Kanakaredes: The Way She Recovers Is Shocking

Melina Kanakaredes was surprised to learn how her character, Stella Bonasera, will deal with the shootout that ended the fifth season of CSI: New York. (Spoilers behind the jump.)

In the season five finale, “Pay Up”, the team lost one of its own when Jessica Angell (Emmanuelle Vaugier) was killed during a kidnapping. “It was painful that they killed off the beautiful Emmanuelle,” Kanakaredes said. “I really loved working with her, and it was sad to see her go.”

At the end of the episode, when the team was toasting their fallen comrade, shots rang out. As season six begins, the characters will be dealing with the aftermath of that shooting. “All the characters have to deal with that near-death experience in a different way,” Kanakaredes explained. The way that Stella recovers “is kind of shocking,” she added.

“She forms a relationship with someone unexpected and complicated,” the actress revealed. “It’s a big surprise. Before I saw the script, I thought, it’s been six years. What could they do that would surprise me? This did.” She wouldn’t mention who the other character is, but she did give a hint: “[I]f you watch the teaser that’s on the air, you’ll probably figure it out.”

Another thing that will change as CSI: NY enters its sixth season is that the series will be filmed in high-definition. That is “another new experience,” for Kanakaredes. However, the actress did not seem worried about how she would appear in HD, which can show every little imperfection in an actor’s skin. “It’s one of those things,” she said. “I have a good makeup artist, and I have a good DP [director of photography].”

New York marks the longest time Kanakaredes has stayed on one series, but she wouldn’t say how long she plans to remain with the show. “You never know,” she said. “You never want to be overly confident. . . . And there are so many other opportunities. . . . There used to be only four networks. Now you’ve got Showtime, you’ve got TNT. AMC — who’da thunk it?”