When Melina Kanakaredes accepted the role of Detective Stella Bonasera on CSI: NY she knew she would be compared to Marg Helgenberger, who plays the lead female character on the original CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. But Kanakaredes, 40, wasn't deterred from taking the part, as the show's enduring popularity has had a positive influence on women choosing to work in forensic science.
Since CSI has been on the air, the number of women training for jobs in the field has dramatically increased. 'That's phenomenal,' says the actress who was born in Akron, Ohio, to a Greek-American family. 'What's fantastic about the franchise, as with anything that works in TV and film, is that the greatest gift is how you can influence an audience.'
Kanakaredes did, however, wonder if people might be a bit fed up with CSI, even though the Las Vegas and Miami versions had high ratings when the New York version was being developed.
'That's why it was so important to see who the group of people was. And, early on, in trying to make it different, we almost shot ourselves in the foot. It was so dark at the beginning. It had to be different, it had to be New York's version, and it became a completely different thing. When it ain't broken, don't fix it. By season two, it really swung into something that was special.'
Kanakaredes is speaking shortly before the start of the continuing writer's strike in Hollywood, seated at a table in the interrogation room on the set of CSI: NY. 'I'm usually on that side of the table,' she says. 'I'm never the guy who's in trouble.'
Her role on the highly rated show, which draws about 14 million viewers a week, has given her prime-time prestige. Although she appeared on the acclaimed NYPD Blue and The Practice, and had a lead role in the show Providence, Kanakaredes was keen to join CSI as she was a fan of series creator Anthony Zuiker, and had seen the impact that the original show had on popular culture.
