Gigi Edgely - Chiana - from SFX magazine. Interview by Chuck Wagner
Gigi Edgely has recently discovered something intriguing about her name, the irony of which would not be lost on her sex-obsessed screen alter ego, Chiana. Before appearing at the Burbank Farscape con, Edgely and Claudia Black had a break in Mexico’s Puerta Vallata. While there she discovered hat ‘chi-chi’ means breasts (in a way that’s usually accompanied by a leering male with two cupped hands).
“A boy in Mexico asked my name’ she recalls ‘ and I said ‘Gigi’ Chi-chi!’ he squealed ‘Chi-chi! Chi-chi!”
Revelation time; the fun-loving, little grey alien with the voracious libido that is Chiana is in some ways almost a toned down version of the vivacious ball of energy that is Gigi Edgely. Okay, so she’s not quite as nympho, but she has a hearty, Carry On-style way with innuendo and a voracious love of life that translates into an avalanche of ideas, thoughts, passions and desires that tumble from her mouth in rapid and overlapping succession.
So, first question: was Claudia able to keep up with her during their jaunt to Mexico?
“Ooooh, let me think about that a little bit,” she says, her girlish squeal pinched with embarrassment “Oh, my she’s not much fun at all… CENSORED!” She slaps her hand over her mouth and gives a look of mock guilt. Of course, Mexico begets drinking, which leads to the inevitable question: who ate the worm at the bottom of the mescal bottle?
“Oh, you know, I ate the worm…which worm? Oh, that worm!” she laughs. She’s spotted an innuendo opportunity, and goes all mock coy. “I mean, I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’ll have to ask Claudia.” (Asked for a comment, Claudia Black says ‘I leave it to your imagination what happened to the worm.’)
So. Anyway, onto business. Why does Ben Browder – both on the show and in life – call her Pip?
“It’s pretty much an in-joke. You should speak to Ben about it. It was very funny, because he didn't know that was my nick' when I was a kid. I also used to sleepwalk a lot when I was a child. But recently, Clau’ and I had a night on the town in Puerto Vallata, and when we got back I went to sleep on the sofa bed. But I woke up in Clau’s bed! And I thought, what’s going on here? Like when you wake up at home and you see something and are shocked. So I thought ‘Wow, I must’ve carried on last night.’ I’m like ‘The springs were nice, eh!”
Er, and we only asked about her nickname. But Edgely didn’t begin as a celebrity… “I’d done a three year Bachelor of Arts course from Queensland University of Technology Academy of the Arts’ she explains, describing her 1998 BA degree.
“We moved to Sydney – five actors and musicians in a three bedroom house – ‘cos a lot of shows are cast in Sydney. Everyone goes to Sydney ‘cos that’s where you step up or you step sideways. I got a couple of gigs on a series called Water Rats and some guest runs or other series, which was fantastic! Then, literally, the part of Chiana turned up on my door.”
Up until Chiana, Edgely had mainly been cast as ‘virginal, girl-next-door types… and then Chiana came along and it’s like ‘Let’s play!’ You’ve got this license to do things you’re not allowed to do in real life.” Like flame-throwing a guy in “The Hidden Memory”
“It was quite funny, because we were actually going to get a fluid that dyes the flames a bright pink and makes them look very alien. Everyone was very nervous. All the producers were down on set. And then all he fire alarms went off, and it was like ‘Guys, look here, I’ve done this before, it’s okay, we’re going to be all right, this is how I pout my way through University!”
Most people work in Macdonald’s to get through University. Edgely, of courser, twirled fireballs… among other things.
“Through University we played music and fire-twirled and composed in different parks around Brisbane,’ remembers Edgely ‘Brisbane is a bubbling little town if you know how to work it. We used to nickname it Bris Vegas, though I’ve no idea why… just sounds a little snazzier. I got given my first fire chains in my first year of university by a friend. After countless thumps and bumps I gradually got the hang of it. Then I moved onto the fire stick. I still have lots to learn. It’s really lovely to go out into the park or an open space and twirl. The sound is really yummy for balancing you. You seem to have the perfect balance of strength and relaxation. It was a lot more fun than watching TV. Where the hidden truth comes into it I imagine is being at one with yourself, truthful to yourself, henceforth being true to others. This is one luscious way to conjure dreams.
And what does Edgely dream about?
“I want to be content. And I want to be learning. I would love to do some more features and fool around. I would love to do a film in Paris. And I’d really love to do some stuff in Hollywood. But you take it as it comes. If you’re too busy focusing on the destination you haven’t enjoyed the journey.
Clockwise from main: Gigi, Wayne, Tammy, Anthony and Lani
Oh, and all pictures copyright their owners, thankyou for letting me use them, please don't sue me I have no money.
[index]
[Wayne Pygram interview]
[Lani Tupu interview]
[Tammy MacIntosh interview]
[Anthony Simcoe interview]