Personal life

Parisse was born in Anchorage, Alaska, the daughter of Louis G. Cancelmi and wife Annette, and grew up in Mercer Island, King County, Washington, where she attended Mercer Island High School. She has two brothers, Louis Cancelmi, also an actor, and Michael Cancelmi. She attended Fordham University, where she appeared in numerous productions, including Medea and Antigone, both of which featured her as the lead. Parisse's brother, Louis, was married to Elisabeth Waterston, the daughter of Law & Order veteran Sam Waterston, in October 2006.

She is married to actor Paul Sparks with whom she has one son (born in October 2009).

Career

Parisse guest-starred on shows such as Big Apple, Third Watch, and Friends. She made a 2002 appearance on Law & Order, playing an exotic dancer in law school in the episode "Attorney Client" where she testified against another defendant (a defense attorney) who plotted the murder of his wife.

Before joining Law & Order, Parisse joined the cast of the CBS soap opera As the World Turns as Julia Lindsey Snyder from 1998 to 2001 and returned for a few episodes in 2002. She was later nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series in 2001.

In a 2002 supporting role, she portrayed Jeannie Ashcroft in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Parisse also had a minor role in the 2004 action movie National Treasure, playing the role of Agent Dawes, who was Agent Sadusky's assistant. For the 2005 film Monster-in-Law, she held a supporting role.

Parisse quit her role on Law & Order, making her final appearance in the May 17, 2006, season finale, in which her character is killed. Starting on March 8, 2007, Parisse starred in a revival of Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss, with Alan Tudyk and John Mahoney.

Parisse reprised her work in an Off Broadway performance as the title role of Becky Shaw.

In the 2010 war drama, The Pacific, Parisse took on the role of Marine Sergeant Lena Riggi Basilone, wife of John Basilone, the revered United States Marine Gunnery Sergeant.

In the summer of 2011, Parisse appeared in the New York Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park productions of Measure for Measure and All's Well that Ends Well.

She had a recurring role on CBS' Person of Interest as Kara Stanton, the former partner of Jim Caviezel's character John Reese. In August 2012 Parisse was cast in a regular role on the Fox series The Following, premiering on January 21, 2013, as an FBI specialist. Parisse has been appearing in the HBO series Vinyl as Andrea Zito since February 2016.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	On the Q.T.	Wendy
2003	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days	Jeannie
2004	Pagans	Elise Ashton
2004	National Treasure	Agent Dawes
2005	Monster-in-Law	Morgan
2005	Prime	Katherine
2007	Blackbird	Angie
2008	What Just Happened	'Fiercely' Actress
2008	Woman in Burka	Annie	Short film
2008	Definitely, Maybe	Anne
2008	Bubble-Rama	Darcy	Short film
2009	First Person Singular	Mimi
2009	Tickling Leo	Delphina Adams
2010	My Own Love Song	Nora
2010	The Tested	Lisa Varone
2012	Price Check	Sara Biltmore-Cozy
2012	One for the Money	Mary Lou
2013	Wallace	Beatrice	Short film
2014	Wild Canaries	Eleanor

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998-2001, 2002	As the World Turns	Julia Snyder	TV series
2001	Big Apple	Geena	Episode: "Pilot"
2002	Third Watch	Nurse Tammy Sizemore	Episodes: "Old Dogs, New Tricks", "Cold Front"
2002	Law & Order	Jasmine Blake	Episode: "Attorney Client"
2004	Beverly Hills S.U.V.	Taylor Stevens	TV film
2004	Friends	Sarah	Episode: "The One with the Birth Mother"
2004	NYPD 2069	Gina Zal	TV film
2005-2006	Law & Order	A.D.A. Alexandra Borgia	Main role (33 episodes)
2010	Fringe	Teresa Rusk	Episode: "Unearthed"
2010	Pacific, TheThe Pacific	Sgt. Lena Basilone	TV miniseries (Part 8 and 10)
2010	Big C, TheThe Big C	Daphne	Episode: "There's No C in Team"
2010	Rubicon	Andy	Recurring role (7 episodes)
2011	Unforgettable	Elaine Margulies	Episodes: "Heroes", "With Honor"
2011-2014	Person of Interest	Kara Stanton	Recurring role (8 episodes)
2013	Following, TheThe Following	Debra Parker	Main role (14 episodes)
2015	House of Cards	Suzie	Episode: "Chapter 38"
2016	Vinyl	Andrea Zito	Recurring role

Awards and nominations

• 2001 - Nominated for a Daytime Emmy at the Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for As the World Turns

[ Source: Wikipedia ]