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ARTICLE: Alien Beauty Is Only Skin Deep In V..

WEBSITE: Kelowna.com

WRITTEN BY: G. Schaefer

DIRECT LINK: http://www.kelowna.com/2009/11/02/alien-beauty-is-only-skin-deep-in-v-sexy-ets-harbour-darksecret-in-1980s-series-reboot-filmed-in-vancouver/

The aliens seem to have it easier than the humans, judging from the experiences of two Canadians featured in the new ABC – TV series V..

In the premiere of the Vancouver – filmed series, huge alien spacecraft appear over 29 of the world’s major cities.. Terror turns to trust as the alien leader turns out to be a gorgeous young woman named Anna ( Morena Baccarin ) who broadcasts a message of peace and offers alien technology to heal human diseases – a universal health plan, so to speak.. V is a remake of the 1980s series about good – looking aliens who turn out to be rodent – eating lizards under the pretty skin..

Also among the good – looking aliens is Canadian actor Laura Vandervoort, who first hit the radar as another Vancouver alien, Clark Kent’s Kryptonian cousin Kara in two seasons of Smallville.. In V, she plays Lisa, an alien teen who talks a young human ( Logan Huffman ) over to the alien side..

” I’m always drawn to sci – fi because the female roles are a lot stronger, I find,” says Vandervoort over the phone from Los Angeles, where she’s Visiting her boyfriend after shooting V‘s fourth episode..

The V world has both good and bad aliens, and Vandervoort says she hasn’t been told which she is..

” It’s always fun to play bad, but you never know, Lisa may not be bad,” she says.. ” Them not telling us makes it so exciting to read the next script … do I die in this episode, do I eat a rat? You never know and I prefer it that way.. They tell us the big stuff – how they want the Vs to act, how they come across..”

For the most part, the aliens ( The V is for Visitors ) come across as really effective television evangelists.. Or marketing – department number – jugglers..

” My direction is to play her as honestly as possible, so I’m playing her as a human with a secret,” says Vandervoort.. ” I’m playing a young 17 – year – old who is possibly in love..”

The show wraps the fourth episode within two weeks, and will resume filming another nine episodes in January.. Series creator Scott Peters earlier headed the Vancouver – filmed sci – fi series The 4400, which ran for four years.. That show’s American star Joel Gretsch returns in V as an activist priest who teams up with an FBI agent, played by Elizabeth Mitchell of LOST, to resist the aliens..

Vandervoort is enjoying being in on the launch of a new series – she and the cast gathered at Mitchell’s Vancouver home to watch the final version of the show’s pilot..

” Smallville was my first real introduction to the American market … it was huge even when I got on it,” says Vandervoort.. ” I’ve never really been on a show of this magnitude that started from the ground up..

” We’ve all moved out to Vancouver to shoot the show.. Because it’s such a large cast – eight or more regular actors on the show – we all rotate our storylines and our days..”

The show also stars Scott Wolf as a shallow TV anchor, Alan Tudyk as an alien living among the humans, and Morris Chestnut as someone drawn into fighting the alien invasion.. Vancouver’s David Richmond-Peck is featured as Georgie, a resistance leader who urges Chestnut’s character into the fight.. Georgie is the guy who tells Mitchell and Gretsch about the alien agenda – they’ve been here secretly for years before going public, and they’re up to no good..

Richmond – Peck was busy filming his last few scenes this week..

” A really dark, multi – layered complex character with a past,” Richmond – Peck says of his character after a late night of filming.. ” It’s an extremely demanding role because of the weight this character carries.. Even just doing a scene in an office, at the end of the day your neck is cramped up – to maintain that intensity in the performance is an extreme amount of mental and physical work even while standing still.. You’ve got to have that on you at all times..”

So, as the V premiere air date nears, he hasn’t had time to celebrate.. ” It’s always kind of submerged by the fact that I have so much work to do,” he says..