Erin Daniels
All good things come to those who wait. That's a central career conceit for many an aspiring actor who comes to Los Angeles and it's certainly true of St. Louis native Erin Daniels. After moving to Los Angeles in 1999 for a part on the short-lived series "Action," she squeaked out the odd guest star role and scored what seemed at the time like a prominent part alongside Robin Williams in the 2002 drama "One Hour Photo." However, the dark tones of that film doomed it at the box office. Finally, in 2004, Daniels landed the role that made her career: Dana Fairbanks on the groundbreaking Showtime pay cable drama "The L Word." Showtime was perennially lagging behind HBO at the time in terms of high-quality programming, but this show helped them begin to close the gap. Daniels appeared on 39 episodes from 2004 to 2007 and returned to the big screen in 2009 opposite Colin Firth in "A Single Man."