Now that Jessica and Michael Weatherly are engaged, does that change the atmosphere on the set?
You could be working at the post office or anyplace and have two coworkers dating each other. When the show was cast, the producers wanted chemistry between those two characters, and there obviously was. Whether or not there would have been a relationship off camera, they needed that to play on camera. So it doesn't really affect anything at work. I've heard horror stories where people have worked together and the people didn't get along. So I guess if anything it's actually kind of a blessing. It's really not a big deal with anybody. Nobody ever comments on it. It just is.
How do you feel about the new ''Dark Angel'' merchandise that's in development?
I'm so afraid of what they're going to do to a doll of me. This may sound really stupid and it may just be because we're shooting in Canada, but they do not get the concept of skin color. I'm a relatively light-skinned black person from a multiracial background. Jessica and I are not that different in skin color. But on the website they have a cartoon, and the cartoon of me is much darker than I am. And they do that all the time. They had a stunt double for me that was a way different color than me. They had to paint her to be my complexion. She's a great stuntwoman, but she's taller than me with a different build and a totally different complexion. But they figured, ''Oh, she's black, she'll do.'' And they don't mean it in a nasty way; they genuinely don't think people notice. But you know, we come in all different shades.
Is it getting any easier being an African-American woman in Hollywood?
It's still nowhere near where it should be and it doesn't even reflect what I believe what the majority of the country believes. I've been up for a couple of really good parts that had no color distinction and had directors say, ''You'd be so perfect for this,'' and then the studio says no, it needs to be a blonde. Being the outspoken person that I am, I always tell them, ''Hey, I've got blonde hair in my trunk,'' but they don't usually see the humor in that. On ''Dark Angel,'' to the credit of executive producers Charles Eglee and James Cameron, the show's been so ethnically diverse. But will it continue? I think in some ways the diversity isn't as pervasive as it was last season. But that may just be that we're only in the early episodes and it'll get better.
Playing one of the few African-American lesbian characters in the history of network television, is that a sometimes overwhelming responsibility?
What I like about the show is that the producers pride themselves on making her part of an overall cast and not drawing too much attention to her sexuality. It's a part of who she is, not all of who she is, just like in real life. As an actress when you read the material and you're preparing to do it you're not like, ''Oh I'm so proud of myself, look what I get to do today for the lesbian and the black community!'' But when I step back and I look at it, I think it's really kind of cool.
Do you have lots of adoring female fans?
You want to hear the kicker out of everything? The fan mail that I get is typically from young males, and they think Original Cindy's just hot. And to them, the fact that she's a lesbian is definitely a plus.
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