Thanks to shapeshifter for this :)<\/p>\n
\nRecord: 1<\/p>\n
Title: THE Fourth ALIEN.
\nSubject(s): DE Ravin, Emilie; ACTORS & actresses
\nSource: Starlog, Jun2001, Issue 287, p28, 4p, 8c
\nAuthor(s): Florence, Bill
\nAbstract: Profiles Emilie de Ravin, an actress who plays the character
\nTess Harding in the television series `Roswell.’
\nAN: 4425878
\nISSN: 0191-4626
\nNote: CRC Library does not own title.
\nDatabase: MasterFILE Premier<\/p>\nBest Part<\/p>\n
THE FOURTH ALIEN<\/p>\n
Emilie de Ravin learns all about otherworldly love in Roswell.<\/p>\n
Tess Harding was an enigma when she appeared on the scene for the
\nfinal six episodes of Roswell’s rookie season. At first, Tess
\npretended to be just another new kid at Roswell High, but Max was
\nstrangely drawn to her, raising suspicions about her true identity.
\nFor a while, it seemed that Tess might be the dangerous,
\nshape-shifting Nasedo. Finally, it became clear she was the long-lost
\nfourth alien, left behind when Max, Michael and Isabel came out of the
\npods. Even more intriguing was the discovery that in another place and
\ntime, Tess–not Max’s human love Liz–was his wife.<\/p>\nAll of these dizzying plot revelations threw the group of human and
\nalien friends into turmoil, but Emilie de Ravin, who plays Tess on the
\nWB’s SF-teen romance show, took it all in stride. “Tess is a girl who
\nis very sure of herself in some ways, but also very unsure in other
\nways,” she says of her screen persona. “Tess came to the group much
\nmore self-conscious of her alien side, because she didn’t have the
\nsame upbringing as Max, Michael and Isabel. They had humans around
\nthem. Tess wasn’t brought up by human families like they were, so she
\nwas isolated from the human world. She only had Nasedo, which made for
\na totally different experience. But now that she has spent a year with
\nthese aliens and their human friends, she has taken a lot from her
\nexperiences and learned from them. Tess is coming to understand her
\nown human side. It’s quite hard for her, but she’s dealing with it
\npretty well. She’s a sweet girl who just wants to let the others know
\nwhat she knows from their planet, while not stirring up any
\nunnecessary danger for them all.”<\/p>\nAlien Stranger<\/p>\n
Being the newcomer in a close-knit group made Tess feel like an
\noutsider at the beginning, says de Ravin, but those feelings have
\nfaded–just as they have for the actress herself. “The other three
\nalien characters have really accepted Tess and they’ve come to realize
\nit’s inevitable that they stay together,” she comments. “They have to
\nbe together for their powers to work, and that kind of thing. Besides,
\nthey’re great friends now.<\/p>\n“As for myself, I thought joining the cast midway through as I did
\nwould be much harder than it turned out to be,” she continues. “The
\nother actors had all been together for months. But everyone was really
\ngreat and accepted me in a friendly way. The only hard thing was that
\nI didn’t have as much of a grasp of the ongoing storyline as everyone
\nelse. When I got the role of Tess, I went back and watched all of the
\nepisodes–it was my own Roswell marathon. But it’s not the same. Being
\na part of the filming gives you more of an insight toward what’s going
\non.”<\/p>\nIt was only 18 months ago that de Ravin traveled to Los Angeles from
\nher native Australia. A few days after her arrival, she auditioned for
\nthe role of Tess, and after the requisite call-backs, she got the
\npart. “It has definitely been a big change, moving from Australia,”
\nshe muses. “It has been great because I’m working. I am doing what I
\nwanted to do.”<\/p>\nEven so, playing an alien teenager every week is not without its
\nunique challenges. “How do you play an alien?” de Ravin asks
\nrhetorically. “You can’t draw from anything, can you? I try to look
\nfor any strange experiences I’ve had in my life, and draw from those.
\nI also try to alienate myself from the rest of the world in my
\nthoughts. I mean, at some point, I just have to use my imagination to
\npicture what it would be like [to really be an alien]. I try to make
\nit realistic, as hard as that can be, but I think the tour of us are
\ndoing OK. We pull it off.”<\/p>\nShe speaks highly of her working relationship with Jason Behr (Max),
\nBrendan Fehr (Michael) and Katherine Heigl (Isabel), who share the
\nchallenge of breathing life into alien characters. “We get along and
\nwe strategize well. When we have scenes together, we rehearse for a
\nwhile and get it down, really working at the intricacies we find. We
\ntalk about the movements of the scene and the things we may want to
\nchange. We work well together, and we’re usually pretty happy with the
\nscenes involving the four of us.”<\/p>\nBut de Ravin is quick to point out that, in terms of on-set
\nrelationships, she hasn’t seen any gravitation of the actors into
\nalien and human camps. “We all realize none of us are aliens,” she
\nlaughs. “We all get on. It’s a fun set.”<\/p>\nSome of Tess’ most engaging moments have come in her scenes with
\nSheriff Valenti (William Sadler) and his son Kyle (Nick Wechsler),
\nsuch as those in “A Roswell Christmas Carol” and “To Serve and
\nProtect.” “Those two guys are crazy,” de Ravin says with an
\naffectionate laugh. “It’s so much fun working with them. I can’t stop
\nlaughing, especially with Nick. They’re both great actors and very
\nfunny people. The scenes we had at their house were fun because I got
\nto sort of let loose, get pissed off, tease Kyle and so on. Those are
\na more human kind of interaction than the scenes I often have with Max
\nor Michael, for example.”<\/p>\nThe budding relationship between Tess and Kyle will not blossom into a
\nromance, however. In the season’s final episodes, says de Ravin, “Kyle
\ntells Tess he feels she is like a sister to him. He really cares about
\nher, but not in a romantic way. Tess is totally fine with that. She
\nnever really had a thing for him, although she has played with his
\nemotions–but not in a bad way. She likes him a lot, but just as a
\nfriend. They’re both relieved about getting all that out into the
\nopen.”<\/p>\nDoes the actress agree with the writers’ resolution to that
\nrelationship? “Yes, I do, because of the way that my relationship
\ngrows with Max. It’s going to be, um, kind of full bore.”<\/p>\nMax and Liz have a big blow-up, de Ravin relates, and Liz tells Max
\nshe’s not interested in him anymore. Besides, Liz has a new love
\ninterest at the moment: Sean de Luca, Maria’s cousin. “Yes, another
\nlittle hot boy,” de Ravin chuckles. “That’s a funny, cute relationship
\nLiz and Sean have going. And it leaves it open for Max and Tess to get
\ntogether. I think the writers have been trying to make this happen for
\na while, but it was a hard transition for the viewers. It had to be
\ntaken very gently because the fans were so used to seeing Max with
\nLiz.”<\/p>\nGenre Phantom<\/p>\n
Roswell plunged deeper into science fiction this season, departing
\nsomewhat from the romance and teen angst of the first year. It’s de
\nRavin’s opinion that the series works best when it has equal portions
\nof both elements. “The combination broadens the audience,” she
\nobserves. “It’s nice when we concentrate on both things. Of course, we
\ndo some episodes that are more about relationships and some that are
\nmore SF, so it tends to equal out.”<\/p>\n“Meet the Dupes” and “Max in the City” gave fans a wild look at punk
\nversions of Tess and her fellow aliens. “That was kind of
\nschizophrenic!” de Ravin exclaims. “But it was fun, too, dressing
\ntotally differently, having that different mindset, the accent, the
\nwhole thing. Then the next day, I would be back as Tess. It was hard
\nfor us all, but we had a great time doing it and hopefully it looked
\ngood.”<\/p>\nBefore Roswell, de Ravin had a recurring role as the Demon Curupira on
\nBeastMaster. In fact, as the innocent yet petulant forest spirit, she
\nblessed the hero with his animal powers to begin with. “I’ve only been
\nacting professionally for two-and-a-half years, and that was my first
\njob. Let’s start with that,” she says. “Daniel Goddard [who plays the
\nBeastMaster Dar] was great, a real professional. We had fun doing
\nscenes together. I actually hung out with him the other night; we’re
\nstill friends.”<\/p>\nOn the whole, de Ravin remembers her BeastMaster experience fondly.
\n“For one thing, it was shot back home [in Australia]. For another, it
\ngot me noticed and led to my role on Roswell. Also, we shot on
\nlocation in the Queensland Rainforest, which was just beautiful.
\nBeastMaster was a fun show, a great first thing to do.”<\/p>\nOf the very strange costume de Ravin wore (see right), she says, “I
\nwas a ballet dancer until I got that part. During ballet performances,
\nwe would wear lycra body suits [reminiscent of the BeastMaster
\noutfit]. So to me, it really wasn’t a strange costume at all.”<\/p>\nTurning to the future, de Ravin ponders the fate of Roswell, which the
\nWB will announce this month. “I think we have a good chance [of being
\nrenewed], especially because the last six episodes to air at the end
\nare so good,” she says. “The previous set [“The Hybrid Chronicles”]\nwere really interesting, intense episodes, too. I hope we get renewed.
\nBut, at this point, we have no idea.”<\/p>\nBeyond Roswell, de Ravin admits to having many of the same dreams that
\nmost television actors seem to share. “I want to move into films. I
\nwant to pursue as much of a serious acting career as I can, not just a
\nflimsy overnight career. I take it very seriously,” she says, “and I
\nreally want to pursue it for the rest of my life.”<\/p>\nEmilie de Ravin closes with a direct expression of thanks to Roswell’s
\nfans. “They’ve been so supportive; they pretty much brought us back
\nlast season. I doubt we would be where we are now without them. Thank
\nyou for watching!<\/p>\n“I’m glad you enjoy Roswell.”<\/p>\n
PHOTO (COLOR): Emilie de Ravin’s life as a newcomer to America
\nreverberates in her role as the alien Tess, raised on Earth but a new
\narrival in Roswell.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): De Ravin isn’t ready to turn her back on fans. She’s
\ngrateful for the support they’ve given Roswell.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): According to de Ravin. spending time with her Earthly
\nfriends–like Alex (Colin Hanks)–has allowed Tess to get in touch
\nwith her inner human.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): Recalling strange past experiences in her own life
\nreally helps de Ravin to act alienated as Tess.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): Relationships constantly shift on Roswell, and de Ravin
\nreveals romantic changes are in the offing. Maybe not for Michael
\n(Brendan Fehr), though.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): For de Ravin, the only problem with joining Roswell
\nmid-stream was not fully understanding its complex storyline.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): The actress is hopeful that Rosewell will earn a
\nrenewal, pointing to the season’s strong final episodes.<\/p>\nPHOTO (COLOR): Her first big break came as the strangely garbed
\nCurupira, protector of animals and patron to TV’s BeastMaster.<\/p>\nBy Bill Florence ier<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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