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V's new Diana tells us: Will she eat a guinea pig?
Firefly babe Morena Baccarin stars in ABC's upcoming reboot of the alien-invasion miniseries V as the leader of the so-called Visitors, whose name is Anna.
Baccarin wants to make sure you know she's not the same character as Diana, the guinea-pig-munching bitch queen of the original 1983 miniseries, who was memorably played with campy relish by Jane Badler.
Likewise, this V isn't your parents' V, but a "re-imagining" of the old sci-fi miniseries that inspired a second miniseries, a weekly show, a book and 25 years of pent-up demand for another series.
"It completely re-invents the material, actually," Baccarin told us in an exclusive interview last week. "It's a re-imagining of the old one, so it's the same concept. Aliens come down from space. You have the conflict between them and humans. Why are they here? The show in the '80s was more about communism and totalitarianism, and our show plays a little bit more with the terrorist aspect, which is more the reality of the world we're living in now. And the characters are different. I'm not Diana. I play Anna."
The Visitors arrive on Earth proclaiming their desire to befriend mankind, but really want to eat us.
Though Anna's not Diana, she shares certain characteristics. She's got a skin of gorgeousness masking a reptilian body. But unlike Diana, Anna speaks—publicly anyway—in a calm, reassuring voice that hides her true intentions. Anna is entrancing enough to pull the wool over the eyes over countless people, including a TV reporter (Scott Wolf) and the impressionable son (Logan Huffman) of an FBI counter-terrorism agent (Elizabeth Mitchell).
"Anna is somebody who is extremely ambitious and will do whatever needs to be done to secure the continuation of her species," Baccarin said. "So she's come down to Earth, and she's going to do whatever it takes to get people to trust her and to listen to her, so that she can get what she wants. So I'd say she's a very motivated alien."
Sounds like a good politician, actually.
"She knows exactly what to say, what to do," Baccarin concurred. "The aliens seem to play off of what they think human beings want and what they think human beings gravitate toward, like healthcare and peace. There's a line in the pilot about the aliens acting more human than humans, and that's how Anna and her people are going to get what they want, by enacting that, by giving humans what they want and taking advantage of that."
That all sounds great, but what everyone really wants to know is if Anna will chow down on a guinea pig. Fans of V classic vividly remember the squirm-inducing bit in which Diana snacked on a guinea pig, swallowing the sucker in a single gulp.
"Not yet," Baccarin said, laughing. "The writers keep saying that 'We're paying homage to the hallmark moments,' and I don't really know what that means yet. I don't know if that means I have to become very friendly with a [guinea pig]."
The new V isn't without its controversies. There are rumors that production shut down for a time. ABC is breaking its episode order into four-episode pods. Baccarin said that whatever is happening behind the scenes isn't affecting the day-to-day.
"We are kept as in the dark as [the public] is," Baccarin said. "I think that they just want to protect us as much as possible."
V premieres on Nov. 3.
By NATE911111 at 1:28 PM ON 10/22/09
terrorist aspect
lol BATTLESTAR GALACTICA DID IT FIRST!!!!
By 3456 at 1:48 PM ON 10/22/09
Even though it is a remake, I can't wait to
check it out.
By A at 1:52 PM ON 10/22/09
Yes, because BSG invented terrorist aspects in TV shows. Wait i forgot BSG invented TV itself!
By Dj57 at 2:21 PM ON 10/22/09
The thing about V that always gets me, is the idea of having a "nice quiet, maybe even romantic conversation ;WITH YOUR FOOD!!
By MUADIB at 2:40 PM ON 10/22/09
PLEASE!, PLEASE! Let me be morena's guinea pig!!
By divephotog at 2:59 PM ON 10/22/09
Hey... in South America, Guinea pig is a commonly eaten meat... quite good in fact. Only we in the US like to make pets and sexual partners out of them. :D
As for V, I am sure Morenna brings it some credibility, but remain cautious about it until I see it. -kh
By SonicRush at 3:01 PM ON 10/22/09
Yeah, Battle Star Galactica Did Do the terrorist aspect/Occupation 1st. It was a very well done role reversal which mirrored our involvement with Afganistan & Iraq.
Forget the Guinea Pig, there's got to be another animal she can gulp down, like a Tweety Bird or a baby kitten. This show isn't about copying the old, it's about re-inventing it and making it new. At least I hope it is.
By scifi fan at 3:57 PM ON 10/22/09
If anyone is interested, the orginal (or part of it) is on Syfy Sunday. I never saw any of it in 1983 so I will be DVRing (is that the wy to say that?) it most of the day , and then watching the new Pilot on Tuesday. I hope it is not another Defying Gravity kind of disappointment. I do appreciate ABC putting some genre shows on the air and wil be supporting their efforts as I do with all Science Fiction shows on any channel.
By Oberon at 4:42 PM ON 10/22/09
Could be wrong, but didn't NxGn do a terrorist episode?
By MCP-001 at 5:38 PM ON 10/22/09
"Could be wrong, but didn't NxGn do a terrorist episode?"
Pick one:
"The Hunted"
"The High Ground"
"Legacy"
"The Wounded"
"Conundrum"
"Power Play"
"Starship Mine"
or
"Preemptive Strike"
Take your pick.
By Melora at 6:04 PM ON 10/22/09
And don't forget Deep Space 9 never shyed away from terrorism either.
Baccarin's "Anna" character sounds like a combination of Diana and John (the Visitor's leader on Earth) from the original. As for being unlike Diana by speaking in a calm entrancing voice and being able to pull the wool over people's eyes like a TV reporter, that's exactly what Diana did in the original (who can forget her semi-homoerotic machinations towards TV reporter Kristine Walsh, or the silky voiced way she conditioned humans during her evil "mind conversion" processes?).
The original guinea pig scene was good at the time, but looks so fake now (and she already ate a tweety bird as well when she bit its head off!). I think the new V has a lot of promise, but I think it needs something equally shocking for this Anna character to do if she's to fill the boots of the series' main villain and Jane Badler is going to be a tough act to follow.
By Kevin at 6:06 PM ON 10/22/09
"The aliens seem to play off of what they think human beings want and what they think human beings gravitate toward, like healthcare and peace."
And add to that a Messiah cult of devoted young followers.
Where could they have gotten this idea?
By Praetor ShinzonII at 7:50 PM ON 10/22/09
Morena is delectable herself but I think ABC will eject it at the first opportunity. Think, advertising $ not rushing in to cover costs. Just thinking....
By Gilveron at 8:10 PM ON 10/22/09
I have to admit I was initially pissed and ready to call "boycott" when I heard ABC was remaking V, because I knew that original V creator Kenny Johnson was also working on a new V miniseries, and had been since 2003. But after reading Johnson's book, "V: The Second Generation," which was drawn from his script, I must say I'm glad ABC is taking the re-imagining angle, because the book was, sadly, awful. It literally read like a 1980s miniseries, and that just won't fly in 2009. I am waiting to see if ABC's new V is worth the hype, or equally as disappointing.
By joesocwork at 10:11 PM ON 10/22/09
It still sounds like the remaking V to me, no matter how they gussy it up for the age. At least the villianness in the pictures make me think of Audrey Hepburn and Audrey Tautou! :D
By Yerr_Mum at 6:53 AM ON 10/23/09
Just don't fuck it up
By SethSJ at 11:25 AM ON 10/23/09
I remember the old hebrew guy from the first mini-series mentioning "V" standing for "Victory." That's probably why the previews have that song: "We shall be Victorious." It's an okay song.
By Danyael at 11:52 AM ON 10/23/09
If Anna is the new Diana, then who's the new Mike Donovan???
By Tricky at 1:47 PM ON 10/23/09
As long as there is NO half human half alien lizard girl with magic powers to save the day, I'm happy.
By andrew at 8:12 AM ON 10/24/09
the new diana reminds me of the (arch villan) character of 'Servelan' in the 1970s BBC sci-fi show 'Blakes 7'
By Jersey_Devil at 2:13 PM ON 10/27/09
LOVED Jacqueline Pearce as Servelan! And that's an excellent observation, Andrew - Morena Baccarin's Anna looks almost exactly like Servelan, down to the page-boy hairdo. That might explain Servelan's desire to take over the Federation - was SHE a visitor too?
By Radar939 at 5:03 PM ON 10/27/09
In the second picture of the article the actor behind Morena's left shoulder played a rather sadistic serial murderer in an NCIS episode. Not much of a stretch to a human-eating alien.
By to old at 3:13 PM ON 10/28/09
to many remakes. these youngn' need to start being original. use their brains, stop using someone else's original and giving it a little tweek here and there.
By Jason at 3:05 PM ON 10/30/09
To Old,
Kennth Johnson, the creator of the original 'V' wrote the first 5 episodes of the reboot.
By razkal at 11:48 PM ON 10/30/09
Duping people by promising them healthcare and peace, while hiding a totalitarian agenda. That does sound topical. And socially relevant. And far too real for the MSM
By kyle at 8:24 AM ON 10/31/09
There a lots of comments about how could they re imagine V or its never gonna be as good..hmmmm seem to remember the same comments for TNG and BSG and the new star trek...as a kid watched both V and BSG and Thought they were the best thing on TV, re watched when I got older and man dated fast..open your minds up people bsg was an amazing ride (except the finale, starbuck an angel wtf) and Looking forward to V and Morena (although I am re imaging her with long hair, she was hot in firefly)
By knoxvilledaniel at 6:33 PM ON 10/31/09
I hope they have a version of the Ham Tyler character like the original. He was ONE BAD -ASS M*F* ! MMMP !!
Just don't do gender - swapping if they have any of the original characters ( Like BSG's Boomer or Starbuck ), or if they do, make it good.
In this version, they're supposed to be proselytizing for their religion, too ? For the One True Reptilian God ? At least I read something about a religious element in the re - make / re - imagining. Stargate SG 1 did that with the Ori characters in the last season.
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knoxvilledaniel:
I hope they have a version of the Ham Tyler character like the original. He was ONE BAD -ASS M*F* ! MMMP !! Just d...More »