New York Post – Pop Wrap with Tricia Helfer

PW: I know you don’t have any tattoo’s in real life, so was it fun to see what you’d look like with full sleeves?
Tricia: Totally. [laughs] Although I’m glad we don’t have them for the whole season because it’s an extra two hours in the makeup chair every morning. It’s amazing how much wardrobe – costumes, makeup — can affect you. All of a sudden you stand a little different when you’re covered in tattoos.


PW: What about people’s reactions to you?
Tricia: I actually had to get my Warner Bros. keycard that gets me on the lot when I was dressed like that and the girl wouldn’t even look at me [laughs]. Even silly things like being in the commissary on the lot – you’d think they were used to seeing people in costumes. But I was getting stared at by everyone. It’s hysterical compared to being in your normal everyday clothes.


PW: From what I hear your character adds a bit of levity to the second season.
Tricia: Yea, Alex comes in and while she’s not comic relief, she definitely lightens things up a bit. In season one, the team was all dealing with heavy stuff, but Alex comes in and doesn’t have a lot of personal baggage. I think that rubs off a bit.

PW: What attracted you to Alex?
Tricia: She’s complex and tough and smart. She comes in and — unbeknownst to her — gets roped in to this joint FBI/LAPD task force. So there’s chemistry between Carter & Alex that they have to deal with on an every day basis because they’re working together. Plus, because the FBI has final say, she’s kind of like his boss now. What’s good is that Alex is smart enough to come in and not try to take over, she wants to ingrate into the team.


PW: So there’s sparks between Alex and Carter?
Tricia: Certainly. I think they challenge each other. Alex coming in now makes sense because Carter was still very brooding and damaged over the thing with his ex-wife last season. Alex is like the light at the end of the tunnel and helps, inadvertently, bring him out of this emotional funk. They try to deny their chemistry and feelings, but that’s hard to do when you click and are unattached.


PW: Sounds like the show isn’t going to be so angsty this year.
Tricia: Not to scare off fans of the first season, because it is the same show, it’s just a little lighter. That’s not to say it’s going to become a farce, it’s still a gritty cop show, but instead of going off and brooding into the night at the end of each episode, you’ll see the team have a life, grab a drink. Do things that make you understand how they do what they do, because even in life, there are lightness in the dark moments.

PW: Did you actively want to switch to the side of good after playing Six on “Battlestar Galactica” for five years?
Tricia: [laughs] I don’t think it was a conscious good versus evil choice, but I’ve always wanted to play a law enforcement character in a grittier show. It’s great to play on the fun side and not be the one everyone hates. I remember when I first started “BSG” thinking, “everybody hates me!” and my husband said, “You’re bad, they’re supposed to hate your character. That means you’re doing your job right!”


PW: I dunno Tricia, I’ve never seen a bad guy be so loved!
Tricia: Well, it got so complex by the end, you couldn’t tell who was bad and who was good, which is what the show flirted with. Just because they’re against us doesn’t mean they’re the bad guys – I mean, the humans were doing some awful things too.


PW: Do you think you’ve worn that red dress for the last time?
Tricia: [laughs] You know, it’s a difficult question because “BSG” for me, and I think for the cast, was such a rare experience. Being two years removed from it, you realize what a special unit we had. They’re still some of my closest friends. It’s rare that you have a cast, crew & production team that really becomes a family. So it would be hard to go back unless it was the same group – maybe that will happen down the road.

PW: What would it take, you think?
Tricia: I mean first we’d have to discuss how the Cylons suddenly started aging [laughs]. I think we’d all be open to it if there was a great story to tell and the whole team came back together. But I don’t think anyone would want to go back if you have only a couple people. We saw some of that in “The Plan” – some of the team was there and it was weird being on set in a way. Yes, it was Brother Cavil & The Cylon’s story, but it did feel a little different. I think to come back after time away, it would have to be the same team and a great story.


PW: Speaking of the “BSG” family I chatted with your friend Katee Sackhoff about your little tradition…
Tricia: [laughs] She told me you’d ask about that! We were having martini’s I told her that I was speaking with you and she told me that she revealed that story to you.


PW: So, do you still knock back a baby bottle of tequila before anything live?
Tricia: Absolutely! Certainly not to say we get toasted before doing live TV, but it started when I did Letterman. Someone suggested that since he keeps the studio so cold, so I took a bottle out of the mini-bar and it helps calm the nerves. It’s our tradition. Katie was so sweet when I did “Two & A Half Men,” the night of the live taping – which I’d never done before – she showed up with a teeny bottle of Patron. That’s what friends are for.


“Dark Blue” airs Wednesdays at 9pm on TNT

Source: triciahelfer.com