LOS ANGELES -- Tony Award winner and Emmy nominee Liev Schreiber is taking on his first role in a TV series, joining the cast of CBS' "CSI."

Schreiber will have a recurring part on the show, with his first appearance scheduled for January. He'll be playing a veteran crime-scene investigator who comes to the Las Vegas crime lab after working at several cities around the country. He will, in essence, be taking the place of series star William Petersen, who's taking several episodes off later in the season.

"I'm a huge Liev Schreiber fan. On stage or in film, I think he's one of the finest actors of his generation," "CSI" executive producer Carol Mendelsohn says.

Mendelsohn first approached Schreiber about appearing on the show during the summer, not really expecting the "Omen" star to jump at the idea. Eventually, though, he came around to the idea.

"After meeting the people who run 'CSI,' it immediately becomes apparent why it has consistently been one of the top shows on television," he says. "I am a fan -- how could I say no?"

Schreiber won a Tony Award last year for his role as Richard Roma in the Broadway revival of David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." His movie credits include "The Manchurian Candidate," "Walking and Talking," the "Scream" movies and "Big Night." He also wrote and directed the film "Everything Is Illuminated."

Although "CSI" will be his first series, Schreiber has appeared in several TV movies, earning an Emmy nomination in 2000 for playing Orson Welles in the HBO movie "RKO 281." He's also appeared in CBS' "Hitler: The Rise of Evil" and HBO's "Lackawanna Blues."