'CSI: NY' star says he's 'just a guy from New York'

By TERRY MORROW
September 22, 2004

Eddie Cahill is television's busiest outsider.

"CSI: NY" (10 p.m. Wednesdays, CBS) is another gold star on his resume, following in the footsteps of memorable roles on "Friends" and "Sex and the City." Yet he says he doesn't feel comfortable working along side stars like Jennifer Aniston, Sarah Jessica Parker and Gary Sinise.

In his eyes, they're stars. He's just a working stiff from New York.

"Everybody wants to get along with everyone else in the sandbox," he says. "I'm that kind of kid, you know what I mean? That will never change about me."

As Det. Joe Flack on "CSI: NY," Cahill is cementing his reputation as an actor who can run with the best of television's pack. Certainly, he has found yet another sure thing with his role on a "CSI" spin-off, which observers say could be the biggest new hit of the fall season.

Yet Cahill tries to ignore those thoughts.

"To be honest, I try not to think about (the success of the) 'CSI' (franchise) that much because it makes me paranoid and crazy," he says.

When he landed his role on "Friends" as Aniston's young and sexy office fling, Cahill was new to the show, and a newcomer to the Los Angeles scene.

"Working in Los Angeleson 'Friends' made me feel like an Englishman in New York," he says. "So much was going on and it was so new to me. . . .It was such a huge hit, and I had a major role. Showing up to work every day was nuts. We'd do table reads, and I would look around and think, 'what am I doing here?'"

On "Sex and the City," which was shot in New York, Cahill played the sexually ambiguous boyfriend of Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker).

"Sarah Jessica was unbelievably nice. She set the standard when it comes to other people I worked with later. I saw how great she was, and I knew other people could be that way when I did other series," he says.

"CSI: NY," which co-stars Gary Sinise and Melina Kanakaredes, could be where Cahill finally feels like one of the gang. "It brings me back home," he says, "and I get to play a person who belongs to a group of people I adore."

Cahill, 26, a Bronx native, says "to go back to New York under these circumstances is great. People congratulate you for being apart of something great. You can only appreciate those kinds of comments when they come from home."

Cahill comes from a long line of law enforcers. His great-grandfather was an inspector in the Bronx. His grandfather was a sergeant in the same borough. Cahill's father wanted to be a policeman, but his bad eyesight kept him from passing the physical.

"And now I am playing a homicide detective," Cahill says. "I was a big 'Law & Order' fan. I am a big fan of the true-crime stories. It's just a part of something I am fascinated with."

But even so, Cahill says he sometimes still feels like that square peg.

"What makes me insecure is always having that new-kid-at-school feeling," he says. "Whenever I show up for the first day at any job, I feel insecure, like I don't really belong there. . . There was Sarah Jessica, the cast of 'Friends' and now Gary Sinise.

"I look at these people and say, 'These are the people I want to be when I grow up.' That's beginning to make me feel more comfortable with myself."

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