Starburst Special #41
PAINT IT BLACK

Farscape's producers wanted an American to play Peacekeeper Aeryn Sun, but Australian Claudia Black got the part anyway.

Not since Blake's Seven has there been such a dysfunctional crew in Space. On board the living starship Moya, it's never a dull moment as somebody is always getting on somebody else's nerves, giving new means to the terms personality -and culture-clash. Amongst this collection of strong personalities is Aeryn Sun, a warrior who was once part of the Peacekeepers. Torn by the dishonour of flight and her growing new allegiance to her crewmates, she is a strong woman who is more in touch with anger than with any feelings of friendship and affection.

Sun is given life by actress Claudia Black, a face well-known to Australian audiences, but new to viewers in America. In fact, the way things were supposed to go, she would never have been on the show at all. "It was quite an interesting process," Black explains. "Because the show is a co-production of several companies from several countries, all of them involved in the casting, the role of Aeryn was supposed to have been cast in America. At that point, my involvement was just helping other actors at the casting agency with their auditions for the show by reading with them. The casting agent said to me, 'You would be absolutely perfect for this part and it's a pity they're casting it from the States.' And I said, 'Well, can I put something on tape (for the producers to see)?' They said they'd leave the tape with the producers and see what happened."

"Later, while I was in the middle of the Australian desert filming Pitch Black with David Twohy, I got a phone call and they flew me back. They told me that they were going to cast in Sydney and see what would happen. So I auditioned and got the role; starting off as a reader for other actors and going full-circle to get the part was very interesting."

Because it was also a story dealing with space, Pitch Black had given Black her first taste of working in the Science Fiction genre, helping her to adjust to working in a setting where many elements would be added later as opposed to earthbound, contemporary drama. "I remember one scene where I had to run through the desert pretending to be attacked and eaten alive by these furious creatures.

"I felt ridiculous acting like a moron in front of two hundred people. The direction David gave me was very simple, 'If you don't look like you are having an epileptic fit, then it's not working'. So working in this genre requires you to be incredibly brave. The thing I enjoy about Science Fiction, ironically, is that in a way it requires more honesty on the part of the actors since it gives you an opportunity to really be creative. One of the most important and appealing aspects of being an actor is using your imagination and being creative while working with a creative team. It propagates and feeds on itself, creating a more imaginative environment. Anthony Simcoe (D'Argo) and I were standing on the set during the first week of filming and we were about to walk onto the command deck and he said, 'We are about to fulfil a lifelong dream, which is to say, "Pilot, prepare for lift-off".' It's the fulfilment of a childhood dream to be working on a show this firmly rooted in the imagination. I think that all kids pretend to play spaceships when they are young."

A natural extension of creating a whole new world and new races is the show's conspicuous use of animatronics to bring many of the alien characters to life. How difficult is it to work opposite what is essentially a very sophisticated puppet? "The only problems really are physical ones, little simple things. With five people on the set operating Rygel, we can't actually stand as close to him as we could if he were a human performer. But in terms of the character, he is portrayed in a very anthropomorphic way so it is quite easy for me to relate to him. I remember doing my first close-up with him the first week and I couldn't believe how easy I was able to accept that I was having a conversation with someone that actually was controlled by five people. You get used to it, though. It does take up a lot of time on set when you are dealing with special effects and animatronics. As a performer, it is important to give them their time but remain focused despite the gruelling schedule. It is demanding, but it's also fantastic discipline."

The unique conditions of the Farscape set have become so familiar to Black that she almost takes it for granted. "If we had a lot of 'suits' coming on set to look around just because their children love the show, that might prove distracting, but every member of the crew is very supportive and is genuinely crazy about the show. Ben Browder (Commander John Crichton) and I did an episode where we were shooting inside a transport pod. The pod was a very confined space and it was done like a proscenium arch. It was like we were up on a stage and the crew was the audience. It was quite odd -after the close quarters we keep with them all- being separated from the crew and it certainly did feel like we were on display, but that's part of the actor's job.

Despite all the technology necessary to make Moya's adventures real, the producers and cast haven't lost sight of the fact that the characters have to be as dimensional as the most convincing effect. For Black, this meant beginning with a backstory. "The analogy Rockne (O'Bannon, creator and executive producer) gave me about Aeryn was a very powerful one, one that I've carried with me through the series so far -that she is a child, who received no physical contact by the people around her, who has no real concept or understanding of a family unit. When we meet her, she is thrown into an environment where she is forced to deal with a new group which is basically a family. She's a test-tube baby and she has been taught all her life that her emotions must be suppressed and that it is a sign of weakness to show them. So she is really a powerhouse of quite extraordinary emotions and feelings; in the contemporary world we would say that she has an enormous number of issues to deal with. Right now, she's having a crash course in human psychology. She's developing as we watch, a work in progress, really."

"From what I can tell, I wasn't what the writers imagined for the role. I think they had in mind someone slightly younger, a little more naïve and less experienced. But Aeryn is not stupid, even though she hadn't been expected to use her intellect, because in the Peacekeeper race the brawn and muscle run things and the intellectuals -the techs- are considered lower class. I have been encouraging the writers to play, to put some focus on her increasing use of her mind because it's an insult to the audience's intelligence if Aeryn is dumb. As a result, it's a difficult balance to find that naïve quality while imbuing her credibility and strength. She has been blossoming because of her contact with the other characters on the ship and that makes it a wonderful journey to play as an actor."

The specific interactions with Aeryn's surrogate family is something that Black cannot emphasise enough.

"There's an enormous impact. She can't help but be affected by Crichton's human charms. He is a wonderful role model for her, but at the same time is very threatening because he represents the antithesis of everything she was brought up with. They are so polarised in their attitudes and behaviours." She laughs. "I got a note back from the network recently saying that it was nice to see my character finally smile. Poor girl! She does have issues."

She addresses the sexual tension that has developed between the two characters and the unique way in which it is played out because of Aeryn's background.

"The banter between them is very childish, like grade school, because she has no other blueprint or yardstick against which she can measure whether or not her behaviour is appropriate in the situation. I think Crichton knows that and uses it to his advantage. Not in a manipulative way, but I think he understands Aeryn a lot more than she realises. The idea that she might be attracted to him would be utterly repugnant to her. But it's inevitable that she won't be able to hide those emotions once they start to come out, revealing more and more of her attachment to Crichton.

"He is probably the one she relates to the most, but I'm hoping that Aeryn's relationship with D'Argo will develop, too. They have one great similarity -they are both warriors- but D'Argo has issues of his own with the Peacekeepers." When it's pointed out that the relationship between Aeryn and D'Argo seems to be maturing into the same kind of affectionate bickering that defined the interaction between Spock and McCoy in Star Trek, Black agrees. "Yes, it is a lovely dynamic. There's a great example of that in the episode They've Got A Secret."

Working on any television series means backbreaking hard work and long hours, especially when producing a Science Fiction show. Black is understandably proud of Farscape, though, convinced that all the hard work is worth it.

"I feel that when people tune in, they see a hour's worth of feature film quality, something that we're all really excited about. Right now, we've been very lucky with scripts and directors but the episodes that are running are still very early. The shows we're working on now are becoming a lot sleeker and more sophisticated. I think we're able to portray the character dynamics with more clarity. Hopefully, for a young series like ours to have all the positive feedback that we've had indicates that we'll be successful and have some longevity." There is almost a twinkle in Black's eye when she says, "For however long it lasts -to go to work and say, 'Pilot, prepare for lift-off!' and carry around incredibly heavy, impressive-looking guns, and getting to wear black; Could a girl ask for more?"


BACK