Carmine Giovinazzo interview

"Spinning off to NYC"


On TV, he plays a New York cop. In real life, it's in Carmine Giovinazzo's blood. "My father was a cop; he worked 15 years for the NYPD. My brother-in-law was a detective assigned to Mayor Rudy Giuliani," said Giovinazzo, who stars in "CSI: NY."

His sister also has worked as a police officer in the DARE program designed to deter kids from drugs.

But Giovinazzo, a native New Yorker, said he's more interested in the shades of grays covered by acting than the black-and-white world of police work.

"I'm more of a philosopher," said Giovinazzo, who starred in 1999 as a bachelor in the short-lived UPN sitcom "Shasta McNasty."

Giovinazzo said he gets advice from his law-enforcement family about how to play a cop.

He portrays Danny Messer, a forensics investigator, on the latest "CSI" spinoff, set to premiere this fall on CBS.

Already, there's a sign the spinoff will be a hit.

When the pilot aired as part of a regular episode of "CSI: Miami" this month, it was the series' highest-rated episode. And movie actor Gary Sinise is the top star, playing New York police Detective Mac Taylor.

CBS is counting on Sinise's star power and the success of its "CSI" franchise to draw viewers away from NBC's original "Law & Order" series. CBS has scheduled "CSI: NY" to air in the 10 p.m. Wednesday "L&O" time slot.

The original "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" remains TV's highest-rated program and "CSI: Miami" has been the 10th-highest-rated show.

While it has been in the top five shows in previous seasons, "Law & Order" has dipped to the No. 13 spot, and it might become more vulnerable with this month's departure of longtime lead star Jerry Orbach.

Orbach is taking his character, the wisecracking detective Lennie Briscoe, to a recurring role in the new "L&O" spinoff, "Trial by Jury," set to debut sometime midseason.

Next season, NBC will pit four "L&O" shows against CBS' three "CSI" series in a big war of two of TV's most successful franchises.

And while CBS relies on Sinise, NBC has recruited another successful movie star, Dennis Farina ("Saving Private Ryan"), to replace Orbach on "L&O."

While less famous than Sinise, Farina has a reputation for playing tough criminals and cops. In 2002, he starred as the tough father-in-law in the short-lived NBC sitcom "In-Laws."

New York state of mind

All of the "Law & Order" shows are filmed in New York City, where the stories are set. But like its sister shows on CBS, "CSI: NY" will be filmed in Los Angeles with some exterior scenes shot in New York.

Giovinazzo said viewers can expect the characters to drive the action as much as the evidence will in the latest "CSI" spinoff, more so than the original "CSI," which focuses on the facts over personalities in Las Vegas.

"Because it is New York, the stories are of a more personal nature," Giovinazzo said. "We can't help but be more gritty, darker. (The characters) are much less robotic."

In addition to Giovinazzo and Sinise, the series stars Melina Kanakaredes ("Providence") as Detective Stella Bonasera and Vanessa Ferlito as Aiden Burn, an investigator whose chameleonlike behavior allows her to adapt to any situation.

As for Giovinazzo's character, Brooklyn-born Danny Messer, "he's a street guy who decides to do some good and gets work on the forensics side," Giovinazzo said. "He's really a passionate person."

Mutual respect

Giovinazzo said he enjoys working with Sinise.

"He respects me; I respect him," Giovinazzo said.

A successful movie star such as Sinise doesn't suffer from the insecurities that plague other actors, and that makes the entire process easier, Giovinazzo said.

"He's where I want to be in 10 years," Giovinazzo said.

"If I allow myself to have a moment, it may be the most important job of my career as far as the opportunity it can bring," he said.

In addition to "CSI: NY," Giovinazzo co-stars with William H. Macy in this summer's theatrical movie "In Enemy Hands," and he stars with Freddy Rodriguez and Peter Dobson in the independent movie "The Red Zone."

Giovinazzo grew up as an athlete, playing sports on the streets of Staten Island. He originally wanted to play professional baseball, but after three years of college ball and a serious back injury, he went into acting.

"Before I knew it, I was running around Manhattan with a head shot and taking classes at HB Studios," Giovinazzo said.

He did several short films at New York University.

He worked on various independent films before playing a bad boy in 1997 in the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" pilot.