thanks to onion for the article ;)

Some of the words used by this article may be objectionable by some people. Skip to the questions if you do.

LesbiaNation

Original Valerie
Dark Angel's Sapphic Action
By Claudia Miller

First it was Tara and Willow on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” who titillated lesbian viewers on Tuesday nights with their will-they-or-won’t-they sexual tension last season. This year, now that the happy couple has settled into handholding, demon-killing dates with the rest of the “Scooby gang,” lesbian viewers can sink deeper into their couches for even more Sapphic action with a flick of their remote at 9PM to Fox’s new series “dark angel.”

This futuristic post-apocalyptic drama, created by the mastermind of superheroine female movie characters (think Sigourney Weaver/Alien, Linda Hamilton/Terminator and, well, if you have to, Kate Winslet/Titanic), James Cameron, features smoking hot Jessica Alba as Max, a genetically altered bionic woman on the run from the secret government agency who created her. Starring next to Alba is Valerie Rae Miller as Original Cindy, Max’s best friend…and unapologetic dyke.

Miller, who was born in Lafayette, Louisiana and raised in Ft. Worth, Texas, got her start while she was still in high school by starring in a series of high profile Radio Shack commercials. After college, she quickly began working as a host on Reebok’s PETV athletics series, then Fox’s pre-game baseball show, “In the Zone,” and for the past three years, on ABC’s “One Saturday Morning” kids program. Obviously her turn on “dark angel” as the take-no-prisoners lesbian sidekick to Max has taken Miller’s career in an exciting new direction, a challenge that she has embraced with open arms.

LesbiaNation caught up with Miller by phone on her rare day off in Vancouver, where “dark angel” is filmed, to chat about playing gay on the small screen and whether or not Max and Cindy are ever going to fulfill our dreams and get it on:

First let me say congratulations on the success of “dark angel.” The show’s been getting great buzz. Are you going to have a second season?
If things continue the way they are, I think there’s a really good chance because the show is doing phenomenally well. I mean Jess is on the cover of TV Guide, and we haven’t even been on a full season yet.

Did you have any qualms in the beginning about playing Original Cindy, who is a lesbian?
No, not at all. That’s what was funny. They cast the role twice before I got hired. They made an offer once to a performer, and she was concerned about playing a lesbian. Then they made the offer to somebody else who’s primarily a model, and it was the same thing. Then when we were in contract negotiations, they were like, “Well, we just want to make sure she understands that the character is a lesbian, so at some point in time she will probably have to kiss another woman.” I was like…and?? How many guys have I had to kiss that I really didn’t want to kiss? And at least if it’s a girl, she’ll probably be hot! So where’s the problem?

During the pilot episode there was no drama about your character being gay...
And there won’t be any. It’s just a part of her identity just like anything.

Did you try to approach playing her differently as a gay woman as opposed to a straight woman?
No not at all. But Cindy’s a different kind of person altogether. She’s very direct, and she is kind of tough. So that in itself gives her a different edge than a lot of characters that I would’ve played in the past. The way she does things is a little different. Like if she was coming on to a guy that way, they’d probably be like “whoa.” But that’s just her.

The name Original Cindy, is a play on Original Sin right? Where did that come from?
I think all of the characters names have some element of description in them that suits their personality. I think because Original Cindy is such a sexual character, that maybe that’s why they did it that way.

And I actually read something in a book; let me see if I can find it. There is a quote in Conversations with God about the phrase Original Sin. “Original Sin is when your first thought about a thing is an error; that error is compounded many times over when you have a second or third thought about a thing, and from this your supposed to inspire a new understanding which can free you from mistakes.”

You automatically assume she’s going to be a certain way, because even in the pilot, the first time you ever see Original Cindy she’s cussing--she’s talking about beating somebody’s ass, which is so funny because I think that as the show goes on, she’s one of the most well-developed characters on television. I get to do so many different things as a part of her.

Cindy is always macking on the girls…is there any plan to give her a steady girlfriend?
We’ve been talking about that. Because the way the producers do the show--with a lot of collaboration--we all have input. And so I’ve been having discussions basically since we came on about what I thought Cindy’s girlfriend would be like. I think it’s definitely going to happen, it’s just a matter of who and when.

Of course you know what all your lesbian viewers really want?
What do they…oh! Me and Max? Everybody keeps asking me that!

What, you’re never going to hook up?
I don’t know. You know that’s kind of weird because that’s like your best friend. In my eyes, I think of Max as more like a sister for Cindy. But I can understand that, and she’s hot, so I can see where that comes from.

Did you get to work much with James Cameron?
James is like The Wizard almost. Like you get these words from him…every so often you’ll talk to him and then he has his idea, and it’s always something specific, what he wants you to know about what you’re doing. You wind up having these discussions with him, and you’re like Ohhh…OK.

Do you find “dark angel” is rigorous to shoot?
It’s really hard, because it’s really like shooting a feature every eight days. I have friends who are on different hour-long shows, and nobody’s show is as involved as this. For instance, there are action sequences like one in an episode coming up that’s a three-page action sequence and in a feature, that’d be almost a month.

How is it working with Jessica Alba?
She’s my bud. She’s really cool. We laugh so much. We get along really well. She’s a normal person.

How are both of you coping with becoming sex idols?
It’s harder for her than for me. Because I can still float around and not have people spot me. People will look at me and go, “god you look familiar,” and they don’t quite get it.

Jess is kind of the same way; people have come on the set and not even known it’s her. They’re like, “Where’s that ‘dark angel’ girl?”—talking to her! But now, because she’s been on all these magazine covers, she almost got mobbed the other day, and she’s a little wigged out about it. It’ll be really interesting to see the stories she comes back with after the Christmas break.

I understand you’re also working on the ABC’s “One Saturday Morning”? Quite an interesting mix, doing the Saturday morning kids thing and then “dark angel.”
Definitely, but see, I love it like that, because it’s not the same. And it’s also funny because people always put you in a box, whatever you do. By me doing so many different things, it kind of eliminates that.

What’s next for you?
I don’t know! I have a lot of goals. I’m so particular about what I do, and what I don’t want to do. I would like to do features, but only certain types of features. I don’t have to do something just to be doing it. I’ll do some more hosting stuff because I really like that—but it’s got to be the right stuff. I kind of like the way Oprah’s done things.