New Clip and Interview with ‘V’ star Morena Baccarin

In a couple of weeks ABC Television will air its remake of the 80s sci-fi hit V. Audiences are all crossing their fingers and hoping that this remake is much better than the past couple of attempts by television studios (Knight Rider, Bionic Woman). Right now, all hopes of success are resting on the shoulders of one vaguely known actress: Morena Baccarin. If you look at all of the marketing leading up to the November 3^rd premiere one face sticks out looking down on the city on the bottom of a huge inter-galactic spaceship and it’s Anna (Baccarin).

For an actress that only has a handful of TV shows under her belt (Firefly, Stargate:SG-1) and two movies (Serenity, Stolen Lives), she sure does have a lot to live up to. She seems to be up to the challenge though and is handling all the press in stride. Recently, Christopher John Farley at Speakeasy, a new blog extension of the Wall Street Journal, had the opportunity to sit down with Morena Baccarin and talk to her about her upcoming role as Anna in V.

Baccarin was a fan of the original 1983 series when it was first on, even though she was a mere four years old, and Farley asks her about that and why the V story worth re-telling:

“I was in Brazil so we got it a few years after the U.S. got it. I remember being with my brother on the couch and watching it and being petrified. Like when one of the Vs peels off her skin. When I got the part [of Anna] I went back and YouTubed the show and watched some scenes and it was as creepy as I remembered. [Why is the story worth re-telling?] Because we’re all interested in life outside of Earth. We all have a fascination with what’s out there because we don’t really know. The storyline lends itself to explore a lot of things-like fear, and blind devotion and terrorism. ”

OK, so she was at least seven or so when the V first came out in Brazil; that makes more sense. My four year old runs out of the room when Oscar the Grouch comes on the screen; I can’t see him sitting through a woman ripping off her flesh to reveal the leathery green lizard skin beneath. She does bring up an interesting point about “blind devotion and terrorism.”

Watch this new clip from the show below and see if you recognize the blind devotion she refers to:

Right now, terrorism is a hot topic and relevant to current world political trends but how does V incorporate that into the show?

“In the pilot, there’s a sleeper cell of aliens. There’s this idea that friends and neighbors may not be who they say they are – that there are evil people living in the community.”

Sounds a lot like what is actually happening in America now; so at least the writers are trying to remain relevant. Time will tell if that is a plot device that actually works or if audiences are wanting to tune out from the world around them, not be reminded of it in a sci-fi show.

Farley continues on and asks the question most people are curious about: “Which animal are you going to eat?” He is of course referencing the scene where Diana (Jane Balder) swallows a whole live guinea pig.

“I haven’t had to eat anything like that in any episode we’ve shot so far. But I’ve been told to brace myself. I was asked by the producer if I have any issues with rodents.”

A rodent is a very vague reference; for all she knows the producers are planning to have her chow down on a capybara (the world’s largest rodent). I for one would tune in to watch that. Morena sort of suffers from the same curse fellow Firefly star Nathan Fillion does – all her shows end after a handful of episodes. We all know what happened to Firefly and she managed to get onto Stargate:SG-1 during its final season.

Morena Baccarin may have to wait for another chance for a long running show if ABC doesn’t get its act together with V. Back in August production shut down on the sci-fi show and last month the studio announced it would be splitting the show into two mini-seasons – four episodes now and the rest after the holiday break. Oh well, it’s a shame really, because she is a talented and beautiful actress and deserves to have a show run for a couple of seasons or longer.

To read the entire interview click here.

Do you plan on watching the V remake next month? And what rodent do you think Morena Baccarin should eat?

V debuts on ABC November 3rd, 2009 at 8pm EST/7pm CST.

Source: Speakeasy