WITH AN EYE ON . . . : Melina Kanakaredes welcomes ‘NYPD Blue’s’ prime-time exposure, any which way

A role on “NYPD Blue” is a plum assignment for any actor. Not only do you get the exposure afforded by the top-rated, critically acclaimed drama, but you get to work with a terrific ensemble cast headed by Emmy-winner Dennis Franz and Jimmy Smits.

But you also must field questions concerning the series’ other form of exposure, such as, “So what week will you be taking off your clothes?”

This was the good-natured line of questioning at the Kanakaredes household in Akron, Ohio, when the family’s youngest daughter Melina was signed to play reporter Benita Alden on the series. That she was cast expressly as a love interest for Bobby Simone (played by Smits) drove her older sisters, Lia and Aretta, to remark, “ ‘Uh-oh, you’re gonna have to do those butt scenes,’ ” the actress says, laughing. “It was Thanksgiving time so every time I went for a piece of cake or a piece of pie, my sister would be like, ‘Melinnnnaaa! Maybe you don’t want that?”

The 26-year-old green-eyed Kanakaredes says the partially nude scenes that have aired so far were “no big deal.”

“It’s all in who you’re working with and if that person makes you feel comfortable and if the set is a comfortable set,” she says. “At ‘NYPD Blue,’ I think they’re so used to that kind of thing that they’re really professional about it. And because of the nature of Jimmy being a good person and us hitting if off as people, it was comfortable.”

But weren’t Bobby and Benita supposed to have a date before they jumped into bed? Kanakaredes pauses and laughs. “Melina would have liked dinner, but I guess Benita’s been looking at him for a long time.”

Over a lunch of wild mushroom ravioli at a bistro near her Brooklyn Heights carriage house, Kanakaredes describes Smits as a “very considerate” performer whose natural warmth has helped create a relaxed atmosphere on the set. “We would be doing a scene and they would say, ‘Jimmy, did you like that?’ And he would always turn to me and say, ‘What do you think, Melina? Do you feel OK with that?’ ”

The role on “NYPD Blue” is Kanakaredes’ prime-time breakthrough and seems to augur a whole new career for the actress, who has worked her way up from commercials (Kmart, Clairol, Oil of Olay) and a gig on the CBS soap “Guiding Light” as Greek immigrant Eleni Cooper.

‘NYPD’ executive producer Gregory Hoblit predicts a bright future for her. “Melina is just so strikingly beautiful in an unconventional way,” he says. “She’s also very good.”

Playing Benita also will give Kanakaredes an opportunity to avoid ethnic stereotyping. “I’m absolutely adoring that (Benita’s) not Greek. I mean I loved playing a Greek but it’s time to move on.”

Proud of her heritage, Kanakaredes elected not to change her Greek name when she signed with an agent, even though the memory of her mother using the name of an American cereal to teach its proper pronunciation still makes her cringe. “She used to say ‘Hi, I’m Connie Kanakaredes, like Can of Wheaties,’ ” the actress blushes.

Her extended family is so enormous that she and her husband, Peter Constantinides, who works for a marketing company based in Chicago, invited 550 people to their 1992 wedding. The couple met at Ohio State University.

But back to policing and reporting in New York, Kanakaredes promises a job-related “major conflict” between Benita and Bobby Simone, one that she clearly hopes will extend her life span on the series.

“I feel like it’s a great moment,” she says. “I hope there’ll be more of them. I feel very fortunate. I’m on the best show on prime time.”

“NYPD Blue” airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on ABC.