FROM the moment her Farscape alter ego boarded Moya, Gigi Edgley has been exploring unchartered territory in more ways than one. "Chiana goes a lot of places Gigi would never go," insists Edgley. "She's willing to put the challenge out there and go all the way. I'm not nearly as feisty or as glamorous as Chiana! But she gives me artistic license to really go there.

"I promise you I'm not used to playing the bad girl," she continues. "I'm only two years out of university, and I've always played the sweet girl-next-door type. So when Chiana came up, it was like, 'Wow, look at this! I can really play with this character and take her anywhere!'"

Shades of Grey

Edgley is chatting to TV Zone in her trailer, during a chilly afternoon at Farscape's production base in picturesque Homebush Bay, Australia. Covered from head to toe in Chiana's striking monochrome costume and make-up, the vivacious and utterly adorable 22-year-old Australian actress has spent most of the day shooting the second season adventure, Liars, Guns & Money - Part I: A Not So Simple Plan, and is due back on set shortly. Until that fateful call comes, though, Edgley is more than happy to chart her experiences in a galaxy of Jim Henson Company-designed aliens and set the scene for Farscape's November launch on the UK Sci-Fi Channel.

Having made it clear that she isn't half as much of a wild child as Chiana, Edgley proceeds to offer an affectionate profile of Moya's resident Nebari thief. "Chiana has got a taste for adventure," she notes. "She wants to play, and she's really happy to live by the seat of her pants. So there are a lot of situations where the crew will say, 'This is crazy! Let's get out of here,' and Chiana will say, 'No, let's go in!' She always seems to be at the opposite end of the spectrum, which is really nice.

"One of the great things about her is that she uses her seductiveness and intimacy to really play on people, especially the daft aliens they constantly encounter. After the guys have gone in with their brute force and got kicked out, she'll slink in there and go, 'Hey boys...' Everyone will then drop their guns, and the Moya crew will go in and do their stuff! "It took a while for Chiana to warm in, but she's become more of a part of the family, especially in Season Two. She's developed a brother-sister relationship with Crichton, and has picked up on some of his traits. I actually think she's too comfortable in there sometimes," she admits. "But the writers keep me on my toes and make sure there's always a bit of a twist in there and an element of deception there of some sort. She'll share and care, but then turn around and boot someone! There's always a nice little kick there."

Thief of Hearts

Chiana was created to give life on Moya an added degree of reckless youth and unpredictability, and made her debut in Farscape's mid-first season episode Durka Returns. Right from the start of her mesmerizing first appearance, the character made a strong impact on the show's viewers. "After Durka Returns aired, I visited the Farscape website chat room anonymously," reveals Edgley. "Everyone was chatting away and I just went, 'What do you think of the new character?' I got pages of really great, full-on stuff, and then one of the girls said, 'If ever anything happens between Crichton and Chiana, I'll get my Peacekeeper rifle and shoot her myself!' "I thought, This is fantastic! Death threats on the first episode,'" she laughs. "I told my Dad and he said, They don't know where you live, do they?'"

Fortunately, Chiana has overcome the occasional death threat to firmly establish herself as a key player in the Farscape universe. During Season Two, she has also gained a regular love interest, in the form of her Luxan shipmate Ka D'Argo (Anthony Simcoe). "Chiana and D'Argo are the bizarrest match," laughs Edgley. "When the writers told me, I was stunned. I was like, 'Are you serious?' And they were like, 'Yeah.' So I said, 'Okay let's do it!'"

While Chiana and D'Argo initially seem to make a very happy couple, Edgley is quick to point out that viewers should never assume too much about Chiana's true motives and intents. "That relationship is definitely one to watch," she teases, "because I don't think Chiana really knows what's hit her. It starts off as a bit of fun, but she ends up in deeper waters than she expected. And I think it will be interesting to see how Chiana reacts to that. In this show, the writers are always putting something in there that will turn things on their head." Farscape's writing staff really turned things on their heads with the second season Farscape adventure Out of their Minds. The body-swapping episode features Edgley not only as Chiana but also D'Argo and Pilot.

"That was a big acting exercise," she reveals. "I had to play Pilot and D'Argo, which was bizarre. I tried to pick up Pilot's simple mannerisms, like his head turns, without trying to make a parody of it. And I really tried to get D'Argo's voice quality.

Making a Great Chiana

"I had fun playing D'Argo, but I think Anthony had more fun playing me to tell you the truth!" she adds with a chuckle. "He was great as Chiana."

Even when they're not playing multiple characters, working on Farscape presents a constant challenge for Edgley. Chiana's look takes three-and-a-half hours a day to realize, and the process frequently requires a 4am start. The shooting days are long. Then there are the issues of bringing an alien to life and working with special effects and animatronic characters. Despite these heavy demands, though, Edgley is loving every minute of it.

"It's like a dream come true to be a part of this," she states. "It's a fantastic learning ground. You get to play this incredible role, and work with these bizarre puppets and incredible prosthetics which are amazingly convincing and really do come alive. The writers and directors give you a lot of liberty to play with things, and the cast are fantastic to work with. It's an amazing experience really."

As an added bonus, Edgley's work on Farscape has also established her as one of the show's most popular stars. "That's sort of creeping up on me," she says. "It doesn't hit until you get a fan letter.

"The other night I was feeling a bit lonely. I turned on my computer to look at my e-mails and someone said, 'Check out the Chiana Shrine!' I looked it up and I was just crying! The support and interest is just unbelievable."

Dead On Arrival

Farscape has certainly opened a whole universe of adventures for Gigi Edgley. A drama graduate of Queensland University of Technology, the Perth-born actress began her career in such conventional Australian productions as Water Rats and Day of the Roses.

Edgley was initially attracted to Farscape by the idea of portraying an exotic alien character and working on a show produced by the company behind The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth and The Storyteller. She landed the role after a month-long series of auditions, which culminated in a five-hour make-up test. It was only at this final stage that Edgley learned the job was hers. "That afternoon, one of the ADs [assistant directors] came up and said, 'You ready for tomorrow?' I went, 'What, is there another make-up test?' And he just went, 'No, are you ready to shoot Durka Returns? No one had stopped to tell me I'd got the part!"

Although Edgley's work in Durka Returns was destined to secure her a place among the regular cast, there were never any guarantees that Chiana's adventures would continue beyond her first appearance in Farscape. In fact, early versions of the episode's script had a very different fate planned for the Nebari thief.

"When I first came on the show, it was only a very temporary guest part," elaborates Edgley. "In Durka Returns, Chiana was nearly shot by Durka. At the [first season] wrap party, [Executive Producer] David Kemper said to me, 'That bullet was meant to get you good, girl!' Chiana could have been killed in her first episode.'"

Favourite Hour

Charting Chiana's year and a half of adventures, Edgley points to Durka Returns as her favourite Farscape hour, followed by Family Ties. She is also extremely excited about the upcoming second season finale, which she feels promises to be a startling adventure and a true emotional rollercoaster.

Looking ahead, Gigi Edgley hopes to spend several more years in Chiana's black and white attire and is already excited by the prospect of working on Farscape's third season. Her main goal for the upcoming season is to recapture and develop the unworldly qualities that she feels Chiana best displayed in her very first episode, Durka Returns.

Creating an Edge

"With Season Three, I want to create more of an edge and endow Chiana with more alien qualities," she declares. "Chiana definitely softens up to the crew in Season Two and there are strong connections there. But I think after the end of this season, people will be questioning her once or twice over. "That's a part of Chiana's essence: she's a little bit on the edge and you can't trust her totally. I'm gonna play with that next season and get the audience questioning her more."