CSI Miami’s David Caruso – Unbearable?!

Who would believe that people would say David Caruso is unbearable on the set of CSI Miami? Ummmm, well, how about everybody? The following story featured by MSNBC shouldn’t be of any surprise to anyone who knows Caruso back from his NYPD Blue days. But it made me snicker, just the same. Oh yeah, the extra bonus piece from the Defamer below was just icing on the cake for me. Funny thing is, the campy and over the top Caruso is one of the reasons why I watch CSI Miami. It’s certainly not for the quality of the stories or the acting.


From MSNBC:
Caruso accused of being difficult, demanding

A snitch on the set of "CSI: Miami" says that star David Caruso spits, curses and acts like a "man-child" when filming.

By Ree Hines
MSNBC contributor
updated 10:16 p.m. ET, Mon., March. 17, 2008
Lieutenant Horatio Caine may be Miami’s smoothest lawman, but according to one insider, the actor behind the character is more of a demanding diva. Defamer reports that “CSI: Miami’s” David Caruso stands accused of spitting, cursing and behaving like a tortured “man-child” on set.

“(David) can't walk and talk at the same time (you should see him on stairs), requires dozens of takes for simplest line-readings (which as we all know, he can only do one way) and can't even put his ‘CSI’ gloves on on-camera (always a time cut, just watch),” said a source going by the moniker “OnSetSnitch.”

“Snitch,” who claims to have witnessed production of almost 50 episodes of the hit show, contacted Defamer after the site posted a story about David’s sunglasses-enhanced acting method. (NOTE: The Defamer Info is posted below this MSNBC article)

“Caruso is without a doubt, the most tortured, saddest man-child/ actor I've ever seen in over 15 years of movie and TV-making.” The alleged insider went on to say, “He will cuss uncontrollably (often in front of a child actor) and blame everyone but himself for his inability to act. He used to hack up big loogies on the floor of the set, too, until a producer gently reminded him of sanitation and courtesy.”


Here’s the Defamer piece:

Mannerisms David Caruso Bullies Young Director Into Shooting Umpteenth Sunglasses Removal Scene

By now, seemingly every pop culture pundit worth their weight in punchlines has latched onto the high comedic value of David Caruso's effusive stylings on CSI: Miami. In particular, The Soup's Joel McHale has taken extreme delight in (and created a cottage industry from) Caruso's patented "I'm going to hastily remove my sunglasses while I deliver this one-liner" maneuver. But until we read this insider's account of Caruso's excruciating acting process on Popbitch, the TV viewer in us always just kind of naively assumed that these moments happened semi-serendipitously. But boy oh boy, were we ever wrong:
David Caruso asks [the show's director] when there will be a close up of [his] sunglasses - in every scene.

Here's the full, unedited text of the Popbitch item (typos/Anglo-isms theirs):

Just back from LA and was staying with a friend who's in Jericho. One of the scriptwriters for the show used to work on CSI: Miami and apparently David Caruso r4eally is the arse he appears. A new director was setting up a shot and as he was laying out the scene suggested that Caruso should walk through a door, into a room and pick up a bottle of something and open it etc. The producers took the tyro to one side and pointed out that "David gets a bit lost in props". Reasonably pointing out that it was quite a simple manoeuvre he was told that there was only a limited amount of time for the shoot and David didn't have the time to work out the meaning of the props. Gradually the action was whittled down to him just walking through the door and giving his line. To this the young director is once again taken to one side and it is explained to him that "David isn't very good with thresholds". He also asks when, in the scene, there will be a close up of the sunglasses - in every scene.

While we would never begrudge a star a chance to indulge themselves and their adoring audience with a trademark move or catchphrase, nothing about David Caruso's demeanor or any evidence from the item above indicates to us that he's the type of guy who is in on the joke. Either way, we're just thankful that his painstaking dedication to his craft allows us all to continue 'avin a laff at his expense, Extras style.



And just because it’s funny, and of course relevant, here’s the YouTube video of endless Horatio Caine one liners. I’ve posted this on my blog before, but this is one of those times where you just can’t get too much of a “good” (snicker) thing.




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