E Online
Sara Sidle is a survivor. The actor that plays her, not so much.
Jorja Fox, who has starred on “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” since its inception in 2000, will not complete the series’ current season, bowing out after the seventh episode in November, E! Online TV columnist Kristin Dos Santos reports.
The news will no doubt be a blow to fans of the actress, albeit not a surprising one.
Her departure comes after rocky contract negotiations offscreen and an onscreen story line that has been foreshadowing for months a less than happy ending for her character.
It was the inability for Fox and producers to come to terms on a salary boost, which they had been negotiating since January, that put the final nail in her “CSI” coffin.
The story should sound more than a little familiar to fans of the show.
Fox, along with costar George Eads, both were fired from their acting gigs back in 2004, when they famously held out, unsuccessfully, for a bigger payday. They eventually were hired back after making public mea culpas. Eads wound up with a contract extension, but not Fox.
While the contracts for the entire “CSI “cast expires at the end of the current season, Fox’s lapsed in May.
Producers appeared to waste no time in finding a would-be replacement.
In July, show-runner Carol Mendelsohn announced that the series would be taking on a new female lab technician that will be introduced in the current season’s third episode. Producer Jonathan Littman also confirmed at a network event over the summer that the Grissom-Sara storyline would definitely be concluding this season.
Last month, actress Jessica Lucas was hired for the Vegas crime lab, although producers, playing down rumors of Fox’s exit, insisted Lucas was only brought on for a guest stint.
While it’s unclear whether Fox’s character will leave voluntary or mortally—the cast recently wrapped the fifth episode of the season—fans were put out of their summerlong misery Thursday night when Sara survived.
Her character’s fate was the major cliffhanger from last season’s finale; Thursday’s season opener revealed that that Sara escaped alive from her run-in with the “Miniature Killer.”
Fox’s departure comes at a time when “CSI” couldn’t be stronger. The series’ seventh season premiere bested the “Grey’s Anatomy” season debut Thursday by the largest margin since the ratings juggernauts first squared off. The CBS procedural averaged 24.8 million viewers, while the sudsy medical drama drew in just 20.5 million.
Fans of LeFox is a fan run website with the goal of sharing information about actress, advocate, and humanitarian, Jorja Fox.