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SciFi.com Chat 2/28/00: Victoria Pratt

SciFi.com Chat with Victoria Pratt of Cleopatra 2525

Moderator: Vicky -- can you type??

VictoriaPratt: Yes!

Moderator: Cool!

Moderator: You're hired!

Moderator: Hi everyone and thanks for joining us here. Tonight we're chatting with actress Victoria Pratt, one of the stars of StudiosUSA¹s hot new syndicated science fiction action series, Cleopatra 2525. (Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in.) Victoria plays the beautiful commando ³Sarge.² If she looks familiar that¹s because you may also have caught her on ³Xena: Warrior Princess² or John Woo¹s ³Once a Thief² series!

Moderator: This chat is brought to you through the auspices of SCI FI _and_ Studios USA. Brief word about the drill -- this is a moderated chat and that means you will be sending your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

Moderator: : I review your sshow for Cinescape Online. As reviewer, I've been commenting on the characters' strength as well as beauty. What is your take on playing such a strong character as well as a strong character in a genre show?

VictoriaPratt: Wow!

VictoriaPratt: I love playing Sarge

VictoriaPratt: I think of the three she's the most fun

VictoriaPratt: Shje strong

VictoriaPratt: fiesty

VictoriaPratt: a sex machine

VictoriaPratt: and angry

VictoriaPratt: I think sf as a genre is exciting

VictoriaPratt: Everything is possible ans we're limited only by imagination

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: (By the way -- Vicky is NOT advertising travel in Georgia -- GA = "go ahead.)

Moderator: : What is it like playing a character like Sarge?

VictoriaPratt: It's a blast

VictoriaPratt: I can pretty much do whatever I want with Sarge

VictoriaPratt: It's like she doesn't have an rules

VictoriaPratt: She's reactionary

VictoriaPratt: And there are no rules of consequences

VictoriaPratt: That doesn't make her a bad person

VictoriaPratt: She's on the side of the angels

VictoriaPratt: But she'd be behind bars in the real world I'm afraid

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Ms Pratt what do you like most about the show?

VictoriaPratt: That's not easy

VictoriaPratt: There's alot to like about the show

VictoriaPratt: Some of the things I like are

VictoriaPratt: are working with Jennifer and Gina

VictoriaPratt: We have a great deal of fun together

VictoriaPratt: Working with the production company is great

VictoriaPratt: They make it so enjoyable

VictoriaPratt: They really pamper us

VictoriaPratt: And I love doing action

VictoriaPratt: Action is fun

VictoriaPratt: We have amazing stunt coaches

VictoriaPratt: Most actresses never get to do that

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : think I read you were track/field star, karate expert -- do you do your own stunts, or some of them?

Moderator: How much of the fighting and stunts do you do yourself?

VictoriaPratt: We do alot of our own stunts

VictoriaPratt: We went to NZ early to train with the harnesses

VictoriaPratt: I'm not a karated expert

VictoriaPratt: but I've studied

VictoriaPratt: And I am a pretty good kick boxer

VictoriaPratt: There are some stunts we can't do because if we were injured we'd shut down production

VictoriaPratt: Each episode shoots for four days

VictoriaPratt: so some stunts can be done by non-pros simply because of the timeline

VictoriaPratt: We love to do what we can though

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: Station identification: we're talking with Victoria Pratt, the star of Cleopatra 2525, the hot new syndicated science fiction action series. Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in. Please send your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

Moderator: : Hi Vicky, thanks for chatting with us. What do you think of the fan's reaction to the show so far?

VictoriaPratt: Hello Vanessa

VictoriaPratt: I couldn't be happier

VictoriaPratt: Last night I was in a restaurant in Vancouver and a waitress who has served me many times before said

VictoriaPratt: Aren't you in that show with the three chicks

VictoriaPratt: You're in such great shape... Why do you wear heavy sweaters

VictoriaPratt: I'm so glad people are watching

VictoriaPratt: It would be easy to write us off as silly

VictoriaPratt: But we're trying to be genuinely tough

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Is working on Cleopatra2525 a lot different from working of Xena?

VictoriaPratt: There are many things that are the same

VictoriaPratt: The difference is that I'm no longer a guest

VictoriaPratt: The shows are about "me"

VictoriaPratt: That sounds funny, but it feels different

VictoriaPratt: We share facilities and lunches...but our show is alot different

VictoriaPratt: The spirit of both shows is the same

VictoriaPratt: It's a good energy

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Hello vicky. This is Sam here, and I am deaf. I like Cleo2525 and how does the show affect you? Are there anything you don't like about the show, like any advantages and Disadvatages?

VictoriaPratt: If I could create the perfect Cleo...I'd invent an underground where everybodt wears flannel

VictoriaPratt: We didn't have time in the beginning to perfect our costumes

VictoriaPratt: I'm allergic to metal

VictoriaPratt: And I'd have burn marks from some of the stuff I had to wear

VictoriaPratt: We all wish we had at least one episode devoted to natural fibers

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : How is it working with Gina and Jennifer?

VictoriaPratt: It's fun. A pleasure

VictoriaPratt: The characters of Hel and Sarge have a deep back history

VictoriaPratt: I think that comes accross on the screen

VictoriaPratt: We really connect

VictoriaPratt: We have a similar sense of humor

VictoriaPratt: Sarge and Cleo aren't supposed to get along

VictoriaPratt: I keep telling Jenn that it's just Sarge. not me

VictoriaPratt: It's strange to have to be so tough on your friend

VictoriaPratt: I actually met Jennifer when I was working on a Spelling pilot in Auckland

VictoriaPratt: Before Cleo

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Do you ever feel like one of Charlie's Angels?

Moderator: Station identification: we're talking with Victoria Pratt, the star of Cleopatra 2525, the hot new syndicated science fiction action series. Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in. Please send your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

VictoriaPratt: People make that comparison alot

VictoriaPratt: Which angel would I be

VictoriaPratt: Charlie wouldn't have me

VictoriaPratt: I love Angels when I was growing up

VictoriaPratt: It was a game I'd play with my sister Laura

VictoriaPratt: I was always Farrah

VictoriaPratt: I had Farrah hair in the 80's

VictoriaPratt: Sometimes I still do

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Hi Vicky You probly don't remember me I wrote you a few times, send you questions for a Whoosh article. I was wondering You played a variety of characters..so far valley girl mob boss on Once a Thief to now a futuristic freedon fighter..of all your roles, which was your fav?

VictoriaPratt: Of course I remember you Larissa. How's goin gf?

VictoriaPratt: It's so hard to pick a favorite

VictoriaPratt: You bring each character to life

VictoriaPratt: I think Once A Thief was my sentimental fav

VictoriaPratt: My first series...John Woo..And I was in my hometown working

VictoriaPratt: But Sarge is a really cool and interesting charater and I can't wait to go back to NZ to work on her more

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : In Xena, you were billed as Vicky Pratt, and in Cleo as Victoria, any reason for the switch?

VictoriaPratt: Good question!

VictoriaPratt: My agents in LA actually thought that Victoria was a better industry name

VictoriaPratt: Vicky Pratt was my fitness career name

VictoriaPratt: They're two very different animals

VictoriaPratt: My mom however will always call me Vicky

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : With your new shooting schedule, do you find it more difficult to work out and keep in shape as much as you did before the show?

VictoriaPratt: God yes

VictoriaPratt: It's so hard

VictoriaPratt: I was getting up at 3:30 to go for my runs and trying top get my weights in

VictoriaPratt: We're lucky

VictoriaPratt: The show is only 30 minutes

VictoriaPratt: 'We get have the year off

VictoriaPratt: I'm training my buns off now

VictoriaPratt: When I go back I'll stay in a holding pattern

VictoriaPratt: It's hard to work out when you work long hours

VictoriaPratt: With our costumes I can't afford to stop training

VictoriaPratt: I'll fit it in somehow

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : How would you describe a typical day on the set of Cleopatra 2525?

VictoriaPratt: Typical??

VictoriaPratt: Like there is one?

VictoriaPratt: I get up at 3:30 and run

VictoriaPratt: Get picked up at 4:45

VictoriaPratt: Makeup starts at 5:15 and runs to 7:00

VictoriaPratt: Mostly my hair

VictoriaPratt: Then we start shooting. Lots of work, and lots of waiting around

VictoriaPratt: Some days we're in harnesses

VictoriaPratt: Some days there's no action at all

VictoriaPratt: We get 45 minutes for lunch

VictoriaPratt: and at 5 we get a 15 minute tea

VictoriaPratt: We finish around 7:30

VictoriaPratt: By 9:30 I'm asleep

VictoriaPratt: Not much gl;amour to it

Moderator: And only 6 hours of sleep!

VictoriaPratt: Sometimes I get to the gym after I'm home

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: to : How long does it take to memorize your lines? And how did you get started in acting

VictoriaPratt: I'm lucky Sarge is more of a fighter than a talker

VictoriaPratt: I take my scripts to the gym and read them on the stairmaster

VictoriaPratt: I started acting at the same time as my fitness career

VictoriaPratt: I took classes and loved them

VictoriaPratt: I studied for a couple years before I went agent hunting

VictoriaPratt: One thing leads to another

VictoriaPratt: I got some great breaks right out of the gate

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: Station identification: we're talking with Victoria Pratt, the star of Cleopatra 2525, the hot new syndicated science fiction action series. Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in. Please send your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

Moderator: : In your time off, do you look for other acting work or do you prefer to take a break from it?

VictoriaPratt: I was so looking forward to resting...

VictoriaPratt: That was good for about a week

VictoriaPratt: Right now I'm in Vancouver working on an HBO movie called Balcktop. Meatloaf is in it!

VictoriaPratt: I play Charly -- a sweet and innocent country lass. Not at all SAre-like

VictoriaPratt: And I'm coverd from head to toe in natural fibers!

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : ask her what kind of workout she does like weight lifting or gymnastics

VictoriaPratt: I change my workouts all the time

VictoriaPratt: I used to do alot of weigt training

VictoriaPratt: Now I don't want to get any bigger

VictoriaPratt: I use weight 3-4 times a week

VictoriaPratt: I do cardio on the stairs or bike 6 times a week

VictoriaPratt: In LA I kickbox 4 times a week -- I boxed thios weekend and I have the bloody knuckles to show for it

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Is it tough to work around the special effects?

Moderator: : Is it hard to work with all the FX in the show?

VictoriaPratt: It was SO hard at first

VictoriaPratt: Now a bunch of old pros at it

VictoriaPratt: Our first day on set Gina and I had a fight scene to dp...It was SO bizarre to be fighting against something we couldn't see

VictoriaPratt: And we didn't even know what they looked like

VictoriaPratt: It fely like we had egg on our face the whole time

VictoriaPratt: The more you practice the better you get

VictoriaPratt: Now I know what the bad guys look like

VictoriaPratt: I can'y wait to kick their butts in the next 8 episodes

VictoriaPratt: In our first laser fight we were told to imagine "mutants"

VictoriaPratt: Each laser shot cost $1000. We ran up the budget!

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Vicky, how much of a say do you have in the development of your character? Have there been times when you said "Sarge wouldn't do that" and the writers changed the story?

VictoriaPratt: We're really lucky

VictoriaPratt: We get input

VictoriaPratt: We shoot two episode at one time

VictoriaPratt: Before we shoot we read through

VictoriaPratt: Eric and Rob are great about letting us modify some of the lines

VictoriaPratt: It makes it alot more real

VictoriaPratt: No one knows our charaters better than we do

VictoriaPratt: We live with them

VictoriaPratt: We're the authorities

VictoriaPratt: My concern was that Sarge would be a one note charater

VictoriaPratt: They've avoided that

VictoriaPratt: Watch the episode called The Last Stand...Where Sarge falls in love

VictoriaPratt: That was a blast

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : How much fan mail do you get in a week or month perhaps? I'm sure it is increasing with the release of your show. I've noticed your response time has increased to over 2 months. And have you gotten hurt any more times after that head blow?

VictoriaPratt: Yeah. I get alot of fan mail

VictoriaPratt: I get alot from my fitness readers

VictoriaPratt: And because of the internet everybody in the world has my address

VictoriaPratt: I try to do my best

VictoriaPratt: I like to respond personally

VictoriaPratt: One problem is that mail going to Toronto waits three weeks before it goes to LA, or Vancouver, or New Zealand

VictoriaPratt: I'm sorry...

VictoriaPratt: Really.

VictoriaPratt: I on;y havbe two hands

VictoriaPratt: and only one I can wriote with

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Are we going to be able to buy Sarge action figures someday?

Moderator: Station identification: we're talking with Victoria Pratt, the star of Cleopatra 2525, the hot new syndicated science fiction action series. Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in. Please send your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

VictoriaPratt: Oh, I hope so

VictoriaPratt: The producers went to the toy fair a month ago

VictoriaPratt: I don't know what the results were

VictoriaPratt: I think it would be the greatest thing in the world to see Sarge costumes for Halloween

VictoriaPratt: I'd give all the chocolate in the world to those kids

VictoriaPratt: I know we'd make great Barbies!

VictoriaPratt: Barbies creeped me out though as a kid

VictoriaPratt: The things you do with those things...

VictoriaPratt: Call me old fashioned

Moderator: Butt-kicking Barbies for the new millennium!

VictoriaPratt: People would rip off my arms and all that stuff

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Vicky, with such a busy acting scedule, when do you find the time to pamper your self. Get a massage, take a relaxing bubble bath, listen to relaxing music cruled up in bed? I do those kinds of things at least three times a weak.

VictoriaPratt: We I was in NZ I took up facials

VictoriaPratt: I used to think it was decadent

VictoriaPratt: But there's something great about it

VictoriaPratt: I'd fall asleep and wake up feeling like a billion bucks

VictoriaPratt: I guess I don't take the time as much as I should

VictoriaPratt: But I indulge myself with training

VictoriaPratt: That does it for me

VictoriaPratt: I do miss reading for the pleasuer of reading

VictoriaPratt: I read too many scripts and not enougfh novls

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Hi Victoria!! How are you? I love your new show. I was wondering where you're from? Thanx

VictoriaPratt: \I grew up about 2 1/2 out of Toronto

VictoriaPratt: In the snow belt

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: How did you see your future as a young girl growing up?

VictoriaPratt: As a young girl I never imagined anything like this

VictoriaPratt: We didn't have options like acting and that kind of creative edxpression

VictoriaPratt: I thought I'd do something with fitness

VictoriaPratt: When I went to university that's what I studied

VictoriaPratt: I thought it was bvery logical

VictoriaPratt: Then I thought that it wasn't what I wanted to do for the rest of my life

VictoriaPratt: Thenm one thing led to another

VictoriaPratt: If I'd imagined this as a kid I'd have been one freaky little kid

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : Most producers develop characters and give the actor a chance to explore every aspect of their character. What sort of things would Vicky like to explore with Sarge?

Moderator: Station identification: we're talking with Victoria Pratt, the star of Cleopatra 2525, the hot new syndicated science fiction action series. Check your local listings for the date and time you can tune in. Please send your questions for Victoria to me, Moderator, as private messages. (Just double-click on my name to go into private-messaging mode -- or type "/msg Moderator" on the command line.)

VictoriaPratt: Well, hmmm...that's tough... I think there's a chance to explore alot of things with Sarge

VictoriaPratt: She's sexually aggressive

VictoriaPratt: I think her vulnerabilites would be intewresting because she's so fearful of them

VictoriaPratt: That's why I had a blast with The Last Stand

VictoriaPratt: Sarge fighting against falling in love

VictoriaPratt: It was neat to play those fighting feelings

VictoriaPratt: You'll all be amused

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: : I think someone asked Gina or Jennifer this during their chats in January - where do you see yourself in 10 years? P.S. I love you and your show. Thanx.

VictoriaPratt: Thank you!

VictoriaPratt: Ten years

VictoriaPratt: I'll still be 21!

VictoriaPratt: I think I'll have a couple babies

VictoriaPratt: This industry isn't kind to women

VictoriaPratt: I'll probably be writing

VictoriaPratt: I'll act for as long as I'm offered good parts

VictoriaPratt: It's hard to plan that far down the road

VictoriaPratt: My schedule changes every day!

VictoriaPratt: I know that I'll be surrounded by good people who I love

VictoriaPratt: And I will bge a karate expert by than!

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: Two more questions?

Moderator: Here's the first:

Moderator: : I'm kind of getting into fitness and working out now. As a fitness expert, do you have any advice for a newbie-in-training?

VictoriaPratt: The best advice I can give is to be consistent

VictoriaPratt: Make it a lifestyle or it doesn't work

VictoriaPratt: You have to do it every day

VictoriaPratt: And you have to eat a healthy diet

VictoriaPratt: Id you have weight to lse, go cardio

VictoriaPratt: For muscle mass -- weights

VictoriaPratt: Make whatever it is apart of your lifestyle. Like breakfast of going to work

VictoriaPratt: And don't eat fried stuff

VictoriaPratt: !!!

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: And final question(s):

Moderator: hi vicky, any advice for an up and coming actress?

Moderator: : What advice would you give peope who want to act, but need to start some where? How did you start?

Moderator: : If you could offer advice on being an actress what would that be?

VictoriaPratt: Well. The first thing is certainly to get trained!

VictoriaPratt: Find a school in your area.

VictoriaPratt: It's important to learn the craft before you try to get jobs

VictoriaPratt: The best thing you can do foir yourself is to really learn your business

VictoriaPratt: Later be very careful when you look for an agent

VictoriaPratt: There are some monsters out there

VictoriaPratt: Most actors who fail are the ones who don't keep at it

VictoriaPratt: GA

Moderator: Victoria, thanks so much for spending this hour with us! Victoria Pratt stars as Sarge on Studios USA's Cleopatra2525 -- check yr local listings for channel and time.

Moderator: Thanks for coming online, Victoria!

VictoriaPratt: And remember. Look for Blacktop on HBO this summer!

VictoriaPratt: Thanks for chatiing with me

Moderator: And thanks for being such a great audience everyone -- and before you all go...

VictoriaPratt: Good night

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