Magazine Articles

SFX #68

CHIANA GIRL!
By David Bossom

As amoral alien thief Chiana, Gigi Edgley is possibly Farscape's most eye-catching asset. The Aussie actress tells David Bossom why space-faring bad girls have more fun.

Gigi Edgley could well be Farscape's greatest special effect. Ever since her mid-first season debut as Moya's resident monochrome minx, Chiana, Edgley has provided the sci-fi adventure series with an additional ray of sunshine and has fast become one of its most - rather ironically - colourful performers.

Perhaps even more impressively, the 22-year-old Australian actress has also made her black and white Nebari counterpart an integral part of the Farscape universe. After overcoming unfair comparisons to Star Trek's reviled adolescent, Wesley Crusher, the alien wild child Chiana is now being widely hailed as the biggest sensation in small-screen sci-fi since Jeri Ryan donned a Borg catsuit. And no-one's more surprised or delighted about Chiana's growing popularity that Edgley herself.

"It's just amazing to hear that people are taking Chiana to their hearts," she reveals. "Even though we shoot Farscape in Australia, it only started airing here at the end of May, and no-one has seen her yet. So to find out about the response in places like the UK and the States is exciting, surprising and scary - it's all those things."

"I actually did a live online chat last weekend and I think about 500 kids were there. And I just couldn't type; I was so nervous, my hands were shaking. I was thinking to myself, 'You're meant to be professional and not affected by this.' But I just can't be - this is all too close to my heart, and acting is a passion I've been pursuing for a long time.

"I just hope that I'm giving the people enough," adds the lively Edgley with sweet modesty. "I hope I'm justifying this character and this alien journey for them. I want to make this very, very bizarre story real in their minds."

Chiana's alien journey begins with the Farscape adventure "Durka Returns". The episode introduces her as a fun-loving criminal on the run from the conformist, mind-controlling Nebari authorities. From the offset, it's clear that Chiana is a dangerous and unpredictable addition to the Moya crew. It's equally apparent that Chiana's main weapons are her cunning and seductiveness.

"I think what's great about Chiana is that she knows how to be nasty," notes Edgley. "She can be totally sexy and sensual one moment, and be the rattiest idiot the next. She sort of covers the whole spectrum throughout the series.

"I actually read an interview with Ben [Browder, alias John Crichton] recently where he said, 'Gigi Edgley plays a whore with a good heart.' I read it and I just went, 'Well that's pretty special.' That was exciting. I rang my dad and went, 'Dad, I'm a whore with a good heart.' He was like, 'Right Gig."

While Edgley happily laughs off Browder's somewhat harsh description of her Nebari alter ego, there's no disputing that Chiana is Farscape's leading pin-up girl.

"Ohhh, that's a bit raunchy, isn't it?" she giggles. "Whenever I hear about me being the 'pin-up girl', 'the good-heart whore' or 'the sex object', I just think, 'How did I manage that?' Because Gigi is so different from Chiana - I'm gifted with the words the writers give me and the costumes I'm given. People wouldn't recognise me off the set. Honestly, it's all just part of the magic of Farscape!

"I do think the writers initially wanted Chiana to be the pin-up girl/sex object. So I guess it's my job to endow her with those qualities and really try to pull it off. As long as she's not just a dumb blonde wandering around the ship, and as long as there's some vulnerability and a slight intellectual side to her, it's okay."

Chiana's pin-up status was, of course, recently confirmed by her appearance in the SFX Babes magazine. "I heard that Chiana was in it," reveals Edgley with not a little pride. "I actually found out about that from Wayne Pygram, the guy who plays Scorpius. He told me there's a picture of the two of us in it. That's awesome!

"How many photo's of Chiana are in it again?" she continues playfully. "Two photo's, huh? It's not the centrefold photo, is it? Good. That's supposed to be for Penthouse only!"

Gigi Edgley's rise to telly stardom and pin-up status has been a rapid one. At the start of 1999, the Perth-born actress was fresh out of Queensland University of Technology, where she had earned a BA in Drama. And despite having appeared in the like of Day Of The Roses, Edgley was actually finding work extremely hard to come by before Farscape beckoned.

"It was a rough time," she recalls. "I hadn't worked for a while and my flatmates and I were living on jasmine rice. We were lucky to have that in our bellies.

"So I was going for a lot of auditions, and when I heard about this show made by the Jim Henson Company with aliens and muppets, it really stood out. I've grown up watching things like The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, and I loved the idea of playing an alien."

After learning Chiana's lines and perfecting the character's mid-Atlantic accent, Edgley chose what she thought would be a suitably outrageous costume for the audition.

"I walked in with my hair totally dreadlocked and matted and stuff, I had a full-on bra top, cyber pants, chunky boots and a nose ring that was too big. But when I sat down with the other actresses reading for the role, they were six gorgeous, gorgeous girls who were casually dressed and very relaxed. And here I am, a punk rocker chick from who knows where, trying to be an alien and thinking 'What have I done?"

Following "four or five" more auditions, Edgley found herself attending a make-up and costume test. Chiana's striking look was inspired by make-up designer Lesley Vanderwalt's concept of placing a black and white character into the hyper-colourful Farscape universe, and originally took five hours to realise. Even at this late stage, however, she still didn't know that the role was hers.

"The whole way through, the job was never confirmed," she admits. "I was a nervous wreck. It was only when I went in for one last make-up test that one of the Ads [assistant directors] said, 'Are you ready for tomorrow?' I said, 'What's tomorrow?' and he replied, 'We're shooting 'Durka Returns'.' And I went, 'Oh my God!'"

During the making of the episode, Edgley was left guessing whether or not her Chiana would reappear in Farscape. It was always touch-and-go for the character: she was originally written as a one-off guest-starring role and, at one point, was meant to be killed by Durka during the episode. Fortunately, Edgley's captivating portrayal of the Nebari thief led to Chiana becoming a recurring character, and then a series regular at the start of season two. From there, Chiana has taken centre stage in a number of episodes and is even set to gain a regular love interest towards the middle of the season.

"We got to play with alien sex this season," teases Edgley. "I wanted to do something different, so we fooled around and hopefully came up with something viewers haven't really seen before." Chiana also plays a pivotal role in the hotly-tipped second season finale, "Die Me Dichotomy". "I think the cliff-hanger's going to hit the viewers in a pretty strong way," she reveals. "Either you'll love it or you'll hate it. Everyone goes to the extreme in one sense or another in the finale, and you start to see the characters' true colours - if you haven't seen them already. And Chiana takes a very odd turn as well."

Since concluding her work on Farscape's second season, Edgley has spent most of her time visiting friends and relatives across Australia. She's also been doing her bit to promote season two's premiere on the US Sci Fi Channel and BBC2, as well the series' upcoming transmission on the UK Sci Fi channel. Yet while Edgley is thoroughly enjoying the break from the daily three-and-a-half hour make-up process required to play Chiana, she's already looking forward to returning to the show's Sydney soundstages in November, when season three is set to begin shooting.

"I love doing Farscape," she explains. "I wouldn't give it up for anything. I get to play a role I can really take anywhere. I work with these unbelievably alien life forms - when you look into these character's eyes, there's more than just rubber and glass there. They really do come alive. And the cast and crew are just a lovely bunch of people. I can't give them enough praise." As Farscape's popularity continues to soar, Gigi Edgley is also looking forward to seeing Chiana being immortalised in a series of merchandising spin-offs. In particular, she's counting the days before the official Chiana action figures hits stores around the world.

"Isn't it every girl's dream to sit in a room and play with herself - in the nicest possible way!" she declares with a giggle. "I can't wait to get a Chiana doll. If I don't get one soon, I think I'm just going to buy a Barbie doll, cut its hair and dye it white!"