Celebrity Scoop: Morena Baccarin

When ABC's "V" returns for its 10-episode second season, Morena Baccarin won't be playing the only powerful female aboard the alien vessel.

Starting with the season premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 4, Jane Badler, star of the original "V" miniseries and series in the 1980s, joins the cast as Diana (her original character name), the mother of Anna (Baccarin), leader of the alien "Visitors" who have arrived on Earth with a fleet and a secret agenda (such as being lizards in human disguise).

"She's so sweet," says Baccarin. "When I first saw her coming out of the cocoon she comes out of … I remember her scaring me so much as a kid, and here she was, in front of me.

"I saw the scene that everybody saw with the mouse-eating and the face-peeling stuff."

As fans of the original "V" remember, the aliens are fond of eating small animals, such as mice -- alive.

"I talked to her recently about that," says Baccarin. "She's pretty sick of the rat-eating jokes.

"I have had to do my homage to that scene. Let's say, it was not a mouse; it was a lot bigger than a mouse. We're talking about a big, white rat, with a big, long tail and beady little red eyes.

"It was real, and it was scared, and it was trying to crawl up my arm. It was horrible."

Since the original Diana was an iconic image in the 1980s "V," it gives Baccarin a lot to live up to.

"I know," she says. "We have great scenes together, Jane and I. What's cool about it is, you get to see a different side of Anna. It's just like any other mother/daughter relationship. Mothers know how to push your buttons, no matter what you are, if you're a lizard or a human."