Melina Kanakaredes

Melina Kanakaredes is a Greek-American actress, widely known for two of her starring roles on prime-time TV, "CSI: NY" and "Providence."

With her wavy brunette hair, piercing green eyes and expressive personality, Melina Kanakaredes has been winning fans since her 1991 breakout role as Greek immigrant Eleni Andros on CBS' daytime serial "Guiding Light." The Ohio-born former beauty contestant spent nearly five years playing the character who moved from wide-eyed innocent to more mature wife and mother, earning a Daytime Emmy nod along the way.

Her talent and abilities transcended the genre and like others who began their days in daytime (e.g., Meg Ryan, Marisa Tomei), it seemed only a matter of time before she would make the leap to primetime and features. Kanakaredes made her feature debut in Gregory Hines' uneven portrait of an interracial romance "Bleeding Hearts" and went on to small roles in "The Long Kiss Goodnight," "Dangerous Beauty," "Rounders" and "15 Minutes."

In 1999, Kanakaredes achieved small screen stardom as Dr. Sydney Hansen, a California-based plastic surgeon who returns to her New England home in the soapy but highly watchable "Providence." After the series folded, the actress took to the stage as Sally Bowles in a revival of the Broadway play "Cabaret" and shot the indie film "Into the Fire" before making her return to primetime network TV with "CSI: New York" as Det. Stella Bonasera.

Her other television credits include "NYPD Blue," "Due South," "Oz," "The Practice," MTV's "The Ben Stiller Show" and a Hallmark Hall of Fame adaptation of the Anne Tyler novel "Saint Maybe."

Kanakaredes played the role of the Greek Goddess Athena in "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" and starred in the 2013 drama "Snitch" alongside Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.