Defiance - Fresno Bee: Stephanie Leonidas embraces alien look

Source: Fresno Bee [follow link for complete interview]



DEFIANCE - FRESNO BEE: STEPHANIE LEONIDAS EMBRACES ALIEN LOOK

April 4, 2013
by Rick Bentley


Actors in sci-fi projects have to deal with elements that performers in other genres never face including special effects make-up. Think about it. For years, LeVar Burton had to stare through what was little more than a modified car air filter to play Commander Geordi La Forge on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”

Stephanie Leonidas, who portrays Irathient alien Irisa on the new Syfy Channel series “Defiance,” doesn’t have to look through a car part to do her job but she does have to deal with a prosthetic pieces across the bridge of her nose. Looking at her, the make-up just looks like a cool way to create the kind of otherworld look needed for the character. She has to look out through the make-up and while the prosthetic piece is small, it’s affected how she acts.

“At first, I didn’t think I would be able to move my face,” Leonidas says during a party to promote the new sci-fi series. “Actually, quite quickly it became a part of Irisa. Even the way I would move my face differently became part of her...”



It’s hard to tell if the British actress is just happy to be on such a big cable channel project or she’s being honest about wearing the alien make-up but she tells me “it’s amazing how quickly you get use to it.”

“Defiance” starts April 15 on the Syfy.