Non-MX Interviews: Lauren Lee Smith (3/09 Zap 2 It)
The North Bay Nugget 3/12/09: Lauren Lee Smith

Checking in with Lauren Lee Smith
Posted By JAY BOBBIN, © ZAP2IT
Posted 13 hours ago

One of television's newest CSIs admits she's still learning her way around the lab.

Much attention greeted Laurence Fishburne's recent debut on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," but another newcomer preceded him on CBS' enduring Thursday hit.

Earlier in the show's current season (its ninth), Lauren Lee Smith arrived as Riley Adams, the edgy daughter of psychiatrists she feels a need to prove herself to -- but she also must keep proving herself to her colleagues in solving Las Vegas forensic cases.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world," the Vancouver native says of being sought out by the CSI" producers. I usually have to jump through thousands of hoops to get a job, but last April, I shot a pilot for CBS that didn't get picked up.

As I was mending my broken heart from that, I got a call from my manager, who asked if I'd be interested in joining the cast of 'CSI.'

No surprise, it didn't take long for TheLWord"and MutantX" alum Smith to respond. Actually, she first asked, Which one?" since spinoffs CSI: Miami" and CSI: NY" also continue. Once she knew,

I went in and sat down with the show runners and the head writers, and we hit it off immediately."

In fact, the show's staff ended up incorporating Smith's personality into the character from the outset.

They had a pretty clear idea of who they wanted Riley to be," the actress reflects, but they wanted to know about me. I spoke with them again a few days later, and they said, 'Listen, we'd really like to infuse a bit of you into this.' I was pretty blown away by the whole thing."

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Birthplace: Vancouver, Canada. Current residence: Los Angeles. Birthdate: June 19, 1980. Martial status: Single.

Other television credits: Intelligence," Blade:TheSeries," TheL Word," The Dead Zone," The TwilightZone," MutantX," Christy: Choices of the Heart," 2gether,"

Dark Angel," Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction," Dragon Boys," The Survivors Club," I Want to Marry Ryan Banks," The Wedding Dress."

Movie credits: Pathology," Trick'rTreat," AnAmericanCarol," Late Fragment," Helen,"

Normal," One Way," Art School Confidential," The Last Kiss," Lie With Me," Get Carter."

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