'Painkiller Jane' Is Easy on the Eyes

By Ryan Berenz, Zap2It.com | April 13, 2007

Kristanna Loken on 'Painkiller Jane'

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Following a photo shoot, willowy former Elite model Kristanna Loken (aka the sexy female cyborg in "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines") steps outside for a cigarette and a chat about her new starring role in Sci Fi Channel's "Painkiller Jane." Premiering Friday, April 13. The action series is based on a comic book of the same name, created by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada.

In addition to being a co-executive producer, Loken stars as Jane Vasco, a former DEA agent recruited by a covert government agency to track down and capture Neuros. Neuros are people who possess superhuman mental abilities ranging from telekinesis to the ability to induce hallucinations in others.

But after Jane survives a plummet from the 46th floor of a building, she realizes that she's not quite normal either. She's impervious to injury and can't be killed, but she still feels the pain resulting from her wounds. The possibility that she may be one of the Neuros makes Jane even more determined to find out as much as she can about them and the source of their powers.

Loken is one of several models who have had their breakouts in film and television by doing sci-fi and fantasy projects, and as much as we like to envision models playing "Dungeons & Dragons" in the tents at Fashion Week, for Loken, the allure of the genre is all in the imagination. "I just like the fact that there's no limitations to what you can create," she says. "You can really go for it. There are no rules to sci-fi. You can make them up as you go."

She also loves the demands of physical roles and found that doing a TV action series really tested her physical and mental stamina. "TV -- I haven't done it in a while -- it's grueling," she says. "The pace is grueling. The hours are long. I'm also wearing the producer's hat, which is a whole other job to also have on set. And it's just really getting familiar with the weapons you're going to be using, going over the fight choreography. I had a dance background, so the fights for me are a lot like a dance."

While Jane can't be permanently injured, the actress who plays her isn't quite as indestructible. But at the time we spoke, Loken hadn't suffered any serious physical damage while filming the series' intense action sequences. "The usual bangs and bruises and cuts and scrapes -- but no, thankfully, touch wood -- nothing of note," she says, hopeful of keeping it that way.

While it's easy to pigeonhole her as a "sci-fi babe" based on her mainstream roles -- no "BloodRayne" jokes, please -- Loken also is interested in independent projects that allow her more creative license, such as last year's "Lime Salted Love," which she both starred in and co-executive produced.

"I think that I was very frustrated by the films that are being made," she says. "A lot of the big studio films, I think, have a tendency to play it safe a lot of the time, which isn't always the most fun or exciting, that kind of bankable marketing thing.

"I really wanted to create my own version of very intellectual films. It could be relationship oriented -- in 'Lime Salted Love,' we deal with how childhood traumas shape sexuality as an adult. I have a film that I want to do that's more politically based. It will probably be about the immigration problems that we're having in the U.S. right now.

"I like to use film as a medium to reach people and create a real message that I think is pertinent."

But sci-fi fans need not worry about entirely losing Loken to low-budget artsy flicks anytime soon. She appears with an ensemble cast later this year in "In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale," a fantasy/adventure film based on a popular video game. Loken already is one of the most popular ladies of the genre, and "Painkiller Jane" will endear her to sci-fi fans even more. "They are definitely very loyal," she says. "My fans have been really supportive from all over the world, which has been great."