Cinescape
May 2002
CLAUDIA, BLACK BEAUTY

Claudia Black is best known as former Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun on the popular Sci-Fi Channel series "Farscape." The beautiful, raven haired Black is the epitome of the genre super chick: she's smart, she's strong, she's stunning, and she kicks butt.

But when Claudia isn't shooting episodes of "Farscape", she's keeping busy with other projects as well, many of which are often genre related. Most recently, she lent her very distinctive voice talents to a special appearance in ADV Films' release of the anime series "Steel Angel Kurumi", the first volume of which has just been released. Talking from the set of "Farscape", the actress recalls that it was because of that show's DVD's, that she came upon the "Steel Angel Kurumi" job.

"I first met Steven Foster in Los Angeles for the first set of DVD commentaries," says Claudia. "He was a vibrant, enthusiastic, generous man and a great director. I asked him what he did in his other hours and he told me about ADV Films. He explained that he directed animation, specificaly Manga. I said that if he ever came up with something appropriate to give me a call. He was surprised by my interest and 3 years later I was equally surprised that he had not forgotten the conversation."

"Steel Angel Kurumi" tells the story of the title creation, a sexy, manga chick robot with a soul that's seeking out the truth behind her origins. It's all typically cool anime stuff, and as Claudia reveals, she was familiar with the genre before signing onto this project.

"I have watched anime before," she says. "And I have always said, as has one of our directors, Andrew Prowse, that "Farscape" would do well in Japan because it is dark and strong yet vibrant and risque, like Manga."

Claudia has done some limited voice acting before, primarily on the season three "Farscape" episode 'Revenging Angel' which depicted Aeryn Sun and her shipmates in cartoon form. The actress points out that she's always wanted to have the chance to try this particular kind of performing.

"I have always been keen to do voice work since my childhood was spent mimicking most of what I heard and tuning my ear toward music and language accents," she says, while also explaining the differences between voice acting and regular acting.

"In voice work you get to sit on your butt for extended periods and no one gives a hoot what you look like. I also move into a different creative zone. I am sure it is similar for comic book writers in that anything goes, provided the work is good and tells the story clearly. You can make fundamental choices for a character based on how they talk. More textures and subtleties can be worked in with voice work but at the same time more clear and simple lines are required as the rest of the character is created by someone else. The challenge with "Steel Angel Kurumi" was the fact that it was all done backwards. The images and Japanese dialect were already in. I had to dub the English in over it. I sometimes baulk at such technical restrictions but the challenge of making it work won me over. Steven Foster also made it very easy to do."

Another area that Steven Foster excels at is in the production of DVD audio commentaries, as is witnessed by the talks that can be found on several of the first season "Farsacpe" DVD collections. Claudia explains that when sitting down to record those sessions, there's more to the process than simply watching the episode and talking into the microphone.

"It's great when Steven's directing them," says Claudia. "He really is the man for the job. He is enthusiastic about the show, which always helps, and has great taste when it comes to balancing the humorous anecdotal stories we tell with the more serious technical information about the filming process. However, Ian Watson the director and I just did one in Australia without Steven, and it became an acting/directing tutorial! I know how Ian Watson works and think's as a director and I knew it would appeal to him to talk about the process quite deeply. He then forced me to articulate my process which in many ways is just done by feel. It was an insightful hour or two in the sound booth."

Speaking of "Farscape", Claudia is of course toiling away Down Under on new episodes of the show for season four, and while she won't quite reveal how the writers are going to resolve the many cliffhangers from the end of last season, she does give us a peek of what is going on behind the scenes.

"Season four is going well," she says. "We are about halfway. I am having fun creatively and one of my favorite directors, Geoff Bennett, has come on to join the show. Ben Browder just wrote a great episode and I loved bringing the role he wrote for me to life. He's a bit brainy, our Ben. And just a bit talented. The guest actors have been a great source of inspiration too."

Of course, Claudia and the crew certainly are starting to feel the strain of the long hours on the set, an inevitable aspect of genre television production.

"I am reading travel books and counting the days till our next production break," she admits. "We are all getting a little sleep deprived. Especially Ben. He can't be everywhere at once."

After her experience on "Steel Angel Kurumi", Claudia is hungry to do more voice over work in the future. But she also is well aware of how fortunate she is to play a character like Aeryn Sun on "Farscape."

"She is an actor's dream, no doubt about it," Claudia says. "I always felt as a younger performer that one day I would get a chance to play a tough chick in space. And here she is."

Tough chicks in space seems to be a theme lately for Claudia Black. Even the DVD's that the actress watches in her spare time seem to follow a certain trend.

"I think it is time to go full surround sound in the home now that I have a widescreen TV," she concludes. "Matrix is a great one. And my boyfriend is dying to steal my Robotechs!"


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