Leslie Hope will next star in Darren Star’s (“Sex & the City”) new drama series “Runaway.” The show is one of the two new shows on the inaugural CW network. Hope will play Lily Rader opposite Donnie Wahlberg (Paul Rader) in the story of a man convicted of a murder he didn’t commit. When the real killer threatens the life of his family, they become fugitives -- going on the run and starting a new life with new identities.

Hope recently recurred on “Commander in Chief” as the Attorney General and as a Feminist Theory professor on “Everwood.” She is best known to television audiences as Kiefer Sutherland’s ill-fated wife on the first season of FOX's groundbreaking drama "24." During her acclaimed stint as beleaguered and ultimately doomed Teri Bauer, she was kidnapped and raped, killed her abductor, had an ovarian cyst burst, found out she was pregnant, confronted her husband's mistress and suffered amnesia. Her death in the final episode prompted a fan outcry and media debate on her character's fate.

Hope, a native of Nova Scotia, got into the acting profession on a lark. Because her father was in the military, the family was frequently moving. At 13, she was attending school in Victoria, British Columbia, hoping she would later make it to Harvard Law School. When she was 15, the family moved to Italy, and Hope stayed at boarding school to finish her pre-university training. But she decided to rebel, announcing her intention to become an actor, not a lawyer. Shortly after, her school was used as a film location, and she was hired to play a part. She met a crew member who knew the famed director John Cassavetes and after an introduction, Cassavetes wrote a starring role for her in his film "Love Streams."

After finishing the film, she stayed in Los Angeles and worked in various capacities on Cassavetes’ crew, hoping to learn all about filmmaking. She next starred opposite Matt Dillon in "Kansas”, in David Beard’s "It Takes Two" and in Oliver Stone’s "Talk Radio." She also starred with Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen in "Men at Work."

In 1990, she and Charlie Stratton started their own theatre company, The Wilton Project, which they ran for 10 years. The Wilton Project was dedicated to the development of new plays and a re-examination of the classics and on a personal level for Hope to gain the theatre experience she felt she had missed. While running the company, she produced, directed and acted in several productions, including the award-winning "Therese Raquin," "Slide" and "Ghost Stories." Additional theater credits include "Emerald City," Taking Off" and "The Rattle of the Moon."

Hope’s extensive film credits include "Dragonfly," "Bruiser," "Sweet Killing," "Water Damage," "Spreading Ground," "Paris France," "Fun," True Confections" and "The Life Before This."

Her TV credits include the telefilms “The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie,” (which reunited Hope with her "Love Streams" co-star Gena Rowlands), “An Unexpected Love,” "Stolen Miracle," "Robocop," "Sanctuary,” “H2O” and "First Degree." She starred as Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in the ABC/Rod Lurie crime drama “Line of Fine” and has had recurring roles on "The District" and "Chicago Hope," and she appeared on "Judging Amy," "Party of Five" and "The Outer Limits." She has also starred in several CBC miniseries.

In her spare time, Hope travels to exotic locales such as Peru, Laos, Cuba and Turkey. She recently returned from trips to Iceland, China, where she ate yak, and the Ecuadorian jungle, where she lived with a native tribe in the rainforest. On one of these trips, Hope visited Cambodia where she was drawn to the plight of the homeless children. She recently returned to shoot a documentary “What I See When I Close My Eyes” for Friends International, an organization which works with these street living children and assists them in their reintegration into mainstream society.