From The Scifi World
by Staff on September 26, 2007
Karen Cliche has had leading roles on several television series, including Mutant X, Young Blades, Adventure Inc., Galidor, Vampire High, The Business and MTV's Undressed. She has made guest appearances on the SCI FI Original series The Dresden Files, 'Til Death Do Us Part, Big Wolf on Campus and Aaron Spelling's All Souls. Cliche has starred in the feature films Summer and Riders, and in the Lifetime telefilms Flirting With Danger and I Do (But I Don't).
In the new Flash Gordon TV show, she plays Baylin, a bounty hunter. As dangerous as she is beautiful, Baylin joins Flash and Dale on Earth as they battle the evil forces of Mongo.
Gilles Nuytens:
Flash Gordon, how many episodes
have you already shot?
Karen Cliche: We are starting episode 13 tomorrow,
so half-way through.
Gilles
Nuytens: After a
few episodes of Flash Gordon, did the storylines of
the show meet your expectations?
Karen Cliche: I think they got a
lot better and I think the whole cast is really happy
about the scripts that are coming out, for several
reasons: the stories are getting better, the writers
are getting to know our characters and as actors what
we can do best, and what our forte’s are, so
we’re really happy with the scripts and the
development of the characters and where things are
going and we just… we’re filming an episode
right now where there’s a big twist that happens
and we’re like “NO THIS IS TOO SOON
I can’t believe this person finds out about
Mongo!” and they do so that’s interesting,
half way through the series there’s a big change,
a big twist in the show. We’re really happy
about that, they’re taking it into a really
exciting direction, and I like where my character
is going so that’s good.
Gilles Nuytens: Do
you already have an idea on how the show will evolve
in the future?
Karen Cliche: Oh we have no idea, we have no idea.
You know, at first everyone was saying this love triangle
and all this stuff circling around Flash with the
girls, and now there isn’t much emphasis on
that anymore. There are some episodes that do, but
who knows, it really depends on how many seasons we
go, if we only go one then obviously I think the show
will take a certain direction. We have absolutely
no idea, and I don’t want to know. I don’t
know how the other casts feel about it, but I really
don’t want to know, because as an actor you
want it to be as real as possible. In your real life,
you don’t know what’s going to happen
tomorrow, so I really like that to happen with my
character, I want to be surprised, and I want to live
the real life through my character, and experience
the same things and the newness of it.
Gilles Nuytens: What
are your expectations for the future of Baylin?
Karen Cliche: I think I’d really like to see
her incorporate herself more and more into Earth,
because right now she’s pretty sheltered, she
stays with Flash all the time, you don’t really
see her interact on a wide range on Earth with a lot
of strangers, in real life situations that could be
very funny and very awkward. And actually this next
episode we’re filming, Baylin and Nick, Flash’s
best friend, have a long time together alone and it’s
just so funny, I can’t wait to shoot those scenes,
it’s really funny. You know we’d seen
her do the bounty hunter thing, we’d seen that
she can fight, that she can protect, but I want to
see her in funnier, more awkward situations on Earth,
so that’s where I hope that’s going. And
who knows what will happen with her love life, but
that could be very interesting, her being with someone
from Earth. So I don’t know, I want to see her
more on Earth, and how she gets along there.
Gilles
Nuytens: Have you
already heard some feedback of Baylin from the fans?
Karen Cliche: So far I’m so
lucky, the fans are really responding well to her,
they think she’s cool. I mean a lot of my fans
throughout the years have been young girls who really
appreciate and look up to these characters that I
play, the strong female characters, and I think Baylin
is no exception to that, I think that more people
will come on board and be fans of hers, because she’s
quite charming in very strange ways. I think the reaction
has been good so far, and I’m really happy about
that. The show has its mixed reviews but I think that
if people keep giving it a chance, every character
is going to be more and more loved and appreciated
by the fans, I hope so anyway.
Gilles Nuytens: I
have read a lot of criticism about the show. Are you
aware of that and what do you think?
Karen Cliche: Yeah we are, and you
know what, it’s funny because I had done some
sci-fi and a lot of genre stuff before this, so I
knew what to expect. I think the other cast members
maybe were a little bit optimistic and maybe even
naïve about it, but I was holding my breath,
not because I didn’t believe in the show, but
because I knew that when you take something that people
have known about and loved for so long, and you re-do
it, it’s like your mother’s favorite recipe
and someone does it but changes all these things in
it, people get angry, I know I do, and so at first
there’s a resistance to it and all you want
to do is criticize it, and sure it may have its fault,
but I think as the episodes get better, I think that
if people stop criticizing it for what they think
it should have been and just look at it for what it
is, I think they may learn to enjoy it more than they
are. And some people are, of course the negative is
always what’s heard the loudest. You know I’m
used to this, I’m used of shows being trashed
and spoken of negatively, but I think people will
get used to it and will learn to love it more.
