series, CBS renewed the show for a second season, which concludes this month before an already-confirmed third season premieres likely this fall.

Taylor (Emmy nominated for Best Drama Actress for “I’ll Fly Away in 1992 and 1993) guest stars in the 17th episode of Season 2, entitled “The Promise,” which aired on March 30 and was written by Alex Berry & showrunner Anthony E. Zuiker and directed by Brad Tanenbaum. In the episode, Taylor plays Mrs. Raquel Williams, an elderly and ailing mother grieving over the cold-blooded murder of her daughter Phoebe decades earlier. When the remains of her eight year-old child are found dumped inside a drum at the bottom of nearby Lake Mead, Maxine “Max” Roby (Newsome), head of the Las Vegas Crime Lab, must confront Mrs. Williams, who still harbors all of the pain from not ever knowing who was responsible for shooting her at close range one fateful night. The two mothers ultimately work together to uncover the truth about her long-lost daughter.

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“It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to pour yourself fully into the flesh, the shoes of this particular woman in her circumstances. It’s an opportunity that an actor dreams of, where your core can be poured into a character, a storyline. I knew the moment I saw the script that this would be an incredible journey,” the veteran actress explains. “That time when you step onto the set, the folks on the show have been together for a while. So it’s a very well-oiled machine. Absolute consummate professionals who love what they do, and you feel that embrace of people,” she says. “We’re nomads in this business. We travel from human being to human being in different places and different shows. It was a privilege to take this journey with this character, with these people. I was very moved by all . Anthony coming in every day before I went to the set and ask me how I’m doing and have a conversation before I went to hair and makeup and then the set. I saw the passion from everyone.”

The “CSI” mother ship amassed an impressive 40 Emmy nominations over its 15 seasons, including three consecutive Best Drama Series nominations (2002-2004), two Best Drama Actress nominations for Helgenberger (2001 and 2003) and a total of seven wins. Nowadays, crime procedural series are all over broadcast television, perhaps diluting their impact with Emmy voters. But every once in a while, a standout performance breaks through in the guest acting categories, even against the odds, like Kumail Nanjiani in “The Twilight Zone” (2019), Cameron Britton in “Mindhunter” (2018), Alan Alda in “The Blacklist” (2015), Cicely Tyson in “How To Get Away With Murder” (2015, 2017-2020), Ann Dowd in “The Leftovers” (2017) and Laurie Metcalf in “Horace and Pete” (2016).

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