Melina Kanakaredes

Biography: This stunning actress spent five years on the daytime soap Guiding Light before jumping to prime time in 1995 with a recurring role as an ambitious journalist on NYPD Blue. A few short-lived series and supporting film roles later, she landed on the family drama Providence as a doctor who moves back to her hometown. After the show folded, Kanakaredes made a handful of films and even starred in the Broadway revival of Cabaret. But the small screen remained her medium, and in 2004, Kanakaredes won her most popular role to date as Detective Stella Bonasera on CSI: NY. After a nine-year absence from the big screen, Kanakaredes returned to features in 2010, portraying the Greek goddess Athena in the fantasy adaptation Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.