HOLLYWOOD -- Jane Badler plays TV's most bizarre female, Diana, an alien who eats live rodents, murders priests and zaps innocent citizens with a laser gun in 'V: The Final Battle.'
Diana, despite obvious physical charms displayed in a skin-tight orange jump suit, has no other redeeming qualities. She is the most virulent menace loosed on unsuspecting viewers yet.
She is clearly more than a match for the 'A Team' and would send J.R. Ewing running for cover. Seldom has there been a villainess as ruthless as the misnamed Diana.
Those who tuned in last May to see 'V,' a four-hour, two-part science-fiction thriller, doubtless will be delighted to cringe again at the sight of Jane, as Diana, wreaking havoc on planet Earth.
'V' was NBC's highest rated 1983 show, and also one of its most expensive. 'V: the Final Battle' is a six-hour miniseries sequel divided into three two-hour shows that will be seen on consecutive nights beginning May 6.
There is a possibility 'V' will become a weekly hour-long series in the future if the Nielsen ratings live up to network expectations.
Jane Badler would be delighted.
'Diana is unbelievably fun to play,' Jane said. 'She is very freeing and uninhibiting. I totally go with it, like being a kid again and carrying out your fantasies. It's great being in control, zapping people with lasers.
'Diana is a reptile in human form. She is in charge of the space ship invasion of Earth from the galaxy Sirius.
'The alien mission is pretty simple. They need water to survive and plan to take all of Earth's water, including the oceans, back to their galaxy. They also plan to ranch human beings, like cattle, for food.
'These aliens have taken on human form, but when you tear away their masks, they have the faces of really terrible looking lizards with green blood and red, glowing eyes. Ugh!
'I hated holding the rats and guinea pigs and frogs that I had to pretend to eat. I put them close to my mouth and then they cut away at the last second to a latex dummy of Diana, which swallows them whole.
'Diana is the most evil creature imaginable. She has no compassion, no human feelings, no conscience. She is capable of mating with males or females. Like all lizards, she's cold-blooded.'
Jane, a brunette former Miss New Hampshire beauty contest winner, admits she is anything but cold-blooded. It also pleases her that she wears so much makeup as Diana that fellow cast members don't recognize her without it.
'V' is her first major role in Hollywood after years in New York devoted to TV commercials and off-Broadway acting jobs that led to roles in the soap operas 'One Life to Live' and 'The Doctors.'
Jane is a bit mystified why she was cast in such an evil role, but she would like to continue in it.
'Believe it or not, I received a lot of fan mail from viewers who saw 'V,'' she said. 'For some reason the public will let you get away with murder if you're an alien. But if you're a heavy in a soap opera, you get real hate mail.
'So far, this show has generated a lot of excitement in the network. But it's very expensive, which may prohibit us from becoming a regular series. We take up two sound stages at Warner Brothers.
'I'm not concerned about being lost in all the special effects and hardware in the series because a character as bad as Diana always gets attention.'
Jane is convinced women make the deadliest, most effective heavies. Almost inevitably the most vicious character in soap operas are chic, attractive women capable of destroying marriages, lives or entire towns.
Even prime time soaps boast their resident vixens, i.e. Joan Collins, who keeps the 'Dynasty' plots boiling.
'I imagine it's the unexpected quality of finding a good-looking female who would seem to have everything going for her do something really terrible,' Jane said. 'The better looking the woman, the more surprising it is.
'I think that's why Diana is such an effective villain.'
