The appeal of Farscape has not just been in the show's premise and the quality of its writing, but in the strength of the acting. On a series where even the puppets have pronounced personalities, the actors' skills are paramount. Since her character's introduction towards the end of series one the distinctive 'alien-ness' of Gigi Edgley's Chiana has brought an added dynamic to the relationships between the crew of Moya.

During a recent trip to the UK to attend the Starfury: Defiant convention, Edgley was fresh from a long haul flight from the antipodes and just a little hyper when she sat down with dreamwatch to discuss her experiences working on Farscape...

dreamwatch: How would you say Chiana has developed since her first appearance on Farscape and do you think the character's development has always been in the right direction?

Gigi: It's really hard to get a good grasp on where your character's going as the writers will tell you one thing, so you will build up to this arc, and then all of a sudden you're told something else on set. Halfway through last series [head writer/executive producer] David Kemper said, "Chiana's going to see herself dying." So we went through series three with her getting flashes inside her head of Chiana dying. Of course, he said, "It'll be a 'space death' and she'll come back..." But Chiana was going to face a huge, life changing experience by the cliffhanger of series three. I thought, "I can't wait!"

Three days into shooting the cliffhanger for season three [Dog with Two Bones], we didn't have a script. We were shooting the cliffhanger with no script whatsoever! It was crazy. Everyone was really, really tired... It was a very tricky and very challenging time. I was working up to the conclusion of this Chiana arc when we got the script; I'm reading through it looking for this big scene and it just wasn't there! I said, "David, David, hang on, what's going on?" And he said, "Oh, I dropped that!" I thought, "It's been three months and I've been working towards this huge change."

So it's very hard to have a handle on any character development. It's literally a day-by day process. You get on set and they'll give you [script] amendments. We've even had cases where we get changes, shoot the scene, then that same afternoon get more changes for the scene we've already shot! You're literally flying by the seat of your pants. That's where a lot of Chiana's stuff comes from; being spontaneous and working with what the script gives me each day.

Dreamwatch: It sounds like it must be very hard to learn the scripts and prepare for filming in advance;

Gigi: I pretty much came to Farscape straight from university. I find it hard to know when to learn a script. Early on I was a great one for deconstructing scripts, breaking them apart and putting them back together. For Durka Returns [Chiana's debut episode], I did that quite extensively. I experimented with different vibes. Now, there's simply no time for that. You're doing three different scripts, ADR [additional dialogue recording, or 'looping'] for two others, you're riding on four hours sleep... Physically it's hard to keep up with the word play they're giving you... It's very challenging and amazing that we pull it off.

dreamwatch: Isn't it annoying that the show's key character developments can happen so quickly?

Gigi: Because it's so close to your heart, it can get a bit upsetting when you lose big character choices or changes. A lot of changes happen in the editing room. It could he that an episode is 10 minutes over and often they have to cut a lot of good stuff out of people's work. It is frustrating if you're five episodes along and you're going in a particular direction, only to find the relevant material has been cut from one episode. You've built upon a foundation, then when you look a few weeks later, there's no foundation there. "She's an alien. She's allowed to be here, there and everywhere" - that's how we justify it, if all else fails. Now that I'm a long running character, generally they'll approach me about character stuff for Chiana.

dreamwatch: One of Chiana's most distinctive characteristics is her alien movement. Did that start as a stage direction or did it spring from your imagination?

Gigi: The whole movement side of Chi came from when I went into the audition room. I'm thinking, "OK, I'm an alien. I'm going to get into this..." I asked [producer/director] Andrew Prowse, "How far do you want me to push being alien?" He said, "We just want to see if you can act, kid." I'm freaking out, but I said, "OK. Cool. No worries." So, I did no physical stuff whatsoever in the audition, just concentrated on hitting my mark and getting it down emotion wise.

Seven auditions later, I started fooling around with it a bit. I then read with Ben [Browder, who plays Crichton]. Make-up tests were done: I'd had no idea there was going to be make-up like that! I got the part and, after getting into costume and make-up, I got sent home at the end of the day without shooting anything. I thought, "What happened? Am I fired? What'll I tell my dad?!" They said, "No, it's fine. It's just that we blew up the set you're supposed to be shooting on..."

I took the opportunity of being in the make-up to go back to my room and check it out in front of the full length minor. The movements were totally Gigi-devised! I just developed the stance by playing around. David Kemper said: "We have no idea what you're doing, but we like it. Keep on doing it!" I thought, "OK. Cool!" That's where it all came from.

dreamwatch: It's a melting pot of teamwork, inspiration and serendipity, then?

Gigi: We're blessed with so many things that help. We've got the make-up, the costumes, the settings, the animatronics. When it's lights-camera-action, you've got all these 'treats'. Acting-wise you get a lot for free. You just need to stand in front of the camera to have an effect: less is more. You have to trust that it's all going to be substantial enough to do the job.

dreamwatch: Some actors cannot bear to watch their own performances. Do you watch yourself as Chiana, and do you like what you see?

Gigi: Being an actor and watching every second of your performance, you see every wrinkle on every smile, every move: it's hard to remove yourself from it. Quite often I won't get to see an episode until a few have gone through or in ADR, which is great, but it will be very stop-start. You don't get a decent feel for the flow of it. I started watching episodes when I'm in the make-up chair, but my new make up artist has said: "No more watching episodes," as I jump around too much while they try and do the make-up! It hasn't been very successful!

dreamwatch: Chiana has been through a lot of emotional upheavals especially during Farscape's third year. What did you think of season three's dark tone, and do you ever want the show to lighten up?

Gigi: I absolutely fall head over heels for dark scripts. Anything dark or surreal I find extremely edible... It gives you something to grab on to. Eat Me, for example, was a fantastic episode... I loved it. It's very weird... We'll get
notes [about the tone of the show] from the studio heads - last year we got the note that it was too misogynistic, and I'd definitely agree with that! It's tricky...

They want us to play it 'up' this year [season four]. One minute they're telling me to be dark and dangerous and they're telling everyone else to make it funny. You can imagine the kind of things that come out on the other end... It's quite absurd.

dreamwatch: What can viewers expect to see in Farscape's fourth season?

Gigi: Chiana has Rygel's baby! [Laughs]... I think it's richer, deeper and darker. There's a certain amount of black comedy in the humour on our show: being a human lost in space is quite a scary thing! Making it funnier can sometimes make it a lot darker. Look at the big picture: it's an extraordinary condition in which John Crichton finds himself. The way he deals with it is quite phenomenal. We're really starting to embrace that circumstance in a lot of new and intriguing and improved ways...

dreamwatch: Do you know anything about what season four has in store for Chiana?

Gigi: They've given me a really clear description of where they want Chiana to go. They want to bring the dangerous side of her back. I had a bit of a mixed-up break, personally, so I've come back and I'm using a lot of my emotional stuff. A lot of my emotional traumas are going into my take on the scripts. At the end of it everyone was going: "What's happened to Chiana, man, she's freaky." [Laughs] I was asking if it was alright, and they said, "Fine!"

I really like the place she's going to now... Wait until you guys get an handle on series four! I really want to reinforce her alien characteristics, go back to the darker and experimental side, but still have the soft side. You've gotta have the balance there, otherwise the audience can't connect with the character.

dreamwatch: Rumour has it that you'd like Chiana to find a suitable boyfriend in season four?

Gigi: Have you seen all the boys Chiana goes out with? They're all very scary. I mean, what's the deal with Chiana? If she's such a hot chick, why can't she pick up someone a bit spunkier?