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Chat: Gigi Edgley



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Chat: Gigi Edgley


Subject(s): Gigi Edgley, Farscape Actor
Dated: January 24, 2000
Source: TV Guide Online


Transcript

TV Guide Online: Tonight we are chatting with Gigi Edgley from the series Farscape. Welcome Gigi! Thanks for talking with us tonight!

Gigi Edgley: Hello fellow cyberland troopers. Nice to see you all again. How are you doing?

Question: How do you relate to your character? Are you similar in some ways?

Gigi Edgley: She's a lot more daring, a lot more cunning. I think where Gigi quivers, I smile a lot more wickedly.

Question: What attracted you to playing the part of Chiana?

Gigi Edgley: I'd been in Sydney for about 6 months when the audition came up. When I heard the role was for an alien I was very excited. My mother is a bit of a new age hippie. And believes in all these extraterrestrial beings. So I thought it would be fun to have a go. There are no boundaries so you can take it as far as you like. I've never been an alien before, so I have a lot of freedom. I'd also done a lot of movement based work in my past and it was fantastic to combine acting work with movement based work.

Question: What kind of input do you have in your character?

Gigi Edgley: Basically we act the script we are given. Since there are so many rough drafts...If you can see that they are taking the character in a place she shouldn't be, you can talk to the writers. More times than not, they'll carry out a compromise with you. It's a fantastic system to work in since you get to learn all areas.

Question: How long does it take to get into make-up each day?

Gigi Edgley: 3 1/2 hours every morning. We usually start at 4AM and finished and get home by 9 at night. It makes for a long day.

Question: Did you always want to be an actress and in your wildest dreams did you ever imagine being immortalized as an action figure?

Gigi Edgley: Ahh! Not even in my wildest dreams. It's so overwhelming and quite surreal. I don't think I'll actually believe it till I see one sitting in front of me. To answer the first part, it's a great reward to be earning money for your passion. For something you are truly in love with. Cause nowadays it gets very hectic trying to keep up with everyone else and their expectations of you. So when a blessing like this comes along, it's greater than what dreams could expect.

Question: Is the relationship between Crichton and you going to escalate?

Gigi Edgley: Hee Hee Hee. Lots of giggles. Chiana almost lets the cat out of the bag, Gigi holds on as tight as she can. I think that will be answered in the next couple coming up. I better leave it at that.

Question: Everyone asks this, I'm sure, but who's the practical joker on set?

Gigi Edgley: Anthony has got to be up there. He's very quick to catch you. And John, one of the puppeteers used to be a prime suspect for those kind of things. Makes for a very humorous blooper reel.

Question: How long does it take to do an episode?

Gigi Edgley: We do ten days on main unit then three days on pick up. Sometimes you can be shooting two to three at a time including ADR, which sometimes gets confusing, especially running on 4 hours of sleep a night.

Question: What is your favorite episode of Farscape so far?

Gigi Edgley: 15 and 19 are my favorites. I really relaxed into them. It's sometimes difficult to know whether you pulled it off successfully until you actually see it. Sometimes I go "Ah, in that scene I didn't do a great job", and then see the rushed and go "Wow". Other times, I go "What was that?"

Question: Gigi: Loved the head movements in episode 19, particularly when Chiana and Crichton were doing the same movements. Did you and Ben have to practice that a lot to get it down so well?

Gigi Edgley: Instinctually it's very easy when you work with people for heavy hours to pick up their movements and their habits.

Question: What can we expect for Chiana in the second season?

Gigi Edgley: You'll see her mature a lot for the most oddest reasons and you'll get a bit more of her back story. She'll soon be surprising you with a few alien feats that the writers have scripted in. And in general fighting for the crew as opposed to herself.

Question: What was it like to join an on running series in the middle of a season?

Gigi Edgley: It was a very intense experience. It was sort of like jumping into the deep end. I can't speak enough about this enormous cast and crew I work with. I do get nervous working with such masters of the art.

Question: What are your hobbies? Anything you particularly like doing?

Gigi Edgley: I love doing suspension acts. Hanging off ropes. Lots of movements. It was a means of support of me through University. Also love singing and dancing and playing with my puppy. Tapestries. Just playing in general when we get the chance. My social life is meeting the new guest cast, that's the extent of it at the moment.

Question: Who is your favorite actors/actresses?

Gigi Edgley: My ma. She did some acting in her early days. I remember seeing these angelic photos of her when I just started acting and I though this is the woman I want to make proud. Marlo Brando, Robert DeNiro, Juliette Lewis and I can't get over Marilyn Monroe. A lot of people's writing I get inspired by as well. It's the people on the street too. The busy business man on the street with a phone in his ear, or the homeless man, or the information you get from watching a conversation in a coffee shop.

Question: How much about Chiana's background have the writers let you know beforehand? Do you have to guess about her past and wing it a lot at this point?

Gigi Edgley: A lot of the time I make personal choices that are relevant in my life to parallel Chiana's. Now that she's more of permanent figure, they are starting to explore her background a bit Her story is quite intriguing There might even be a hint of seeing more of her race in episodes to come.

Question: Hey Gigi, I know you had your wisdom teeth out not to long ago, how are you feeling?

Gigi Edgley: My wisdom tooth is much better. I'm still coming off the drugs.... I'm going well. I can articulate words which is a good thing. The other tooth funnily enough popped up to say hello. I've rescheduled that to emerge in a break down the line. Not enough time to deal with it right now. Thank you so much for your love and support through it all. I think you knew before I did when I was having it out.

Question: Hi Gigi, this is Cush from the board. This is a hot topic on the board, what happened to Stark?

Gigi Edgley: Hey Cush. How you doing? Stark made his brief guest appearance. And it's undecided if he is returning. What an exciting character he played, hey? He pulled it off beautifully, an inspiration.

Question: Will you be coming over to the States and attending any fan events during the next break? I know the fans would love to meet you in person.

Gigi Edgley: I hope so guys. Just send me my ticket and I'll be over there in a flash. The travel bug has been wooing me badly. I guess I just have to wait till I'm told where they want me to go.

Question: Any upcoming acting projects outside of Farscape that you're excited about?

Gigi Edgley: At the moment it's too crazy to start any other endeavors. I did try in the last break to do a feature film. I got pulled out at the last minute due to schedule hassles. They are still going to keep my character in the feature film and just bring in a new girl to finish off my scenes. It was all a bit of a scary and weepy process. That's what the breaks usually involve once I get a decent time off to hunt for series of features that will fit into my schedule. In other words, this little alien ain't going nowhere.

Question: How do the others in your life cope with your working such long hours and being away on location shoots?

Gigi Edgley: Good question. That hasn't been proposed to me before. It's an intense experience because it becomes your life. It's not a bad thing. The people close to me have been very supportive, but it has been tricky to do simply stuff, like my brother's birthday. Little things you miss out on. Everyone knows the reason why and they're not to upset by it. It's very weird coming home and living with 5 people who seem to be in constant party mode and you're in constant work mode. I just have to find a balance and I'll be set.

Question: Have you had any martial arts experience? Great kick in "Nerve"!

Gigi Edgley: Not as of yet. Other than community class of Karate at age 10. I think dancing and movement help. I'm about to commence some Kung Fu and Tai Boxing next week.

Question: Are there any future roles you would like to play?

Gigi Edgley: Countless. I don't know where to start. The roles that intrigue me are the ones that challenge me. I love playing the Mme. Theardines. They're nice and juicy to get into. I still want to do theatre and musical theatre and tv and movies. I'd love to start working for one of my friends who's a young and upcoming script writer. They've invented a very bizarre gothic character for me to play. That's a world and a half away.

Question: Please, please, what can you tell us about the finale on Friday?

Gigi Edgley: OOOOHHHH! Chiana smirks wickedly and goes off into the distance. Doing a giggle as she walks away. Just hold your breath. Brace yourself and watch out. I hope you enjoy it to the max.

TV Guide Online: Thank you so much Gigi for talking with us tonight! We had a great time and hope you can come back soon!

Gigi Edgley: Thanks guys. Love you all. Keep sending warm fuzzies. Sending all my fairies your way for kisses and cuddles. Hope to bump your way soon.