Lisa Ryder as Beka Valentine in Andromeda. Photo copyright of Tribune Entertainment.
In today's Sci-Fi Blast From The Past, actress Lisa Ryder talks about her various roles, including Beka Valentine in Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda.
Becoming a police officer, lawyer, model and, of course, one of Charlie’s Angels were just some of the dreams Lisa Ryder had as a child. She also had a passion for dancing and performing, but it wasn’t until college that the acting bug bit her. “That’s when I discovered my love of theatre,” says Ryder. “Since then, there hasn’t been anything I’ve wanted to do more than act.”
Currently, she is busy helping to bring peace to a war-torn universe as Beka Valentine on the syndicated sci-fi series Andromeda. However, this is not the first TV show from Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry on which the actress has appeared. In 1997, Ryder guest-starred on Earth:Final Conflict.
“I played Kevin Kilner’s [William Boone] wife,” she says. “I only did two episodes of Earth [Decision and Truth] and, in fact, my character was murdered at the end of the first one. Boone had an alien brain implant that allowed him to experience memories quite vividly. So although he lost his wife, the two of them were still able to be together in his dreams. My role was supposed to be a recurring one, but that never happened. I guess the producers decided not to pursue that part of the storyline, so poor Kate Boone was no more.”
The director of both episodes Ryder appeared in was Allan Eastman, who, coincidentally, went on to become an executive producer on Andromeda. While she still had to audition for her role of Beka Valentine, it certainly did not hurt that Eastman knew her. “It’s always helpful if someone who’s involved in casting a TV series has worked with you before,” explains the actress. “It at least gives them a frame of reference. Majel Barrett Roddenberry [executive producer] also knew of my work, as did some of the representatives from Tribune Entertainment, who distributes the program.
“Allan introduced me to Robert Hewitt Wolfe [co-executive producer] prior to my audition in Toronto, which I actually thought I blew. Much to my surprise, I was called down to Los Angeles to read again. There were five of us up for the part of Beka and that’s when we met Kevin Sorbo [Captain Dylan Hunt] and some of the Tribune executives. Honestly, I had no clue who most of them were because I was so nervous,” she laughs. “After that, I did one more audition, for which I had to dye my hair blonde, and then I finally got the job.”
In Andromeda’s two-part series opener Under the Night and An Affirming Flame, Captain Beka Valentine of the salvage vessel Eureka Maru and her crew rescue the Andromeda Ascendant, which had been frozen in the event horizon of a black hole for three centuries. They plan to make a fortune selling Andromeda to their employer, Gerentex (John Tench), but its captain, Dylan Hunt, would rather destroy his ship than let that happen. When Gerentex double-crosses them, Beka and her people, along with a Nietzschean mercenary, Tyr Anasazi (Keith Hamilton Cobb), help Dylan defeat him. Dylan offers the colourful band of misfits a chance to join him in rebuilding the now fallen Commonwealth. They accept, but initially find it tough getting used to this new way of life.
“Beka and I have a lot in common,” notes Ryder. “When she arrives on Andromeda with her merry band, she’s a newcomer to the ship and how things work. She’s also new to the whole idea of being a first officer, not captain, and having to work under a new commander, Dylan Hunt. In a way, it’s like me. I walked onto this set knowing some of the people, but I was still an outsider. However, over the past year, I think Beka and I have found our ‘space legs’ if you will. We’ve come to feel a bit more confident and a little more comfortable in our respective positions, you know?
“As far as Beka and Dylan, they’ve developed a friendship but it’s not without its problems and tensions. There are always these little flare-ups between them and I like that. I want to keep some kind of edge there. In fact, I’d like to see Beka challenge Dylan a bit more. Yes, she believes that restoring the Commonwealth is a noble and worthwhile pursuit, but at the same time feels it’s an absolutely ridiculous and unfounded one. How can Dylan think that the seven of them can go down to a planet, introduce themselves and say, ‘Oh, by the way, we’re starting up the Commonwealth again, want to join?’ As Dylan’s first officer, though, Beka would be better off not to fight him on this, but instead be his reality cheque.
“I also feel that this crew needs to become a great deal trickier and, in certain instances, be more treacherous and mercenary in order to achieve their goals,” adds the actress. “Their captain is Dylan the Good, right? Whenever you have someone standing up for a noble cause, there’s usually a fleet of individuals backing him or her up. Sometimes they do things that are a little shady, but won’t hurt anyone. With only seven of them trying to do the work of thousands, it more or less makes sense that they’d have to go in that direction every so often. I’d like to see Beka doing more of that. She’s the get-it-done-gal for Dylan, but he doesn’t always agree with her methods, which is fine. Again, that gives us that occasional confrontation I like so much.”
In her travels aboard Andromeda, Beka meets up with a few old enemies as well as some next of kin, including her Uncle Sid (John de Lancie) in the episode The Pearls That Were His Eyes, and her brother Rafe in The Ties That Bind. “I had a really good time working on The Ties That Bind,” recalls Ryder. “It was such a solid, well-written story. Beka and Rafe had a chance to explore their relationship with each other and this provided the audience with some marvelous background information on my character. Cameron Daddo [Rafe] is a terrific guy and great to work with. He came in and basically charmed the entire set. All the women wanted to date him. He’s a lovely human being and a very giving actor.
“Another episode I especially enjoyed filming was It Makes A Lovely Light. In it, Beka experiments with Flash, which is the mind-altering drug that her father overdosed on. I’ve seen a cut of the show without the special effects and it looks pretty good if I do say so myself. It gave me a chance to further develop Beka. If you watch the series regularly you know that she can be so straight-on most of the time. However, having her on Flash gave me a wonderful opportunity to let loose and be a little wackier. I was able to expose Beka’s angry and arrogant sides – both of which she tries to keep a lid on most of the time – and we got to see her sense of humour, too. There were some long shooting days on this episode but the end product was worth it.”
A graduate of the University of Toronto, Ryder has starred in more than twenty-five stage plays. Her feature film work includes roles in City of Dark, Stolen Heart and, most recently, Jason X. On the small screen, she has guest-starred on such shows as Wind At My Back, Total Recall 2070, Psi Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal and Kung Fu – The Legend Continues, which was Ryder’s first time working in front of the camera.
“Oh, my God, I was awful,” she chuckles. “My character was supposed to be hypnotized by a magician inside a cave. I had to walk over these rocks to get to him, all the time not looking down. That’s not easy to do when you’re wearing high heels. To top it off, the actor playing the magician stood next to the camera, so every time we did a take I’d look at the camera and not him. I was just drawn to it! Talk about being a loser, but it takes time to master all these skills.”
The actress also had a recurring role on the Canadian drama series The Newsroomas well as co-starred as Detective Tracy Vetter in the fourth season of Forever Knight.
“Forever Knight was a bittersweet experience for me,” muses Ryder. “It was early on in my career and I was learning a tremendous amount at the time. I have to tell you that stepping into a well-established series with a very strong fan base was a hard thing to do. There were a lot of people who were big fans of the character I was replacing, and I took quite a bit of flack for that.
“That said, the show was an excellent forum for learning my craft. The cast and crew were lovely people. I have to say, though, that with Andromeda, the whole experience of being cast from the beginning, knowing everyone and getting to voice my opinion has made a big difference. I’m having a blast, and I think it’s because the seven of us are an ensemble. Kevin is definitely the star, but he doesn’t make a big deal out of it. There’s a tremendous amount of respect among all of us and we treat each other as equals. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
Steve Eramo
As noted above, photo copyright of Tribune Entertainment, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!
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