Parisse was born in Anchorage, Alaska, the daughter of Annette, a teacher, and Louis G. Cancelmi, a senior executive with Alaska Airlines. Her father is of Italian descent on one side, and Slovak and Polish descent on the other. Her mother is of half-Italian and half-Lebanese-Syrian descent. She has two brothers, Louis Cancelmi, also an actor, and Michael Cancelmi, an Italian teacher. Louis is married to Elisabeth Waterston, a daughter of Law & Order veteran Sam Waterston. Parisse grew up in Mercer Island, Washington, and attended Mercer Island High School. Parisse moved to New York City when she was 18 to attend Fordham University where she majored in theater, and appeared in numerous productions, including Medea and Antigone, both of which featured her as the lead.
Career
Television and film
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. Early in her 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 a defendant who plotted the murder of his wife. In a 2002 supporting role, Parisse portrayed Jeannie Ashcroft in How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. She 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 filmMonster-in-Law, she held a supporting role. Parisse was a main cast member of Law & Order during seasons 15 and 16. She first appeared in season 12 as a stripper and prostitute, making her one of the fewLaw & Order cast members who had a solo appearance prior to securing a sustaining 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. In the 2010 war dramaThe Pacific, Parisse took on the role of Marine Sergeant Lena Riggi Basilone, wife of John Basilone, the revered United States MarineGunnery Sergeant. 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.
Stage
Starting on March 8, 2007, Parisse starred in a revival of Craig Lucas's Prelude to a Kiss, with Alan Tudyk and John Mahoney. In 2008, Parisse reprised her work in an Off Broadway performance as the title role of Becky Shaw. 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.
