One of my buds in Oz emailed me this transcript of an online chat with Gigi Edgley regarding her new show, the Secret Life of Us.
She did answer some questions about Farscape, and the chat gives some very interesting insights into Gigi's new show. :naughty:
I've edited what he sent me to get rid of dumb questions like "what's it like to kiss..." whomever. Hope you don't mind.
____________________________
Secret MODERATOR of Us
Welcome to the chat guys, Gigi is with us now so keep those questions
flying!
tash - hey gigi, is the show as fun as it look to work on?
Gigi - No! (Just kidding) It's better.
Jodester - who is the nicest person from the cast in real life?
Gigi - Me! (giggles). Everyone's fantastic. Everyone's been
extraordinarily welcoming and
just absolutely lush to play with... work with - if that's what you'd
call it.
Jarvo - Gigi, How'd you get your name?
Gigi - Um, my family was expecting a boy, so they had decided on the
name Bruce. It took them a month to rename me and mum was driving down around Sydney and Thank
Heavens for Little Girls came on, and its from gigi the musical theatre,
and that's where it came from. People ask me if it's a stage name but it's not.
Gigi - (More on the name) But the Telstra [telephone company in Oz] people think its Titi when I ring up!
anaf - Was the dress you wore to the logies comfortable
Gigi - What dress? (Laughs). I felt like a princess.
It was a real dream to flutter in for a
while - it was GREAT. I didn't really have a full concept of how people
lended you out clothes and stuff. Syb asked me what are you going to
wear? and I said I dunno I haven't
been through my dress up box yet. And she told me you could be dressed by a designer. I
went to Gwendolyn and I was just walking out and saw this dress on a
mennequin and said "what's that?" and they said it was a vintage
dress.
Gigi - We sewed this slip into it. I'm not a very good lady but it's fun
to dress up some times.
And also quite fun to work out how to go to the loo in it! I have to
report all beads and all threads did make it through the night. lock it in
Eddie.
homerzbacon - Gigi, were you a fan of the secret life of us before you
joined the cast?
Gigi - I was working 16 hour days on Farscape for three and a half, four years, so when I got home there would barely be enough time to eat diner, learn your script and prepare for the day ahead so when I got the audition a friend lent me the DVD box set of the TSLOU series.
EGirl7 - Hi Gigi! Congratulations on your wonderful work as George and
also, for your recent success at the Saturn Awards! {Remember, she was nominated last year.} I've never seen Farscape, but am a
Buffy fan, which has a slavishly devoted fanbase. How has your own experience of the sci-fi genre been?
Gigi - I think its a fantastic show to work on. It's raw. It lets you
play with different techniques, great scripts, great cast and fantastic
locations.
Gigi - Now to EGIRL: Who's Buffy? Unexplainable in words. Phenomenal,
outrageous, intriguing, breathtaking... heart flutters... the list goes on.
Jodester - who do you hang out with mostly on set?
Gigi - Um, sort of me myself and I... the caterers!
The Snickers machine, and the coca-cola machine, and my script, and the heater because it's bloody freezing on set. Gotta love Melbourne. {Ahhh, no you don't. Not my kind of town, personally. Give me Sydney any day!}
SamJ - Where do get your clothes from on the show - they're great!
Gigi - Sam I told you we shouldn't speak like this!
The costume department are amazing. the first month I arrived in Melbourne, they put me up and took me shopping. I love this job! When I finally got to dress up in it all and
discover George, it was awesome.
dorethygretel - what was it that made you want to become an actress, do you have any
advise for the people that want to become an actor/actress like myself?
Gigi - Never stop dressing up and playing make believe. I love what I do
and I work my ass off. I don't know what we're diong in this blue green
world in the middle of no where but I
feel that if we do what we love and love a little and teach a little then we can't be doing too bad.
hbk8 - Hey Gigi, I met your sister at her gallery in QLD. Pretty
talented family!!!!
Gigi - I'm sitting in her new gallery in Magnetic Island as we speak, but she's not here because she's on her honeymoon. We've been playing
with frangipannis and mermaids the
last couple of days and it's been amazing. It's very different from
Melbourne, it's very warm! Came here to be with my family and defrost.
secretsecrets - if you could be any other character in the show apart
from your own, who would you choose to be and why?
Gigi - I'd choose to be the painting that hangs on the wall in our unit
with the stars on it. I love that painting. I lose myself into it when I'm looking at my script and studying lines.
possum - Hi Gigi, nice to meet you. How does acting in 'Secret Life of
Us' compare to acting in 'Farscape'?
Gigi - Very different! Exciting, challenging, scary. It's given me a
real chance to redisover my inner-human. I've had to workshop it a lot - and every now and then Chiana pops out.
Gigi - And there's no space ships on set!
lel - do you have any embarrassing stories from the set of the SLOU?
Gigi - Every day I have a million embarrassing moments. Every day
I have a million shocking moments and every day I have a trillion
phenomenal moments.
Jodester - are you similar to george in any aspect of your life?
Gigi George has taught me to be a lot more grounded, and she's taught me to trust my work and my craft in the sense that I'm not covered in
three and half hours of makeup
looking through contact lenses flying through space. You've got a lot
for free in Farscape from the costumes, the animitronics, the set, the computer graphics, so it's been a real learning curve to trust that's what this little girl has to offer.
ricksterlove - hey Gigi, are you happy with the direction the writers are taking your charcter?
Gigi - I think they created a wholesome character and she has a strong standing as in a good job and a great emotional arc, but sometimes I think they're getting confused as to
which way they want to go. It's the same with every show. It's just the
nature of the beast.
Jodester - is simon's pub real or is it just made up for the show?
Gigi- (Laughs). That's my trailer. NO!
renee82 - which cast member falls over the most? i like to know who the
one stacking it most often is...
Gigi - I fall over and for those boys every day (laughs) and some of the
girls (laughs).
lionhair - I heard that there is no music playing when bar scenes or
party scenes are filmed.
Is that weird having to shout and pretend there is loud music going on
in the background?
Gigi - Yeah, it's really bizarre. cos after doing Farscape where you
were radio miked and everything is picked up, and then you go over about 90% of it again in ADR, it was a real shock to come into Secret life knowing that what you do in the day is pretty much what you get at the end. It's particularly funny when you have to do dancing scenes without the music. But usually they're pretty nice to us and they
turn it up if we're well behaved.
frats - what are some of ur fave bands at the moment? and have u
listened to any of the SLOU soundtracks? do u like them?
Gigi - I love Abi Tucker's stuff or Abi Dobson's. I surrender to Jack
Johnson and Ben Harper
a lot, but my favourite music of all is probably the sound of bongo
drums beating on the beach.
moniquey - if u were a character from wizard of oz..who would it be?
Gigi - Toto! Get carried around, looked after and fed! (Laughs). "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto!"
NightMistress- is there alot of fun when your filming or is it pretty
serious?
Gigi - I always get nervous before I do a take, but it's the kind of
nerves that excite and entice you into channeling a stroy that has been given to you into a reality for other people to view. there's always lots of giggles and sometimes there's a few tears, all in a day's work!
homerzbacon - Have you ever considered doing anything else, other than acting?
Gigi - I just stumbled into acting. I never really knew what I wanted to
do, nor do I now. All I know is that I'm surrendering to the moment, diong what my heart tells me.
Nazarelle - What do you think of Melbourne? Where did you grow up?
Gigi - I was born in Perth and then travelled to Melbourne to live for a
little bit. We lived in Hawaii for a year and then came back to Syndey and
then lived on the Gold Coast and then did uni in Brisbane and then lived in Sydney for 5 years and then got posted down in Melbourne. It's been fantastic, it's a great change of
pace. I've had lots of fantastic times.
Great restaurants, beautiful wines, lush people. All in all I pretty
much like!
Espoir - Gigi do people rush to you when your walking along in the
street for an autograph?
Gigi - Oh, mm, there's been trickles! Every now and then you'll see
someone looking at ya oddly or I'll go into the supermarket and just as I'm
walking out they'll go, "Say hi to Evan" and I'm like "Woh!". It's a bit bizarre, I blush a lot. And the other
day I was at a restaurant
and a girl said "that's that girl from the show" and then her friends
turn around and said "You're the trouble maker - you're going to ruin that boy's heart!" and I'm like - "it's not me, it's the script".
richies_boyfriend - have you ever done live theatre or musical theatre?
Gigi - Yes - lots - I love it! that's probably what originally got me
onto the stage. I did dance when I was young and stumbled here and there on the stage. Musical
theatre's fantastic -
I love it - Les Mis - all the ones you do in school - and then I did a
couple in university but I haven't been in anything for ages and I've been getting a bit of an itch for the stage of late.
CaRBoNeTTe - Do you sit down on monday nights and watch the show? the finished product? or does it bother you watching yourself on
TV?
Gigi - No I love watching the show because it reminds me of george's
reality and where she's come from. Because sometimes you can get lost
between your own and hers -
juggling personalities as such. And it's a fanastic reward to see how
the whole show works as a big picture.
PrincessD - Other cast members have said that they have to be careful about what they say in ear's shot of the writers or it could end up in the show....Have you been reading
through the script and suddenly found something familiar?
Gigi - No never! Next question. (Laughs). It's sometimes spooky how your art refelcts your own life. But I find it awesome channelling the
awesome times in my life and the
challenging times in my life into a positive source, something that can
be shared with others to help to tell the story.
Espoir - Hmm, do you always need to act by the script or can you act ur
own little bits from time to time??
Gigi - Different productions have different rules. If you have a valid
reason why your character should be going in a different way or you
want to alter the words you can have a chat to the directors or the writers and quite often they tweek it.
There is a lot of ad libbing that goes on but not much makes the cut!
{Not like Farscape, eh?}
Frenchy - Are sex scenes hard to do? how are they done...
Gigi - Free shnuggles- they're great! And you get paid for it! Sometimes
they can be tricky but it's really good to have an idea of how much you
both want to make out of the scene
and how much you can trust each other.... and how much you can play with each other??!
EGirl7 - Having done musical theatre, you must have an alright set of
pipes on you! Is music an element of life you'd like to pursue further? (I
ask everyone here this!
Gigi - I love singing. But I'm much better at it when I'm doing it by
myself. I write songs in my head all the time and then I go "I'll have to
remember that!" but quite often I don't.
lionhair - Would you like to act in feature films one day?
Gigi - Absolutely. Is that an invitation? I'd love to work in feature
films. I'd like to invest energy in an up and coming production.
Secret MODERATOR of Us Okay guys, five questions to go. Better make em
good ones!
Sydney - Do you guys really smoke pot in your scenes... when you gather
around??
Gigi - It's on TV, it must be real!
PrincessD - Pick yourself any leading man. Either in real life or on film
Gigi - Ooooh, f**k. (pause). I have no idea, maybe that's the problem.
Is that an invitation? I'm waiting for him to manifest. I'll let you know
when he does.
Gigi - My mum says that if I write all the good traits about a man and
put it under my pillow then he'll appear but I keep forgetting!
Undecided_princess - I really love the show and have never missed an
episode, do you plan to be on TSLOU for a long period of time?
Gigi - I'm just cruising through - I'm going where the wind blows. It's
been an awesome experience to play in the world of TSLOU and I'm
blessed just to have wakled on the set and work with the great team that lives, breathes, sleeps there pretty much. So we'll see what happens...
scruffsdel - If you could be any animal which would you be?
Gigi A fairy! Oh, that's not an animal. Can it be a fantasmagorical
creature?
moniquey - hey there! your a new bubbly addition to the show and its
great. but youll prob know how jealous all the chicks are including me! is he really as swweet adn goofy in real life as he is on teh show?
Gigi - No. (Laughs)... No just kidding, it's on the TV, it must be real - that's he's like that. No comment. (I'll be fired again!)
Secret MODERATOR of Us That's it for tonight folks!
Thanks for all your fab questions!
Gigi Sweet dreams - thanks for coming. Hope your day is filled with
sunshine and lots more lush episodes of Secret Life...
___________________________
Hope you enjoyed! Especially, you, MS.
She did answer some questions about Farscape, and the chat gives some very interesting insights into Gigi's new show. :naughty:
I've edited what he sent me to get rid of dumb questions like "what's it like to kiss..." whomever. Hope you don't mind.
____________________________
Secret MODERATOR of Us
Welcome to the chat guys, Gigi is with us now so keep those questions
flying!
tash - hey gigi, is the show as fun as it look
Gigi - No! (Just kidding) It's better.
Jodester - who is the nicest person from the cast in real life?
Gigi - Me! (giggles). Everyone's fantastic. Everyone's been
extraordinarily welcoming and
just absolutely lush to play with... work with - if that's what you'd
call it.
Jarvo - Gigi, How'd you get your name?
Gigi - Um, my family was expecting a boy, so they had decided on the
name Bruce. It took them a month to rename me and mum was driving down around Sydney and Thank
Heavens for Little Girls came on, and its from gigi the musical theatre,
and that's where it came from. People ask me if it's a stage name but it's not.
Gigi - (More on the name) But the Telstra [telephone company in Oz] people think its Titi when I ring up!
anaf - Was the dress you wore to the logies comfortable
Gigi - What dress? (Laughs). I felt like a princess.
It was a real dream to flutter in for a
while - it was GREAT. I didn't really have a full concept of how people
lended you out clothes and stuff. Syb asked me what are you going to
wear? and I said I dunno I haven't
been through my dress up box yet. And she told me you could be dressed by a designer. I
went to Gwendolyn and I was just walking out and saw this dress on a
mennequin and said "what's that?" and they said it was a vintage
dress.
Gigi - We sewed this slip into it. I'm not a very good lady but it's fun
to dress up some times.
And also quite fun to work out how to go to the loo in it! I have to
report all beads and all threads did make it through the night. lock it in
Eddie.
homerzbacon - Gigi, were you a fan of the secret life of us before you
joined the cast?
Gigi - I was working 16 hour days on Farscape for three and a half, four years, so when I got home there would barely be enough time to eat diner, learn your script and prepare for the day ahead so when I got the audition a friend lent me the DVD box set of the TSLOU series.
EGirl7 - Hi Gigi! Congratulations on your wonderful work as George and
also, for your recent success at the Saturn Awards! {Remember, she was nominated last year.} I've never seen Farscape, but am a
Buffy fan, which has a slavishly devoted fanbase. How has your own experience of the sci-fi genre been?
Gigi - I think its a fantastic show to work on. It's raw. It lets you
play with different techniques, great scripts, great cast and fantastic
locations.
Gigi - Now to EGIRL: Who's Buffy? Unexplainable in words. Phenomenal,
outrageous, intriguing, breathtaking... heart flutters... the list goes on.
Jodester - who do you hang out with mostly on set?
Gigi - Um, sort of me myself and I... the caterers!
The Snickers machine, and the coca-cola machine, and my script, and the heater because it's bloody freezing on set. Gotta love Melbourne. {Ahhh, no you don't. Not my kind of town, personally. Give me Sydney any day!}
SamJ - Where do get your clothes from on the show - they're great!
Gigi - Sam I told you we shouldn't speak like this!
The costume department are amazing. the first month I arrived in Melbourne, they put me up and took me shopping. I love this job! When I finally got to dress up in it all and
discover George, it was awesome.
dorethygretel - what was it that made you want to become an actress, do you have any
advise for the people that want to become an actor/actress like myself?
Gigi - Never stop dressing up and playing make believe. I love what I do
and I work my ass off. I don't know what we're diong in this blue green
world in the middle of no where but I
feel that if we do what we love and love a little and teach a little then we can't be doing too bad.
hbk8 - Hey Gigi, I met your sister at her gallery in QLD. Pretty
talented family!!!!
Gigi - I'm sitting in her new gallery in Magnetic Island as we speak, but she's not here because she's on her honeymoon. We've been playing
with frangipannis and mermaids the
last couple of days and it's been amazing. It's very different from
Melbourne, it's very warm! Came here to be with my family and defrost.
secretsecrets - if you could be any other character in the show apart
from your own, who would you choose to be and why?
Gigi - I'd choose to be the painting that hangs on the wall in our unit
with the stars on it. I love that painting. I lose myself into it when I'm looking at my script and studying lines.
possum - Hi Gigi, nice to meet you. How does acting in 'Secret Life of
Us' compare to acting in 'Farscape'?
Gigi - Very different! Exciting, challenging, scary. It's given me a
real chance to redisover my inner-human. I've had to workshop it a lot - and every now and then Chiana pops out.
Gigi - And there's no space ships on set!
lel - do you have any embarrassing stories from the set of the SLOU?
Gigi - Every day I have a million embarrassing moments. Every day
I have a million shocking moments and every day I have a trillion
phenomenal moments.
Jodester - are you similar to george in any aspect of your life?
Gigi George has taught me to be a lot more grounded, and she's taught me to trust my work and my craft in the sense that I'm not covered in
three and half hours of makeup
looking through contact lenses flying through space. You've got a lot
for free in Farscape from the costumes, the animitronics, the set, the computer graphics, so it's been a real learning curve to trust that's what this little girl has to offer.
ricksterlove - hey Gigi, are you happy with the direction the writers are taking your charcter?
Gigi - I think they created a wholesome character and she has a strong standing as in a good job and a great emotional arc, but sometimes I think they're getting confused as to
which way they want to go. It's the same with every show. It's just the
nature of the beast.
Jodester - is simon's pub real or is it just made up for the show?
Gigi- (Laughs). That's my trailer. NO!
renee82 - which cast member falls over the most? i like to know who the
one stacking it most often is...
Gigi - I fall over and for those boys every day (laughs) and some of the
girls (laughs).
lionhair - I heard that there is no music playing when bar scenes or
party scenes are filmed.
Is that weird having to shout and pretend there is loud music going on
in the background?
Gigi - Yeah, it's really bizarre. cos after doing Farscape where you
were radio miked and everything is picked up, and then you go over about 90% of it again in ADR, it was a real shock to come into Secret life knowing that what you do in the day is pretty much what you get at the end. It's particularly funny when you have to do dancing scenes without the music. But usually they're pretty nice to us and they
turn it up if we're well behaved.
frats - what are some of ur fave bands at the moment? and have u
listened to any of the SLOU soundtracks? do u like them?
Gigi - I love Abi Tucker's stuff or Abi Dobson's. I surrender to Jack
Johnson and Ben Harper
a lot, but my favourite music of all is probably the sound of bongo
drums beating on the beach.
moniquey - if u were a character from wizard of oz..who would it be?
Gigi - Toto! Get carried around, looked after and fed! (Laughs). "We're not in Kansas anymore Toto!"
NightMistress- is there alot of fun when your filming or is it pretty
serious?
Gigi - I always get nervous before I do a take, but it's the kind of
nerves that excite and entice you into channeling a stroy that has been given to you into a reality for other people to view. there's always lots of giggles and sometimes there's a few tears, all in a day's work!
homerzbacon - Have you ever considered doing anything else, other than acting?
Gigi - I just stumbled into acting. I never really knew what I wanted to
do, nor do I now. All I know is that I'm surrendering to the moment, diong what my heart tells me.
Nazarelle - What do you think of Melbourne? Where did you grow up?
Gigi - I was born in Perth and then travelled to Melbourne to live for a
little bit. We lived in Hawaii for a year and then came back to Syndey and
then lived on the Gold Coast and then did uni in Brisbane and then lived in Sydney for 5 years and then got posted down in Melbourne. It's been fantastic, it's a great change of
pace. I've had lots of fantastic times.
Great restaurants, beautiful wines, lush people. All in all I pretty
much like!
Espoir - Gigi do people rush to you when your walking along in the
street for an autograph?
Gigi - Oh, mm, there's been trickles! Every now and then you'll see
someone looking at ya oddly or I'll go into the supermarket and just as I'm
walking out they'll go, "Say hi to Evan" and I'm like "Woh!". It's a bit bizarre, I blush a lot. And the other
day I was at a restaurant
and a girl said "that's that girl from the show" and then her friends
turn around and said "You're the trouble maker - you're going to ruin that boy's heart!" and I'm like - "it's not me, it's the script".
richies_boyfriend - have you ever done live theatre or musical theatre?
Gigi - Yes - lots - I love it! that's probably what originally got me
onto the stage. I did dance when I was young and stumbled here and there on the stage. Musical
theatre's fantastic -
I love it - Les Mis - all the ones you do in school - and then I did a
couple in university but I haven't been in anything for ages and I've been getting a bit of an itch for the stage of late.
CaRBoNeTTe - Do you sit down on monday nights and watch the show? the finished product? or does it bother you watching yourself on
TV?
Gigi - No I love watching the show because it reminds me of george's
reality and where she's come from. Because sometimes you can get lost
between your own and hers -
juggling personalities as such. And it's a fanastic reward to see how
the whole show works as a big picture.
PrincessD - Other cast members have said that they have to be careful about what they say in ear's shot of the writers or it could end up in the show....Have you been reading
through the script and suddenly found something familiar?
Gigi - No never! Next question. (Laughs). It's sometimes spooky how your art refelcts your own life. But I find it awesome channelling the
awesome times in my life and the
challenging times in my life into a positive source, something that can
be shared with others to help to tell the story.
Espoir - Hmm, do you always need to act by the script or can you act ur
own little bits from time to time??
Gigi - Different productions have different rules. If you have a valid
reason why your character should be going in a different way or you
want to alter the words you can have a chat to the directors or the writers and quite often they tweek it.
There is a lot of ad libbing that goes on but not much makes the cut!
{Not like Farscape, eh?}
Frenchy - Are sex scenes hard to do? how are they done...
Gigi - Free shnuggles- they're great! And you get paid for it! Sometimes
they can be tricky but it's really good to have an idea of how much you
both want to make out of the scene
and how much you can trust each other.... and how much you can play with each other??!
EGirl7 - Having done musical theatre, you must have an alright set of
pipes on you! Is music an element of life you'd like to pursue further? (I
ask everyone here this!
Gigi - I love singing. But I'm much better at it when I'm doing it by
myself. I write songs in my head all the time and then I go "I'll have to
remember that!" but quite often I don't.
lionhair - Would you like to act in feature films one day?
Gigi - Absolutely. Is that an invitation? I'd love to work in feature
films. I'd like to invest energy in an up and coming production.
Secret MODERATOR of Us Okay guys, five questions to go. Better make em
good ones!
Sydney - Do you guys really smoke pot in your scenes... when you gather
around??
Gigi - It's on TV, it must be real!
PrincessD - Pick yourself any leading man. Either in real life or on film
Gigi - Ooooh, f**k. (pause). I have no idea, maybe that's the problem.
Is that an invitation? I'm waiting for him to manifest. I'll let you know
when he does.
Gigi - My mum says that if I write all the good traits about a man and
put it under my pillow then he'll appear but I keep forgetting!
Undecided_princess - I really love the show and have never missed an
episode, do you plan to be on TSLOU for a long period of time?
Gigi - I'm just cruising through - I'm going where the wind blows. It's
been an awesome experience to play in the world of TSLOU and I'm
blessed just to have wakled on the set and work with the great team that lives, breathes, sleeps there pretty much. So we'll see what happens...
scruffsdel - If you could be any animal which would you be?
Gigi A fairy! Oh, that's not an animal. Can it be a fantasmagorical
creature?
moniquey - hey there! your a new bubbly addition to the show and its
great. but youll prob know how jealous all the chicks are including me! is he really as swweet adn goofy in real life as he is on teh show?
Gigi - No. (Laughs)... No just kidding, it's on the TV, it must be real - that's he's like that. No comment. (I'll be fired again!)
Secret MODERATOR of Us That's it for tonight folks!
Thanks for all your fab questions!
Gigi Sweet dreams - thanks for coming. Hope your day is filled with
sunshine and lots more lush episodes of Secret Life...
___________________________
Hope you enjoyed! Especially, you, MS.
