Karen Cliche Interview #9: Mutant X
Pic from Starpulse
Here is another Dreamwatch interview with Karen about Lexa, a little later in Mutant X.
Guiding Light
Newswatch: Mutant X
Karen Cliche is truly lighting up the screen in the latest year of Mutant X. Season three of the Marvel Comics-inspired superhero show stars Cliche (pronounced "Kleesh") as Lexa Pierce, a mutant blessed/cursed with the ability to manipulate light and even render herself invisible. Lexa fills the void left by the departure of Lauren Lee Smith's Emma de Lauro at the end of the show's second season, and her arrival and gradual integration into the Mutant X team forms part of a major revamp of the series.
"When Lexa first comes in, she has a mission to accomplish on her own," explains Cliche. "She wants nothing to do with being part of a team and a happy little family, and makes that very clear to the rest of the guys. So they are very guarded with her as well.
"Lexa butts heads with the team early on, especially Brennan (Victor Webster), as they're two headstrong people who have a little bit more of an ego than Shalimar (Victoria Pratt) and Jesse (Forbes March). It takes a long time for them to actually start being civil to one another, and of course Shalimar and Lexa don't hit it off right away just because of that whole girl thing, with Shalimar being very territorial. Jesse is the only one who sees there might be something beneath Lexa's wall and actually takes the time to discover it. But that only happens a few episodes into the season.
"By about episode 12, you actually find out why Lexa is the way she is," she notes.
"The rest of the season then unfolds in a much warmer way. They all get a long much better and Lexa is much nicer. She realizes that being tough and being a loner isn't really what she wants in the end, it's just what she made herself believe, so that she wouldn't get hurt. From then on, she decides that she's going to soften up a little and let people in. And that brings the show to a new level."
Action Woman
Cliche had just completed playing Makenzie Previn on the first (and only) season of the syndicated action series Adventure, Inc. when she was invited to star in another Fireworks/Tribune production, Mutant X. While the Canadian beauty was happy to sign a three-year contract with the series, she admits that she was worried about how her introduction into Mutant X would work out.
"Apart from the obvious concerns of going onto a show that was already established and replacing a very loved character, there was a lot of apprehension on my part in terms of how I was going to be received," explains Cliche. "I was going into Mutant X not being a very likable character.
"But the job itself wasn't such a shock," she continues. "Mutant X and Adventure, Inc. are different shows, but the characters weren't that different, they had a lot in common, in that they're both very guarded people. So, the actual transition wasn't that hard."
Cliche's arrival on Mutant X was helped by the fact that the show's returning stars -- Victoria Pratt, Victor Webster and Forbes March -- were quick to accept her, despite their lonsgstanding friendships with Lauren Lee Smith. "That was never a problem," insists Cliche. "I was so well received and I knew that cast a little bit from talking, because Adventure, Inc. was done by the same production company and so we'd been at some joint events and appearances. I already knew that we all got along fantastically and I also knew some of the crew from previous work. So I got a great welcome. The cast was amazing with me and very, very welcoming and very sweet.
"We had a fantastic time working on the show. Vicky Pratt and I just had too much fun for our own good!"
Reviewing her year with Mutant X, cliche reports that she likes the way season three increases the show's emphasis on "character development." She also notes that she is particularly happy with four of season three's 22 episodes.
"Brother's Keeper is definitely one of my favorites," she says. "Art of Attraction and Conspiracy Theory were good. She's Come Undone was a really good one. That was the episode that revealed a lot of her history and a lot of the story was developed. It was good because it just revealed another layer of her life nad it gave me another layer of vulnerability to explore."
Something that US viewers particulary enjoyed about season three was the relationship between Lexa and Jesse. cliche had fun slowly creating the 'will they/won't they?' aspect of the characters' friendship and was hoping to develop it further, had Mutant X lived on to a fourth season.
"I love what they did with that relationship in season three," she notes. "I think that it's been very realistic. A lot of times if they want to creat a love story on shows, they'll just throw two people toetehr and not build up to anything; they'll just throw them together and the characters have one fantastic night together. But this has been building for a long time.
"At first glance, Jesse and Lexa are such opposites, but they complement each other in the way that Jesse teaches Lexa a lot of things. He teaches her how to let go and how to trust people and how to be trusted, and I think he admires her strength and really wantes to take care of her.
"So I really like the way they developed the whole relationship. It was very slow, with a lot of sexual tension as well, and it's just been that they developed a really great friendship. That was exciting."
The Name Game
A native of Quebec, Canada, Karen Cliche began acting in high school and launced her career by appearing in such movies and TV shows as Vampire High, Big Wolf on Campus, and All Souls. Cliche acknowledges that since her screen debut in 1989, her distinctive French surname has frequently been mispronounced as 'cliche' rather than 'Kleesh'. But she's quick to make it clear that she's always taken that in her stride.
"If people are mispronouncing my name and talking about it, I just think it's great they're talking about it!" she explains with a giggle. "I don't have a reason to change my name. It hasn't caused me any problems."
Prior to joining Mutant X, Cliche made a big impact on US and Canadian TV viewers in the fantasy-action series Adventure, Inc. The show followed the exploits of explorer and treasure hunter Judson Cross (Terminator's Michael Biehn) and his assistants Gabriel Patterson (the late Jesse Nilsson) and Makenzie 'Mac' Previn (Cliche).
"Adventure Inc. was one of the best experiences of my life," says Cliche. "Michael, Jessie and I had so much fun. the show did very well in every market we were in, but we just couldn't sell it to enough countries to get a second season. It's worked out well for me, though. Adventure, Inc. is a fond memory, but it's been nice to move on to Mutant X."
The cast and crew of Mutant X completed work on the show's third season earlier this year, and initially looked set to begin filming season four in Toronto, Canada, this summer. But the show now looks unlikely to continue, as one of its key backers, Fireworks, has announced that it wants to withdraw from television production, and Tribune Entertainment has yet to find a new production partner.
"Tribune wants it to continue, and we're all hoping for the best," declares Cliche. "It's all a question of politics. I'm very sad that it seems to be over. We had such a great time working on the show. But if it's not coming back, I'm looking forward to whatever's next."