When a series has that "IT" factor, success comes flowing in from every angle. There's usually no way to determine whether a show would be successful before its first few episodes, but there's something about a script that gives an actor the feeling that "this is it. This is the one!"

For Sasha Alexander, the script and character Maura Isles drove her to want to be part of Rizzoli & Isles.

"What made me want to be on it was reading a really good script, and being compelled by and attracted to the characters. I really loved Maura Isles, who was very fascinating to me. I was very compelled by a woman who would choose this profession," She told Collider during an interview in 2019."

She continued, "She came from a very highly-educated, wealthy background and could have chosen to do a lot of other things, and has this uber-feminine, modern woman mentality, but works this job. There was just something intriguing about it. I also really loved the friendship between these two women, and watching these two very different women working in this gritty male environment. That was really the reason that I wanted to be a part of it. And, I went in and met with the producer and the director that did the pilot, Mike Robin, and read with them. And then, I did a read with Angie Harmon, who was already cast. From the moment we read together, it just clicked. It was as easy as that."