CSI: NY Anna Belknap gets down dirty

Everything is connected on AXN’s CSI: NY. Everyone has a story, too. This belief among the Crime Scene Investigators of the TV series has become a tried-and-tested formula in finding leads to the crime and in solving the mystery behind it. CSI: NY airs Tuesday nights at 10 while the latest season of CSI: Miami premieres July 2 on AXN.   

For Anna Belknap, who plays laboratory technician Lindsay Monroe, however, it is the idea of having her audience feel something with her portrayal that makes her love her character and continue acting on TV. After all, self-expression was what brought her into this craft.

“I do miss theater acting,” offers Anna, who appeared on productions like Metamorphoses and Pericles. She received the 2002 San Diego Theater Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for Outstanding Performance as Marina for the William Shakespeare classic. “I miss the rehearsal and the interaction with the live audience. I enjoy the process. Theater will always be there. I have to enjoy the kind of job I have now.”

She does enjoy her role as the Montana native who finally realized her dream of living in the city that never sleeps, New York. In fact, Anna was pregnant the whole time she shot her scenes for the Season Three of CSI: NY. Now she juggles her roles as a mom and as an actress. She says it’s hard but she has to balance everything. Though her work helps her pay the monthly bills, Anna’s family tops her list of priorities.

“What I like about her is she messes up, too,” says Anna of Lindsay. “I think there’s just something pretty scary and dark that pushed her to be in and wanting to be in this field. It’s a mystery.”

On the series, Lindsay has been working as CSI for three years. She is willing to roll up her sleeves and handle any job opportunity that comes her way. Lindsay has this enthusiasm to learn new things.

She offers a new perspective in the lab work that the team of CSI: NY religiously attends to day in and day out.

“I would love to see Lindsay solve some huge crime that takes physical strength and brains,” replies Anna when asked about the changes she wishes to see in her character in future episodes. “I would like her to tackle some people and to see little romance. I would like to see her do everything. Do something smart, solve something with just her brain, be really tough on somebody, really interrogate someone. I want to give her a wacky storyline. I want to see her go to the field. I like that stuff. I love Lindsay.”

For Season Four, Lindsay will have to be content doing lab work. With her role’s kind of job, Anna can’t help but do disgusting things on the side.

“In one particular episode, I dived into this pool of basically KY jelly and waded around and I got this big kind of overall which looked kind of hilarious,” says Anna. “I just waded around there and I liked that stuff. I was reaching in and there was slime just dripping off. It was fun.”

Anna is also not spared from getting queasy with some gore on the show.

“There was a scene where I had to dig through a big bowl of tiger poop but it just looked like chocolate fudge so that actually wasn’t that bad. I ate a bug at one point which was fake, but all the real bugs were crawling around. I do get queasy and I never get used to it.”

How is CSI: NY different from CSI: Miami and Las Vegas?

“I don’t know,” replies Anna. “Maybe they have a different way of doing and handling things aside from different environment and characters.”

Though they differ in many ways, these CSI shows are one in saying that everybody should have a sense of justice. Anna will definitely agree.