Visión 2525 (Xposé
número 43), Entrevista con Victoria Pratt por
Steven Eramo.
La traducción de esta entrevista es cortesía
de Gonzalo.
La versión en inglés del artículo
original está más
abajo.
Victoria Pratt es Sarge en Cleopatra 2525, demostrando
una gran fuerza de resistencia en su papel.
Steven Eramo la desafío a una contienda de
lucha libre, y perdio.
Hace mucho tiempo, en 1969, Zager y Evans compusieron
una canción llamada:En el año 2525
habrá un deprimente futuro para la humanidad.
Justo en el mismo año que la cansino empieza
a ser escuchada, la nueva serie de acción y
aventuras Cleopatra 2525, Sugiere el mismo
tema.
Criaturas monstruosas le ponen reglas a la superficie
de la tierra, y los seres humanos son dirigidos bajo
la tierra con el propósito de sobrevivir.
Tristemente la mayoría de la humanidad ha
abandonado sus esperanzas para reclamar la superficie
de la tierra, pero hay algunos individuos valientes
que no se atreven a abandonar el intento de recuperar
su tierra. Uno de ellos es Sarge una valiente,
temible, y resistente luchadora que comparte sus aventuras
con dos otros fuertes y hermosas guerreras, Hel y
Cleopatra, ¡para patear algunos traseros!
La actriz Canadiense Victoria Pratt quiere que su
personaje sea mas que solo una insensible maquina
de demoler con una mente para pensar en una sola cosa.
La personalidad de Sarge es también muy modificada
por su pasado. Ella vio su mundo entero desprenderse
cuando era una niña y escapo en el ámbito
subterráneo cuando no sabía nada e hizo
todo lo que debía hacer para lograr escapar.
Luego cuando ella fue encadenada junto con Hel (Gina
Torres) esta le dio a ella una razón para permanecer
viva y la idea que,
"Sí, podemos pelear contra los mutantes,
podemos volver a la superficie", por eso creo
que Sarge verdaderamente la respeta por animarla a
vivir otra vez. Ellas tienen una relación especial,
como hermanas, y porque pelean por un mismo propósito.
Constantemente dependen una de la otra para mantenerse
ocultas.
En 1998, Pratt fue una estrella invitada como Cyane,
reina de las amazonas en las dos partes de Xena warrior
princess(princesa guerrera) del episodio Adventure
in the sin trade, el rendimiento de la actriz impresiono
al productor ejecutivo Robert Tapert y le dio un papel
de Sarge en Cleopatra 2525.
"Cyane es forzada a diambular en la tierra de
los muertos después que Xena (Lucy Lawless)
la asesina a ella y a sus compañeras amazonas.
"Esta fue la primera vez que tuve que jugar
un papel que no me proporcionaba alegría o
felicidad y es probable que haya disfrutado el final
solo porque era lo mas lejano a mi personalidad.Yo
soy un poco chiflada."
"Mi primera reacción para la mayoría
de las cosas, es de risa, pero no hubo nada de eso
en el personaje de Cyane.
No había nada mas en su alma y fue un desafío
jugar ese papel. Irónicamente a Pratt cuando
le ofrecieron el contrato ella no acepto, porque anteriormente
la habían ofrecido un proyecto en una película
de rasgo".
Sin embargo, unos días antes de empezar a
sacarse fotos para el proyecto anterior se decidio
por aceptar el de Robert Tapert.
"Por eso llame a mi agente en Los Angeles y
le pregunte:¿Han empezado el casting para el
papel de Sarge? No, no lo habían empezado,
por eso conseguí ese papel".
"Por este motivo tengo mucha suerte de que las
cosas hayan cambiado".
Dos días después la actriz estaba viajando
a Nueva Zelanda para empezar a filmar en Cleopatra
2525. Ella actúa con gran diversión
todas las escenas que ella y la co-protagonista Gina
Torres filman.
"Gina y yo llegamos al set preparadas para filmar.
El actor estaba planeando la escena para ellas dos
y les dijo:"un robot entrara a la habitación
y ustedes le disparan" Gina y yo nos miramos
y la dijimos:
"De acuerdo le disparamos", ¿pero...
con qué?, nuestro coordinador de efectos especiales
Peter Bell, que puede hacer que cualquier cosa luzca
perfecta, puso unas guanteletes sobre nuestras armaduras
y dijo:
"Solo usen sus brazos como armas" Fue muy
divertido.
Luego nos llevamos bien con el, de hecho, demasiado
bien.
"En la siguiente escena nuestras instrucciones
fueron: Un gran enjambre de mutantes esta atacando,
y vosotros debéis detenerlo, Acción!!!
Entonces yo y Gina fuimos afuera y lo hicimos.
Al otro día nuestro co-productor ejecutivo
Erig (Cruendemann) vio las filmaciones y puso todos
los efectos especiales.
Esa tarde nos dijo:vosotros sabéis, estos
efectos de láser cuestan miles de dólares,
entonces el primer día estabamos trabajando
con efectos especiales, Gina y yo nos dijimos: lo
sentimos pero no tenemos ni la mas mínima idea,
lo sabes?
Luego nos aseguramos de apuntar a nuestro enemigo
, se rió ,Las primeras semanas de filmación
fueron de aprendizaje, y gracias a dios todo el mundo
fue muy paciente con nosotras.
Sarge y Hel se reunieron con Cleopatra (Jennifer
Sky) en un episodio.
Cuando es Sarge introducida en un ataque por un robot,
Hel debe encontrar su otro ayudante.
"La relación de Sarge con Cleopatra es
levemente forzada"dice la actriz.
En primer lugar Sarge encuentra a Cleopatra en un
impedimento.
Es suficiente difícil intentar permanecer
vivo, sin tener que preocuparse por buscar a esa extraña
mujer.
El entusiasmo de Pratt para Cleopatra 2525 es evidente
y ella planea hacer todo lo que pueda para ayudar.
"Con este show tenemos la oportunidad de hacer
algo único,y verdaderamente esperamos que sea
así".
Versión
original en Inglés:
2525 Vision (Xposé issue 43), interview by
Steven Eramo.
Starring as Sarge in Cleopatra 2525
Victoria Pratt is keen to bring a likeable toughness
to the role. Steven Eramo challenged her to an arm
wrestling contest. And lost.
ZAGER AND Evans, way back in 1969,
wrote a song called In The Year 2525 that foretells
a bleak future for humankind.
Set in the same year as the song's
opening lyrics, the new action-adventure series Cleopatra
2525 suggests the same thing. Monstrous creatures
known as the Bailies rule the surface of the Earth
and humans have been driven underground in order to
survive.
Sadly, most of humanity has abandoned
any hope of ever reclaiming the surface, but there
are some courageous individuals who will never stop
trying to do so. One of them is Sarge, a spirited,
no-nonsense, fearless resistance fighter who teams
up with two other strong and beautiful warriors, Hel
and Cleopatra, to kick some Bailey ass! While Sarge
could easily give Rambo and the Terminator a run for
their money, Canadian actress Victoria Pratt wants
her character to be more than just an unemotional
demolition machine with a one-track mind.
"When you're playing a really
tough female character the danger exists to make her
very one-note and the last thing in the world I wanted
Sarge to be was a meathead," laughs Pratt. "I
mean, you'll watch some actresses in similar roles
and all they bring to their performance is physical
strength and/ or just meanness. I want there to be
a few different levels to Sarge. She can be lusty,
angry, funny and so much more, and I didn't want to
sacrifice a thing when making her tough as nails.
Certainly the biggest challenge, though, is keeping
her a bit vulnerable and sensitive, but only a little
bit."
"Sarge's personality is also
very much dictated by her past. She saw her whole
world ripped apart when she was a kid and escaped
into this subterranean realm she knew nothing of and
did whatever she had to do to get by. Then when she
hooked up with Hel [Gina Torres], this gave her a
reason for staying alive and the idea that,
'Yeah, we can fight the Bailies.
We can take back the surface.' So I think Sarge reallv
respects Hal for helping her turn her life around.
They have a special relationship, much like sisters,
and, because they're fighting for the same cause,
constantly depend on one another to save each other's
hides."
In 1998, Pratt guest-starred as Cyane,
Queen of the Amazons, in the two-part Xena: Warrior
Princess episode Adventures in the Sin Trade. The
actress's performance impressed series executive producer
Robert Tapert so much that he wrote the part of Sarge
in Cleopatra 2525 for her.
"Cyane is forced to wander the
Land of the Dead after Xena [Lucy Lawless] kills her
and her fellow Amazons, so needless to say she's pretty
bitter," notes the actress. "This was the
first time I ever had to play a character that felt
no joy or happiness, and it's probably the one I enjoyed
the least only because it was the farthest from my
true personality. I'm a bit of a nut. My first reaction
to most things is laughter, but there was none of
that with Cyane. She couldn't even feel despair because
there was no chance of things getting better, you
know?
There was nothing left in her soul
and it was a challenge to play that. Rob told me that
he liked Cyane's strength and the physicality I brought
to the role and it was because of this that he developed
the character of Sarge with me in mind, which I thought
was very nice of him."
Ironically, when Pratt was initially
offered the part of Sarge she had to turn it down
because of a prior commitment to a feature film project.
As fate would have it, however, funding fell through
a few days before principal photography was due to
begin on the movie. "So I called my agent in
Los Angeles and asked, 'Have they begun casting yet
for Sarge?' They hadn't and I got the part. So I'm
really fortunate that things turned out the way they
did."
Two days later, the actress was on
a plane for New Zealand to begin work on Cleopatra
2525. She recalls with great amusement the very first
scene she and co-star Gina Torres filmed for the episode
Home. "Gina and I arrived on the set in
our costumes all ready to go.
The director was setting up the action
for us and explained to us, 'A Betrayer robot is going
to walk into the room and you shoot him.' Gina and
I looked at each other puzzled and then at him and
said,
'OK, we shoot him... but with what?'
Our stunt co-ordinator Peter Bell, who can make anything
look cool, pointed to the gauntlets on our arms and
said, 'Just use your arm like a cannon.' If only you
could have seen us trying to pretend that laser blasts
were coming out of these things. It was pretty funny.
"Of course, then we got good
at it. In fact, too good, " chuckles Pratt. "In
the next scene our instructions were, 'A big swarm
of mutants is attacking from atop this ledge and you've
got to take them out! Action!' So Gina and I fired
away - barn, barn, barn! The next day, our co-executive
producer Erig [Cruendemann] looked at the rushes and
then had all the laser effects put in. That afternoon,
he told us, 'Just so you know, those laser blasts
cost a thousand dollars a pop.' We ended up going
thousands of dollars over-budget on the very first
day! Gina and I said, 'jeez, we're sorry, 'but we
had no idea, you know? Now we make sure to aim at
the enemy," she laughs. "The first few weeks
of filming were a big learning curve and,thank God,
everyone was very patient and supportive."
Hel and Sarge meet up with Cleopatra
(Jennifer Sky) in the show's pilot episode Quest
for Firepower. When Sarge is injured in an attack
by a Betrayer robot, Hel must find her another kidney.
They visit a reliable but shifty dealer of body parts
who has just acquired a supply of cryogenically frozen
humans from the 20th Century, including Cleopatra.
Hel finds a suitable donor for Sarge and programs
the computer to perform the operation. Sarge barely
has time to recover from the surgery when the Betrayer
robot bursts into the room. Much to Sarge's dismay,
Hel decides to take the now-revived Cleopatra with
them as they make their escape from the Betrayer.
"Sarge's relationship with Cleo
is slightly strained," says the actress. "At
first, Sarge finds Cleopatra a hindrance. It's hard
enough trying to stay alive without having to worry
about looking after this strange woman. She gets in
the way, doesn't know her way around the underground
and, in essence, is a danger to their cause. Hel,
however, sees Cleopatra as a link to the past and
thinks she can help them defeat the Bailies, so to
keep the peace she sometimes has to act as mediator
between her and Sarge. As the series goes on, Sarge
does share a few close moments with Cleopatra and
the two finally begin to bond. I think their growing
friendship as well as the dynamic between the three
women helps keep things interesting."
Helping our trio of heroines develop
weapons to use in their fight against the Bailies
is Mauser (Patrick Kake), a handsome android that
is fully functional in every way except one.
"He's not programmed for sex,"
says Pratt. "So it kind of becomes Hel's mission,
but definitely Sarge's, to see if they can get a response
out of Mauser, if you know what I mean. Because we
know it's in all probability impossible, it makes
it all the more fun to try. Patrick is so adorable
and good-natured about the whole thing. We're constantly
teasing him on the set and he gets a kick out of it."
The very nature of Cleopatra 2525
as a series requires all three of its stars to do
a number of physical stunts. In Quest for Firepower
alone, Pratt has to run, roll, do backwards flips
and lie across the tops of three moving barrels while
'firing' laser blasts from her gauntlets. Fortunately,
the actress has trained as an athlete from the time
she was a youngster and is a blue belt in Shotokan
karate, both of which come in handy when doing such
scenes.
"When I first saw that barrel
stunt in the script I thought, 'I'll never be able
to do that in a million years.' Then I watched one
of the stunt people run, jump stomach-down on the
barrels and just go along for the ride. I thought,
'That's not too hard.' So I took it slow the first
time and then did one full out for the cameras.
Most of the time it's just getting
over that initial fear. Once you have it in your head
that you can do something, then you usually can. I
try to approach my stunts as if I were a kid because
I'm not doing anything that I didn't do and love when
I was a child.
"Keep in mind, too, that as
Sarge I do a lot of things on television that most
women don't. I bare my teeth, I grunt, I get into
it. I realise that I may not look the prettiest when
I'm doing my action stuff but I think it's more convincing.
My feeling is I can sacrifice the glamour shots because
in the long run it's going to look better if I just
go for it, so that's what I do," says the actress.
Pratt's enthusiasm for Cleopatra
2525 is obvious and she plans to do all she can to
help it succeed. "With this show we've been given
the opportunity to do something really unique and
we're really, hoping it'll catch on." |
