The New Kids On The Block Talk

The CSI series have been around for years, but several actresses are just getting into the game.

Megalyn Echikunwoke was attracted to the role of Dr Tara Price because joining CSI: Miami gave her the chance to play a grown-up character. "I have never had the opportunity to play this kind of character, to play a professional, strong, intelligent woman, and it was very attractive to me," she told WDEF News 12. "I'm usually someone's girlfriend or someone's daughter or something like that. So this has been really, really fun for me."

Portraying a medical examiner requires the actress to rattle off medical jargon, which can be very complicated. "But I enjoy the challenge," Echikunwoke explained. She also added that the most difficult part is saying the technical words while simultaneously pretending to be a coroner. "I'm usually cutting someone open or digging inside of somebody, so that can also be a little bit distracting," she said. "But it's fun."

Lauren Lee Smith also joined the franchise this year, playing Riley Adams on the original series, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Coming into an established show is "a little bit overwhelming, I'm not gonna lie," she admitted. "I had been a huge fan of the show beforehand, so it was definitely very daunting. Fortunately, I didn't have all that much time beforehand to let my nerves get the better of me. I was cast, and then basically I had to start shooting a couple of weeks after that."

The original interview is from WDEF News 12, a local CBS station in Tennessee.

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