Leslie Silva

Leslie Silva’s story kicks off in Schenectady, New York, and let’s just say she didn’t exactly stay put. Thanks to her dad’s gig as a nuclear engineer, she bounced around—Saratoga, Connecticut, Iowa, Georgia—kind of a whirlwind childhood. She eventually landed at the University of Connecticut at Storrs, where she nabbed a BFA from their School of Drama, and then she got serious with an MFA from Juilliard. Not too shabby, right? Her big break on stage happened in ’95, doing “Macbeth” at the Shakespeare Theater in DC. Pretty soon after, she was starring in Sam Shepard’s “Chicago” at New York’s Signature Theater. Off-Broadway? Yep, she did “Edmond” and even played Helena in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Guthrie Theater. She’s worked with some heavy hitters too—Anna Deavere Smith, Wallace Shawn, Andre Gregory. Then came film, a quick part in “Fools Rush In”—blink and you might miss her, but hey, it counts. People notice her—big eyes, super expressive, kind of magnetic. That presence landed her a regular spot as Dr. Helen Reynolds on NBC’s “Providence” just four years after her pro debut. And she killed it there, playing a tough doctor but making it real, not some cardboard cutout. Before the big TV gig, she popped up on “Cosby” and even played a nun on “Homicide: Life on the Street.” Not bad for someone who started out bouncing from state to state, right?