Post by Hestella on Apr 25, 2010 10:25:54 GMT -5
PEOPLE struggle with her name but Melina Kanakaredes doesn’t mind. “It’s almost hilarious to see people try to say it. I remember Jay Leno the first time, it’s very funny. But I think once people learn it, they learn it. There’s a huge amount of pride. When I see a Greek name, I get excited.”
The Greek American actress loves her character Det. Stella Bonasera. She said, “Stella has gone through some pretty crazy things in her life — bad choices in men, shooting her boyfriend. She hasn’t had a healthy relationship yet. But she’ll cross that line whenever she can to protect anybody. She will bend rules like a pretzel to get what she needs but always with the right intentions.”
How did you become part of the show?
When I was first offered CSI New York, I wasn’t sure. I moved back to New York and performed on Broadway. I said, I have to meet Gary Sinise. I love him, I think he’s fabulous but I wanna make sure he’s a great person, knowing how many hours you’d spend with the people you work with on a series. I wanted it to be fun and enjoyable. I met him and he’s just an amazing human being. And so I said, “Okay, I’m on board. Thanks for the offer and I’ll play with this guy for a couple of years.” And here we are.
Will Stella and Mac ever have a romantic relationship?
I think people want it but once they get it it’s not exciting anymore. I’ll never say never but I don’t think that’s a primary goal. They have a bizarre family-brother-sister-but-not relationship. I don’t think they’d want to put them together for good.
You are a second generation Greek American. Do you feel like you have to be a voice for Greek Americans?
I feel very connected to the struggle of my grandparents so I could dream. I’m very proud of my history. When the writers found out about my speaking Greek fluently, they thought it was a really cool thing so they said, “Let’s make Stella half Greek and half Italian.” Then all of a sudden she became the multi-lingual character. She speaks French, Italian, Greek and Russian. I love being the sort of international voice in the show.
How much time do you get to spend with your kids when you’re working long hours on the show?
You’ll notice that next to my trailer there’s a plastic slide and another trailer and a little plastic house. My girls come to the set. We have family dinners here no matter where I’m at. I want my kids to be around me as much as possible. It’s a team effort. If I didn’t have an awesome husband who put up with all this craziness, I don’t think it would work out quite as well.
When did you first think you can make a career out of acting?
I was one of seven granddaughters. My grandfather was a chocolate maker who came all the way from Greece. My sisters and cousins were all doctors and lawyers and there’s only one crazy musician who I love. She’s a flamenco guitarist and me, the actress. We had to get good grades, actually straights As. They were very strict, everything was about education. I went to college, got my bachelor’s degree in Musical Drama and I got my minor in Psychology to fall back on and they let me do it. I just had that acting bug as a young kid. I was 8 years old when I first did my community theater show.
If you didn’t play Stella, which other character in the CSI franchise would you like to play?
I actually don’t watch the other CSIs and I don’t think I ever want to play anybody but Stella. I’m a bit protective of my character. I love her. When you jump into somebody’s skin, I really enjoy her, I enjoy who she is, her strength, her intelligence, her compassion and her failures.
Of all the episodes, which case has given you the real creeps?
Physically and mentally, because Stella went through so much, it would have to be the attack and shooting her boyfriend. You’re crying for 10 hours and you’re pretending so much that your body doesn’t know you’re pretending. That was the most intense for me as an actor and as a person.
Do you ever get hurt while filming the show?
Yes but only because I am a bit of a klutz. We did this scene where I went over this bar and I am holding on to basically the canvas bag of the bad guy with all the cash in it. I did pretty remarkably well without hurting myself. Then we went back to the beginning where I’m chasing the guy and I gracefully ran up the stairs and I was doing really well but by the second take I hit my leg right on the bar. Fortunately for me, we have great editors and they cut out that part and they made Stella look great. I hurt myself physically but it’s on my own accord. And it’s not quite as exciting as I’d like it to be.
What kind of perks do you have on the set? Do you have like a facialist or a massage therapist?
(laughs) No but if you can go over there and ask Anthony Zuiker and Pam to get me one of those — I don’t want the facialist, it takes too long, I’m not a big facial lady. As you can see, I get manicures everyday. No I don’t. No, my biggest perk is that they have afforded me the opportunity to have a trailer for my children and that’s a huge gift. I don’t know who does that. It’s a crazy business but I wanna be there for my kids as much as I can.
The victims are mostly women on the show — how does it affect you?
My children don’t watch our show and I highly recommend that most parents don’t allow their young children to watch the show. I love that Stella is not a victim. She has been in situations where she’s victimized but she comes out on top. And she shoots those bad boys so it’s kinda nice. This is a franchise with a lot of death. Unfortunately, they cannot emulate what happens in real life without victimizing women. However, since the inception of the first CSI, the amount of women applying to the forensic science field have increased so much. I think it’s almost like 80 percent. This is phenomenal. Women in science, women in investigative work, in forensic work, it’s fantastic. I’m thrilled at the positive.
showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/you/super/view/20081121-173644/Shes-a-mom-first-and-a-CSI-second
But when she talks about her family that is so cute! <3
