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Hard as it may be to believe, even Gigi Edgley -- who plays the high-energy...OK, manic Chiana on Farscape -- needs a rest every now and again. "I had to recharge my batteries," Edgley says of her hiatus period between seasons two and three of Farscape. "I had a lot of play time. I had a lot of Gigi time. I did a couple of odd jobs during the break, too [including a guest spot on 'The Lost World' and a radio play production of 'Titanic Dreams' for the Sci-Fi channel's Seeing Ear Theater]. And now we're back doing Farscape. So it has all been an absolute dream come true. I'm happy to be back on the set playing Chiana again. As tired as I was by the end of season two, I was also starting to miss her desperately by the end of the break."

That makes quite a bit of sense, actually, especially when one takes into account the fact that Edgley considers Chiana -- "the little silver thing" as she affectionately refers to the character -- a part of herself. "I think it would be impossible for her not to become part of me," the speed-talking actress explains.

"We're working on it and working on it and as we go I see myself as much as Chiana as Gigi. We're working in 16-hour days. I wake up in the dark and fumble around, trying to get some clothes. Then I jump into a car and the next moment I'm in the makeup chair for several hours. And then I am this creature all day long, this perverse alien. At the end of the day, all those long hours later, I wipe it off and jump in the car again. It's dark outside and I go, maybe get some groceries, and when I get home I feed the dogs, say hello to a few people at home, and then study some lines for the next day and jump back into bed."

"So the majority of my day when we are in production I'm getting ready to be Chiana or I'm playing Chiana or I'm thinking about Chiana or, like now, I'm talking about Chiana. So she has definitely invaded my world, you could say. I'm extremely proud and glad that she has. It's a very rewarding thing to be able to play such a creature. So many people -- the make-up artists, the other actors, the writers, the lighting people -- put such energy into her that it's really an honor to play her. All I have to do, really, is open my eyes, say a line, and there she is. Obviously, the right person has to be under it all and inside me to make it effective, but I'm definitely blessed with all these people and all these things [the make-up and costumes] that really make her live as well. I know I couldn't do anything with a falling-down set, sitting in the dark, with no dialogue and a falling-off wig. So it's a big challenge and a big effort on everyone's behalf."

Chiana came into her own during the second season, figuring prominently in a number of episodes, among them 'Taking the Stone', 'Home on the Remains', 'The Maltese Crichton', 'Won't Get Fooled Again', 'A Clockwork Nebari' and, of course, 'Liars, Guns, and Money' parts one to three ['A Not So Simple Plan', 'With Friends Like These', and 'Plan B'] and 'Die Me Dichotomy'. "I loved 'Won't Get Fooled Again'," the actress enthuses. "Everything seemed to be falling into place. The characters seemed to be getting a bit domestic. And that episode totally threw you askew. I liked playing the astronaut groupie [in the Earthbound scenes]. It was quite funny. Right after it was done, I said, 'Oh damn, you know what we should have done? Bright pink eye make-up and really gorgeous lips.' My make-up artist and I went , 'Oh no!' You work such intense hours that you forget about those little details until two episodes later. You ask, 'Can we do some reshoots?' and everybody laughs quite heartily. 'A Clockwork Nebari' was a wonderful episode for me because it really went into Chiana's back story. We weren't sure how it would work out and it was quite tricky because there were several dramatic and technical challenges, but it ended up working out all right. I loved the cliffhanger episodes at the end. Some of the stuff that emerged from those shows was quite astounding. Everybody was very tired and very raw near the end of the second season, and that worked for episodes because they were very raw. And it's funny; I watch some of the bigger Chiana episodes and I think I did a better job of acting in the smaller episodes. I think that maybe has to do with the fact that when it comes around to your character you can really dive into the character's history, but you also get a lot more nervous about it and you really want to make it work. So quite often, when I watch them back, I feel that I've overcompensated and, as opposed to letting Chiana find me, I'm putting Gigi's impulses on top. That's so not needed, but I'm learning lots as I sit down in make-up or at home and watch the episodes."

"Some of the stuff we're doing now for series three is quite astounding too, but I don't want to get into any specifics. All I can say is that some beautiful and very strong choices are being made and I think they're very unpredictable as well. I can't wait to hear what everybody thinks of the new episodes. I'll be on the Net, watching quite closely. Chiana-wise, she ends up going in a very different direction. It might take a few episodes into series three to catch wind of it, but it's quite intriguing. I'm trying to justify it to myself and to understand how this little alien has gone in these new directions. When Chiana is in very intense situations, she reverts back to her alien instincts, to her very raw instincts, and those instincts involve getting people to love her, and not necessarily in the nicest ways. Seeing the reactions of the other characters to that was very intriguing. We've done so much and I want to do more. I want to see Chiana fly again, literally and figuratively and metaphysically. I want to make sure that she's still got her alien mannerisms, but at the same time justify them so that they are believable to the eye and to the viewer. Some of the series three scripts go in that direction. Keep an eye on her, because she's fluttering about and she goes into very dark and murky territory. It's all very juicy."

"I want her to always question 'Why?' and I want the audience to keep questioning too, 'Who is she? What does she want? What's she up to?'" continues the actress. "Everybody has two sides... or more. One side of Chiana is that she's someone who really wants something and will do anything to get it. She's not necessarily evil or dark, but it's fun to play that intense sense of desire. I love to play that. I can do that, know I'm safe and can then go home and still be Gigi, still be my normal self. Every goodie has a bad side. Chiana is a mix of all of that and it's a nice spectrum to play."

And make no mistake, people are responding to the character, to Edgley's edgy performances. Some fans adore Chiana. They think she kicks ass and heightens the tension in any given scene or episode. Others don't like her, and for much the same reasons. She's a bit of a loose cannon and her loyalties are still rather suspect. Edgley heard all of that and more, first-hand, at two recent conventions, one the Comic Con in San Diego, and the other the first official Farscape convention. "I went with [writers-producers] David Kemper and Rockne O'Bannon," she recalls, launching into an anecdote-filled story about Comic Con. "That was my first real taste of what the outside world thought of Chiana. I was so nervous. We got in on a Thursday or Friday. I looked over from the hotel and I could see the convention center. I thought it was a train station or a big mall, and I wanted to check it out. Of course, it was the convention hall. Slowly, Storm Troopers and Klingons emerged. And every kind of creature was crawling out of this convention. I thought, 'Oh, this looks great.' I saw one of the guards and said, 'Oh hi, I'm talking tomorrow and I just wanted to go in and check it out. I'm sorry I haven't paid or anything.' He said, 'It's all right. Go on in for 15 or 20 minutes.' So he let me in and it was just phenomenal to see everything, to see all those people. The fans are very into it all, which is just great. It's why we're doing it, you know?"

"The next day I went in with Rockne and David and some friends and some Henson people. I had my butterflies sort of fluttering around in my belly. When we wandered in there, there were all these people in a queue that went on for quite a while. I said, 'What are they coming to see?' Somebody turned around and said,'You.' It was unbelieveable. The convention people gave me all these instructions and suggestions, like, 'Don't touch anyone,' and as soon as I got out there I forgot everything. I had to touch. I had to shake hands and hug and touch base briefly. This was where you could get right in there and get the fans' feedback. There were some great, provocative, and shocking things said, which was really cool. I loved hearing it. It reminded me to think about what I'm doing, how I'm doing it, the impact and the reaction. We're in such a bubble here in Australia that it was just a great experience."

Edgley obviously loves Chiana, loves her gig. It comes across loud and clear, both in conversation and on screen. But this is now and later is, well, later. What happens in four years, when Edgley is in her sixth year and Farscape is in it's seventh? Edgley is suddenly and uncharacteristically silent. Then, after a moment, she's back, full force, with an answer that's typically 'Edgleyian' in it's honesty, length, and good humor. "Do I worry about Chiana being a decrepit, old, whorish alien wandering around the ship with a walking stick?" she asks. "No! Do I worry about anyone -- the audience, me -- losing the excitement? Basically, the day my heart stops pumping for it all, when I start to regret going to work and I start freaking out about those 3am wake-ups, that's when I've got to get out of there. If that happens, I'm not in the right job, maybe not in the right business. You meet people who've been at it a long time. Their heart's not in it and they're sort of going through the motions. And why? Life's too short for that."

"For me, Farscape is an unbelievable learning ground. I can explore so many different things. I can do my own stunts. I can work with animatronics and be in make-up. I can explore this bizarre creature and go into a bit of naturalistic acting as well. At this stage of my career, Farscape is an unbelievable blessing. I hope it's not the be all and end all of my career, though. I've learned so much doing Farscape and I am so thankful for the opportunity, but I do know that there's more to life than a little girl in gray. And I think that Chiana will eventually help me get to those places I want to go as an actress."