Case Worker Deems Cold Uncommon

Being cast in a TV series is a big deal for any Hollywood hopeful, but being cast in a TV series by überproducer Jerry Bruckheimer? That's like winning the lottery while sipping Dom Perignon on the way to the Oscars. So, naturally, Cold Case detective Kathryn Morris couldn't think too much about her good fortune; otherwise, she just might have dropped dead from excitement herself!

"In my career, I've tried to just think about what I would like to do with my day," she says simply. "Fortunately, I've had some amazing opportunities to work with some of the best people in the business, and [in this instance], I thought it was more important that I focus on what I wanted to do for the next one-to-10 years of my life as an actress and try to forget that Jerry did Top Gun and all of those things."

Besides, the actress, who has appeared in such small-screen movie gems as Hell Swarm and Death of a Cheerleader, was just as psyched to get to know her crusading Cold Case counterpart, Lilly Rush, as she was to get on her boss' good side. "Lilly's not one-dimensional," she says. "A lot of times, those finely crafted roles are saved for the guys. And this character just had endless possibilities for such a journey — to not be perfect and not be imperfect, but to be imperfectly perfect. That's what I found appealing."

Translation, please... "Oh, you know," the pert blonde elaborates. "She wasn't Murder, She Wrote [or] super-tough cop lady she was all of those things!" Got it. Case closed.