Between 1999 and 2009 Lightsabre.co.uk brought news, fanfic, podcasts and much, much more to the masses. Our eighth guest was a Bond girl, a star of the Sci-Fi Channel and a big time Star Wars fan – Rachel Grant.
Lightsabre – Almost anyone who has watched the Sci-Fi channel over the last few months can’t have failed to have notice that Nina has changed. We think for the better, but how did you get the role?
RG – My agent sent my presenter’s show reel to Sci-Fi when they heard they were looking for a new Nina. It was quite odd because my show reel actually presented me as a serious travel and art show host but they asked to see me, and after two auditions I was surprisingly offered the part of Nina.
Lightsabre – Can you give us a brief history of Sci-Fright in general?
RG – Sci-Fright first aired on Sci-fi on Friday 27th August 1999. The character Nina is a horror host who introduces a double bill of horror films every Friday night. The first Nina was German singer Nina Hagaan, hence the name of the character and Indira Varma was the second hostess. I am the third Nina. Sci-Fright is available in the UK, Eire and Southern Africa. Nina also appears in a comic strip ‘The Nina Diaries’ in Judge Dredd 2000AD and has a Horrorscope feature at www.uk.scifi.com.
Lightsabre – Reading your Bio on your web site, we noticed that you liked Star Wars. Have you seen any of the others, and if so, what are your opinions on them?
RG – Oh, I love them! The entire story and characters are just fantastic! I have seen episodes 1, 2, 4, 5 & 6. The old trilogy is really something but I am enjoying the new one too! R2-D2 and C3-PO are one of my favourite film duos and I am glad they are in all 6 episodes. I particularly enjoyed Yoda’s fight sequence in Episode 2. I also have a bit of a soft spot for Darth Vader. There’s something sexy about him!! (Blush!).
Lightsabre – Have you any other science fiction likes and dislikes?
RG – I tend to enjoy most science fiction films. I particularly like the characters Spiderman and Superman. I like TV shows like The Twilight Zone and The Incredible Hulk. I don’t really watch things like Star Trek only because I know I’d have to take it really seriously if I were to get in to it.
Lightsabre – If you were to play any Star Wars characters, old or new, who or what would they be called? How would you envisage them fitting into the movies
RG – Mmmmmmm? I wanted to be an Ewok once (hehe!) but that was when I was about 8! I loved their primitive lifestyle on Endor.
Now, of course, I’d like to be a Jedi! I am not too sure about my character’s name, but I do have a new weapon idea for such a character with the Lightsabre – Nunchaku-Lightsabres – or something like that! I practise single and double nunchukas almost daily and know this idea would work. Basically, you would retain the chain/rope in the middle, half of each stick/bar with two small beams coming out of each end. I know the weapon is possible with a lot of my moves where the inner part of the bar is held only. One could also limit the two blades to a single blade allowing for other moves. Visually it would be extremely elegant in combat with a Catherine Wheel effect, inflicting fast repetitive severs. I could fight with two sets of Nunchaku-Lightsabres, which would total to 4 Lightsabre blades. Cool, eh!
Lightsabre – You seem to be quite fit. Do you practice martial arts, or is it all gym work?
RG – Actually, I visit the gym very occasionally as I build muscle very fast and try to avoid that. I tend to opt more for meditation and martial arts but practise mostly with weapons like Nunchakus, Elk Horns, and Canes – weapons that aren’t too heavy that strengthen and tone. I enjoy basketball, riding and boxing too.
Lightsabre – Do you use the internet much, and if so, what sorts of sites do you enjoy looking at?
RG – I use the internet daily for sending and receiving e-mails but of course I enjoy looking at websites – for reference to look stuff up, to look at movie sites with latest trailers and who’s doing what, E-humour, world and local news, sports statistics and banking.
Lightsabre – What has been your favourite role to date?
RG – Probably Nina but I look forward to tackling more roles.
Lightsabre – If George Lucas came up to you tomorrow and asked you to play a part in his next movie, what would you say?
RG – I may say yes if it were a challenging role.
Lightsabre – When and where did you first see Star Wars, and what impact did it have on your life, if any?
RG – I was about 6 or 7 I think when my father first took my sister and I to see Return of the Jedi and I loved it. I couldn’t wait to see the others. We went out and bought Star Wars Lego. I still have my R2-D2 alarm clock and teddy bear and I have an Ewok rucksack from the new trilogy and a few key rings. I very rarely buy film related merchandise but Star Wars has always been the exception. Also, when my sister and I chose our dog we decided on a Shih-tzu because of the Ewok likeness. I did hear that George Lucas once had a Shih-tzu and had the Ewoks designed after the breed, but I don’t know how true that is.
Lightsabre – You recently took part in the BBC’s Masters of Combat series, was that physically taxing?
RG – Psychologically it was exhausting! The cast of Masters of Combat was predominantly male and made up of world champions and professionals in various disciplines. Learning fight routines with such dedicated athletes was extremely demanding. Fortunately, I am quite supple through ballet training, but I had very little experience with martial arts and had only previously performed stage combat and fencing. Convincing myself that I could perform fight sequences on the same level was immensely challenging. The experience was most rewarding and after filming I was proud to have received over 60 bruises!
Lightsabre – How much input did you have on your websites design?
RG – Well I chose most of the photos and wrote most of the literature. The design was created by myself and the Webmaster (Peter Reeves) who is very good friend of mine. The response has been tremendous but it really is just a skeleton and I plan to alter quite a lot of it. I have designed several other pages but have not had the time to attend to it. Peter hopes to be adding more pages, animation and more news on my current work very soon.
Lightsabre – Darth Vader and his toadies go on Masters of Combat, and Yoda and his friends are the opposing team. Vader’s team is called the Dark Helmeted Fists of Evil. What would Yoda’s team be called?
RG – Probably something like The Hooded Heroes of the Force!
Lightsabre – Finally, what do you think of our site? We’d appreciate any comments good or bad…
RG – I think it looks great! It’s in a Galaxy of its own! ;o)
This interview was originally posted on lightsabre.co.uk on 12th June 2002.
