Accepted into the prestigious Actors Studio, Andrea honed her craft. One of her most thrilling moments came when, after doing a scene from Arthur Miller's "After the Fall," the playwright's daughter praised her performance. With that important validation and those of her teachers, Andrea started sending out head shots and banging on agents' doors.

From her first agency audition, Andrea won a role in a feature film and, soon after, appeared in "Delirious" with the late John Candy and in Oliver Stone's acclaimed film, "Wall Street." She then signed to play vixen Genelle Erickson in the television series, "Falcon Crest," earning a Soap Opera Digest award nomination for her performance.

Relocating to Los Angeles, Andrea then starred as Talia Winters on the popular syndicated series, "Babylon 5"; and soon segued to the television drama, "JAG," playing Commander Krennick. She also starred in the feature film, "A Gun, A Car, A Blonde," which premiered at the 1997 Slamdance Festival in Park City, Utah. Last year, Andrea guest-starred on the hit HBO series, "Arli$$," and completed filming a starring role in the feature, "The Lost Valley."

To research the role of Detective Jill Kirkendall on "NYPD Blue," Andrea returned to New York City for one week and spent 14 hours a day in a squad car and in the precincts, working with one of the detectives from both the Son of Sam and Zodiac murder cases.

Armed with an understanding for the life of a detective, Andrea was ready to take the "NYPD Blue" set by storm.

"Acting is a sense of wonder and magic and mystery for me and when life takes me on a new journey, I simply remember the smile my first ballet recital put on my face and I move forward."