Background:

American actress Kali Rocha first came to the attention of comic fans through her portrayal of  the Atlantic American flight attendant who shared a bantering fight with Gaylord 'Greg' Focker (played by Ben Stiller) at the airport on the 2000 hit comedy “Meet the Parents,” directed by Jay Roach. She reprised the role in the installment “Meet the Fockers” (2004). Other films she has appeared in include  “The Object of My Affection” (1998), “White Oleander” (2002), “Gods and Generals” (2003), “Ira & Abby” (2006) and “TiMER” (2009). On television, Rocha is probably best known for her recurring roles on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (2000-2002, as Halfrek/Cecily) and “Grey's Anatomy” (2006-2007, as Dr. Sydney Heron). She also played regular roles on the short lived sitcoms “Teachers” (2006) and “Sherri” (2009).     

Rocha and her husband Michael Krikoriana have two children together.


Michele

Childhood and Family:

Kali Michele Rocha was born on December 5, 1971, in Memphis, Tennessee, but grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. She graduated from Classical High School in 1989 and then from Carnegie Mellon School Of Drama in 1993. She is of Italian and Portugese descent. Her brother is writer/photographer  Sean Rocha.

In 2006, Kali married sound mixer Michael Krikoriana. She gave birth to her first child, a son named Barlow Aix Krikorian, on August 4, 2008. Her second child, daughter Savria Dune Krikorian, on January 25, 2011.   


Grey's Anatomy

Career:

Kali Rocha made her feature film acting debut as Mercy Lewis in the Oscar nominated drama “The Crucible” (1996), which was written by Arthur Miller and based on his play of the same name. She branched out to the small screen in the next year with the role of Eliza Wilkinson in three out of six episodes of the documentary miniseries “Liberty! The American Revolution” (PBS), which featured many eminent actors including Roger Rees, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Terrence Mann, Colm Feore, and Donna Murphy.  

After appearing in the made for television movie “The Love Letter” (1998), opposite Campbell Scott, Jennifer Jason Leigh and David Dukes, Rocha delivered a notable turn as Melissa in the big screen adaptation of Stephen McCauley's book, “The Object of My Affection” (1998), starring Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd. It marked her second film with director Nicholas Hytner after “The Crucible.” In 2000, she appeared with Richard Gere, Winona Ryder and Anthony LaPaglia in the Joan Chen helmed drama “Autumn in New York.” The same year also saw her originate the role of Cybil in Nicky Silver's off-Broadway comedy “The Altruists,” starring alongside Eddie Cahill, Veanne Cox, and Sam Robards.

However, Rocha did not attract the attention of comedy fans until she was cast as the Atlantic American flight attendant who had an amusing fight with Ben Stiller's character at the airport in the hit film “Meet The Parents” (2000), which was written by Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg and directed by Jay Roach. She would reprise her part in the 2004 sequel “Meet the Fockers.”     

Rocha gained further notice on television through her recurring turn as Halfrek, Anya's vengeance demon crony as well as William the Bloody's love interest , Cecily (both characters are considered the same person) in the popular supernatural drama series “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” which she played from 2000 to 2002.

Rocha appeared with Holly Hunter and Ron Silver in the television film “When Billie Beat Bobby” (2001), and throughout 2001-2002, landed guest spots in various series like “The Weber Show,” “Becker,” “Family Law” and “Hack.” She returned to features with a small but memorable turn as Susan Valeris in “White Oleander” (2002), a film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Janet  Fitch. It was followed by the role of Stonewall Jackson's wife, Anna Jackson, in Ron Maxwell's “Gods and Generals” (2003), an epic drama about the first two years of the American Civil War. Rocha guest starred as Stephanie, a straight woman who flirted with Will, in an episode of “Will and Grace” called  “Strangers With Candice” (2003). The same year, she also appeared in an episode of “Crossing Jordan” as well as in a TV film called “Platonically Incorrect.”   

2005-2006 saw Rocha play roles in the films “Confessions of an Action Star,” “Family Plan” (TV), “29th and Gay” (as HIV Nurse), “Bam Bam and Celeste,” “Seagull” (starred opposite Jason Antoon, Julianne Nicholson), “Ira & Abby,” “Falling for Grace.”  She also appeared in episodes of “Without a Trace,” “Bones” (as a victim's mother) and “ Standoff.” Rocha got her first series regular role on the short lived NBC sitcom “Teachers”(2006), playing Principal Emma Wiggins. The show ran for six episodes until it was canceled. She rebounded with a notable recurring role as a fourth year resident surgeon, Dr. Sydney Heron, at Seattle Grace Hospital in the popular  ABC TV series “Grey's Anatomy,”  a role she portrayed between January 2006 to November 2007.

In February 2007, Rocha appeared as an  aggressive TV reporter named Cindy Marino in the episode “Haystack” of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” while in May, she guest starred as Allison Lovejoy in the “Boston Legal” episode “Duck and Cover.” She appeared with Virginia Madsen and Minnie Driver in the Philippe Caland award winning drama film “Ripple Effect” and portrayed Samantha in the mystery/thriller movie “Dead Write” (both 2007). She continued to appear in such films as Jeff Lowell's “Over Her Dead Body” (2008, starred Eva Longoria, Paul Rudd and Lake Bell), James Vasquez's “Ready? OK!” (2008, starred Caroline Hyatt, Britt Medlin and Alison Grace Norwood), “John's Hand” (short, 2008), “Stolen” (2009) and Jac Schaeffer's “TiMER” (2009, co-starred opposite Emma Caulfield, John Patrick Amedori and Scott Holroyd).

After guest starring in the hit series “Monk” (2009), Rocha returned to series television as a regular on the sitcom “Sherri,”starring Sherri Shepherd. She played Summer, Sherri's boss and eventual friend. Based on Shepherd's life, the show ran on Lifetime Television for one season from October 5, 2009 to December 1, 2009.

After the cancellation of Sherri,” Rocha made guest appearances in “$#*! My Dad Says” (2010, as Roberta), “Drop Dead Diva” (2011, as Dr. Audrey Foley) and “The Exes” (2011). His voice could be heard as a 911 operator in the acclaimed drama film “Buried” (2010), starring Ryan Reynolds, José Luis García Pérez and Robert Paterson. He also acted in the short film “Serenity House” and narrated another short titled, “Mr. Stache” (2011).  

Recently, in 2012, Rocha appeared in  segment “Video Night” of “Black Briefs,” as a 911 Operator in the crime/thriller movie “Brake” (directed by Gabe Torres) and as Gail in the made for television film “Puppy Love” (2012, opposite Candace Cameron Bure, Victor Webster and Katie L. Hawkins). In addition, she made guest appearances in “Modern Family” and “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (as Ms. Fowler).

Rocha will play Mimi Landry in the forthcoming film “The Loft,” starring Rachael Taylor, Karl Urban and Wentworth Miller. Directed by Erik Van Looy, the thriller is set to be released in the US in April 2013.


Awards:

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