TELEVISION fans first got to know Eddie Cahill as Jennifer Aniston?s pretty boyfriend Tag on the show ?Friends.? In ?CSI New York,? this real New Yorker plays Detective Don Flack. He?s still pretty but he?s also tough.

Eddie Cahill says he wanted to be a cop when he was a kid. ?I?ve always been a fan of cops. My grandfather was a cop.? And although he still thinks about joining law enforcement sometimes, for now, his main focus is this TV show. ?My fears and anxieties when I was starting out kinda dropped away and now I can focus on doing my job and practicing just what it is that I need to practice and that?s been a great gift.?

How important is New York to the show?

Something I appreciate about New York is there?s a real improvisational nature to living there and existing there because you go outside of your house to do your laundry and you can fall in love or get mugged before you can even get your underwear in the dryer. I think the show has incorporated a little bit more of that and in that respect, having New York play its role in the show is of tremendous importance. As time has gone on they?ve been able to bring in that authentic energy.

Being a New Yorker, are you okay with shooting in LA?

I would love to move back home but I like shooting in LA, it?s a nice place to shoot, it?s built for shooting.

What is it like working with Gary Sinise?

The great thing about Gary is that Gary has and will always have far more experience than I do. I can pick his brain about choices he?s made but more often than not, I learn by his example, his work ethics. It?s quite profound when you work with somebody who is gracious, who is prepared, who shows up just knowing what he does. When we started the show, he was a beacon of experience to look at and watch. As I?m sitting here, ?Oh they?re gonna fire me, they?re gonna fire me,? he was just a grounding force on the show, as a compass of calm almost.

What was your childhood in New York like?

I grew up in a network of family friends who all had kids my age. We were all kind of raised together at the same time. I certainly had my own two parents but as I get older in life and think about having a family of my own, I think I would like that for my children ? to be in a community of close familiar relationships that were fundamental in raising me.

What was your ?Friends? experience like and what did that teach you as a young actor about handling fame?

It was the first time I was ever really included in Hollywood, I guess. It was the first inkling I had that maybe I might belong in this place. They were very kind to me. Standing on the outside maybe you?d hear a horror story or you?d hear about these Hollywood types and dot dot dot, the list goes on. I was fortunate to have an experience where I wound up on the show that was probably an icon of all that was Hollywood and it was jam-packed with really kind people. That is what stood out for me. That?s what I learned, that I might be able to find a footing in this thing. I battled nerves on the show a lot. It?s the one job if I could go back in time, I?d like to take another crack at it, just from a professional standpoint but that was a great time.

Do you have any stories from your time on that show?

I remember for the very first episode ? they shoot it live ? I was up in the dressing room and I was giving myself a little pep talk. ?I don?t know why but you?re here. You can figure this out, you can do this..? I walk out of the dressing room and coming down the stairs, standing right in front of me was Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn and their two kids, turn back, walk upstairs back to the dressing room and go, ?Okay, that wasn?t supposed to happen but nevertheless you?re still here, what the hell are you doing here...? That?s what that experience was for me.

What do you do for fun?

I just started surfing about a year ago. Surfing has been great. I?ve heard people say there?s no culture in Los Angeles but (with surfing) I got to tap into something that is really unique and has its own place in California?s cultural history.

Do you want to go back to theater?

Desire, not plans. It?s always a dream of mine to be a part of the New York theater circuit and I still have that dream. We?ll see. I hope. I don?t have the time to do it now.

Did you get more attention from females after being on the show for so long?

I don?t know, I don?t carry a barometer of attention around me. There have been moments where I?d get recognized a bit more but it?s never been oppressive. Nor have I ever been able to measure if it?s decidedly more female or male or young or old.

How did your life change since the show?

The greatest change is that I am not running around looking for work more days out of the week and I don?t mean that as a cute answer. I have a job and I get to crack this acting and work as being an actor more often than not which is a godsend and a change I wish on every actor or anyone who?s pursuing anything in the creative field.