The lawyers played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar and Breckin Meyer have their names in the title, but it’s Garcelle Beauvais who steals the show whenever she’s onscreen in the new TNT series Franklin & Bash, premiering June 1. As law partner Hanna Linden, the gorgeous actress is smart, sexy, knows what she wants and isn’t afraid to ask for it.

“She takes no prisoners and doesn't apologize for who she is. She’s sleeping with one of the partners, but sleeps with Breckin’s character, too, just to see what it’s like. She’s strong and attractive, and one doesn’t negate the other. And there’s a lot of humor to her. I love that the show is light,” raves Beauvais, who as the single mother of three-year-old twin sons, was looking for a series that filmed close to home in Los Angeles with an ensemble cast, “so I wouldn’t have to work every day. This is perfect: I get to come in, I get to play, and then I get to go home and be a mom, which is really important to me,” says Beauvais, who also has a 20-year-old son named Oliver from her first marriage. He's a rapper who goes by the name Jayson Rose.

Family has always been paramount to Beauvais. She was born in Haiti as the youngest of seven children, and she still has relatives on the island. She has been active in fund-raising efforts since the aftermath of the January 2010 earthquake. Her statuesque beauty got her into modeling as a teen in Miami, where she was scouted by Eileen Ford of Ford Models and introduced to the New York fashion world. She segued to acting in Models Inc., the Jamie Foxx Show and NYPD Blue, where she first worked with co-star Gosselaar.

Now twice divorced, she doesn’t think she’ll marry again. “I’m not going to have any more children so I don’t know if I need to do it,” she explains. “But I believe in true love, and if I felt someone was committed and loyal and had integrity, that’s enough.”

Franklin & Bash premieres tonight on TNT.

(Photo: Gregg DeGuire/PictureGroup)