Out of the blue, Claudia Black's vixen Vala returns to Stargate SG-1 - with child
Claudia Black had a secret, and she didn't know how her bosses would react. Earlier this season, the Australian actress burst onto "Stargate SG-1" as saucy intergalactic thief Vala, a bodacious babe who immediately clicked with viewers. The former "Farscape" siren vamped it up while series regular Amanda Tapping was on maternity leave tending to her infant daughter. But then Black herself announced, "I'm pregnant."
"I was so worried the producers were going to be disappointed," says Black, who hoped to return for more episodes. As it turned out, Black's pregnancy couldn't have come at a better time. Executive producer Robert Cooper told her he'd been toying with the idea of bringing Vala back this winter, and using pregnancy as a way of creating a new villian.
Claudia, who gave birth to a son in December, "adds a new dynamic to Stargate," Cooper says. "As an alien outsider, she creates a different chemistry among the team." Most notably: the Tracy-Hepburn banter-fueled releationship between Vala and scientist Daniel Jackson (Michael Shanks). "I don't think the teasing will ever stop," Black says. "He's such an easy target." The actress, who'll be joining her former Farscape love interest Ben Browder as a regular on SG-1 next season, says it's fun to play the "naughty inner child" for a change. "Vala's grating, frustrating, irritating, but she's equally delightful. On Farscape, I was the tragedienne. Here I'm the comedian."
But comedy's in short supply in this week's episode, which finds Vala trapped in a village run be religious fanatics. When a recently celibate Vala learns she's mystifyingly with child, she marries a kindly local man (Tim Guiness) after folling him into believing he's the baby's father. "It's an interesting turn for Vala - she genuinely cares for the man," Claudia says. "She does something wrong, but she must in order to survive. Kind of like Jessica Rabbit - I'm not bad, I'm just born that way."