Actress will play new coroner on CBS series

LOS ANGELES -- "CSI: NY" will add another new face this fall, as actress Claire Forlani is joining the show in a recurring part.

Forlani, whose movie credits include "Meet Joe Black," "Boys and Girls" and "Northfork," will play the CSI team's "beautiful and sharp" new medical examiner, Dr. Peyton Driscoll. The character will also be a love interest for Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise).

The role is the first extended work for the England-born Forlani in an American TV series. Her previous small-screen credits include TNT's "Nightmares and Dreamscapes" this summer and the 2003 FX movie "The Pentagon Papers." She also starred in a CBS pilot last year that didn't go forward.

The "CSI: NY" writers have come up with a fairly extensive back story for Forlani's character, who previously worked as a medical examiner with Hawkes (Hill Harper) before leaving to teach at a university. During her previous stint, she also worked with Taylor, and while there were sparks between the two of them, they didn't date until after she had left the crime lab.

Now that she's back, she and Taylor will have to deal with the complications of carrying on both professional and personal relationships.

Forlani's first appearance on "CSI: NY" will be in its third-season premiere Wednesday, Sept. 20. She'll also be seen in the Christopher Guest comedy "For Your Consideration," which is scheduled for a November release.