Echikunwoke: It's Kinda Weird

See Also: 'Won't Get Fueled Again' Episode Guide

There's a new ME in town.

CSI: Miami will welcome Megalyn Echikunwoke to the cast in episode two of the seventh season, "Won't Get Fueled Again", which airs on September 29. The actress will play Dr Tara Price, the new medical examiner replacing Dr Alexx Woods (Khandi Alexander), who left the show last season. This isn't the first time Echikunwoke has joined an established series, having previously entered The 4400 after it began. "I feel like I do that on almost all of my jobs, where you're coming into a very well oiled, finely-tuned machine and trying not to throw a kink in the wheel. And I guess that's the test when you start on a show like that," she told SF Universe. "They want to see, are you gonna slow it down or are you gonna help us keep our pace, what are you gonna do… so that's always sort of challenging making sure that you fit in without messing things up too much."

Joining Miami presented its own unique challenges for Echikunwoke. She had to learn to rattle off medical terms like an expert, and she also had to get used to acting alongside "dead" bodies. "Most times it's a real person just lying there, with this gorgeous injury make-up on, trying not to breathe," she explained. "It's weird for me because, you know, they're alive and you've got to touch them and sort of poke at them like they're dead; set things on top of them, so that's kinda weird."

Alexx used to speak to the victims, but Echikunwoke doesn't know if the writers will give Tara her own quirks. "I'd like to think I have something strange and interesting going on, in my mind I do, but in the minds of the writers, who knows," she said. "I hope my character won't be too well rounded. I hope she has some edge. The way it stands now, my character's sarcastic, but she's really, really professional and good at what she does. But definitely… she's got spunk."

The original interview is from SF Universe.

Discuss this news item at Talk CSI!
 Add CSI Files RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a Desperate Housewives fan? Then visit GetDesperate.com!