Annie Parisse Biography

Anne Marie Cancelmi (born July 31, 1975), known professionally as Annie Parisse, is an American actress. She portrayed Alexandra Borgia on the drama series Law & Order. Parisse has also starred as Julia Snyder on the soap opera As the World Turns, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award, and as FBI specialist Debra Parker on the thriller series The Following.

Personal life

Parisse was born in Anchorage, Alaska, the daughter of Annette, a teacher, and Louis G. Cancelmi, a senior executive with Alaska Air. She grew up in Mercer Island, Washington, and attended Mercer Island High School. She has two brothers, Louis Cancelmi, also an actor, and Michael Cancelmi, an Italian teacher. Louis is married to Elisabeth Waterston, the daughter of Law & Order veteran Sam Waterston. Parisse's father is of Italian descent on one side, and Slovak and Polish descent on the other. Her mother is of half Italian and half Syrian descent.

She attended Fordham University, where she appeared in numerous productions, including Medea and Antigone, both of which featured her as the lead. Parisse is married to actor Paul Sparks with whom she has one son, Emmett (born in October 2009), and one daughter.

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 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 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. In 2016 Parisse appeared in the HBO series Vinyl as Andrea Zito, and in 2017 starred in the Netflix series Friends From College as Samantha "Sam" Delmonico.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999	On the Q.T.	Wendy
2003	How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days	Jeannie Ashcroft
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 Stankovic
2012	The Amazing Spider-Man	Martha Connors	Scenes deleted
2013	Wallace	Beatrice	Short film
2014	Wild Canaries	Eleanor
2014	And So It Goes	Kate
2015	Anesthesia	Rachel

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1999-2002	As the World Turns	Julia Snyder	unknown episodes
2001	Big Apple	Geena	Episode: "Pilot"
2002	Third Watch	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	Alexandra Borgia	33 episodes
2010	Fringe	Teresa Rusk	Episode: "Unearthed"
2010	'	Sgt. Lena Basilone	2 episodes
2010	'	Daphne	Episode: "There's No C in Team"
2010	Rubicon	Andy	7 episodes
2011	Unforgettable	Elaine Margulies	2 episodes
2011-2016	Person of Interest	Kara Stanton	8 episodes
2013	'	Debra Parker	14 episodes
2015	House of Cards	Suzie	Episode: "Chapter 38"
2016	Vinyl	Andrea Zito	8 episodes
2017	Friends from College	Sam	Main cast
2018	Untitled Joe Paterno film	Mary Kay Paterno	TV film

Awards and nominations

• 2001: Nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in a Drama Series for As the World Turns