Still beautiful after over 25 years, Jane Badler returns to the V franchise with the upcoming second season of ABC’s V. As with the original, Badler will be playing a character named “Diana;” but this time around, Diana will be the mother of Morena Baccarin’s Anna, held in captivity for over 15 years.
Last week, on the set of the series, Badler spoke with several media outlets including KSiteTV about what to expect from her character, who she reveals is “not necessarily” a villain.
“She’s strong, definitely,” Badler says of this new “Diana.” “She would do things that might seem cold-blooded, but I think she’s probably more fair. I definitely think that [Diana has] a totally different take on things than [Anna]. There’s a lot of conflict between her way of thinking and mine.” Badler also believes that her character will bring out sides of Anna that we’ve never seen before. “Your mother always has a particular power over you,” she explains.
Even with that power that a mother has over her daughter, Anna somehow managed to be able to put her mother into captivity for many years, giving Diana plenty of time to plan a way to strike back at her daughter to regain her title as Queen of the Visitors. “Because we’re not humans, there’s a great control; waiting for the right moment to attack. It’s been fifteen years in captivity, which for me, would seem like a lifetime. For her, the patience is beyond. How long can I wait for any moment to strike. No matter what she’ll do to me, I am equally as powerful and strong. That’s great, for her to have that,” Badler tells us. Diana may also have a secret weapon involved to get back to Anna. “She does know [that she has a granddaughter], and she is part of the whole scenario. It all becomes quite a play of power,” she reveals.
Badler compares V’s return last year to the return of a lover that she was “never quite finished with.” Despite being internationally famous for playing “Diana” in the original series
, and even though she had contact with the new show’s producers since the new show’s launch, Badler still had to audition for her new role on V. “I think they had other contenders for it,” Badler says. “Even though the name of the character is Diana, I think they always intended it as an homage to Diana, and not necessarily the same character.” It was found that Badler was indeed the best actress from the role, creating a bit of a “double homage,” and reaction from fans of the original V seem to be very enthusiastic. “It’s just amazing. I can’t believe it,” Badler says. “I’m just so happy that I can kind of create that excitement for them. I hope that they love seeing me on the television, and they don’t expect the same person. But I think they’ll get into it.”
What originally looked like it would be only a few episodes of V looks like it might be a very open-ended role for Badler, who was filming the season’s fourth episode, “Unholy Alliance,” at the time of this interview. “I’m suspecting I’m here for a while,” Badler says enthusiastically. And during that time, will she do anything that could out-gross Diana’s eating of a guinea pig in the original show? “Actually, tonight I’m doing something pretty gross,” Badler teases, holding back from revealing any details.
The second season of V is scheduled for a midseason launch, and will possibly be headed our way as early as November.
