Kanakaredes: She Goes Rogue

See Also: 'Grounds for Deception' Episode Guide

Melina Kanakaredes (Stella Bonasera) put on her writing cap for the penultimate episode of CSI: New York's fifth season, "Grounds for Deception".

Kanakaredes pitched an idea to the showrunners that was inspired by a lifelong interest in Alexander the Great's father, Philip II. "When I was a little girl, an archaeologist showed me the gold armor (Philip) was buried in," the actress told the Journal Gazette. "Apparently, he had one leg that was shorter than the other, so it was all adjusted to his body. I've always had this theme in my head, and I thought it would be nice to go to Greece."

This season, Kanakaredes got to see her idea come to life in a four-episode arc that involves international smuggling. Her character is central to the storyline, which concludes with tonight's episode. Because of recent economic troubles, the show was not able to film on location in Greece. Instead, they filmed the episode in Los Angeles. In "Grounds for Deception", Stella turns in her badge. "She goes rogue in a way she's never done before," Kanakaredes shared.

Executive producer Pam Veasey approached Kanakaredes about writing the episode. Veasey told her, "'We're going to start it, and we'd like you to finish it,'" the actress explained. "I was like, 'Really? I just pitched the idea; I wasn't intending to write the script.' And she said, 'Go ahead.'" The actress also revealed that penning the episode has "given me an interesting new perspective on this business. It's been pretty phenomenal."

The original article is from the Journal Gazette.

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