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Many
were surprised when the relatively unknown Loken
beat out other well-known actresses to land the role of Arnold
Schwarzenegger's cyborg nemesis in 2003's Terminator 3:
Rise of the Machines, but her performance earned her
critical and popular success. That led to more roles like
her current one in BloodRayne, in which Loken plays
a half-vampire, half-human who strives to avenge her mother's
rape by her father, the King of the Vampires.
Unfortunately
for Loken, BloodRayne appears to be a critical and
commercial flop, earning only $1.6 million in its opening
weekend and getting an overwhelming thumbs down by critics.
But she has several other upcoming roles that will give viewers
an opportunity to see her in action--literally. Like her previous
roles, her roles in the near future all involve some form
of Kristanna Kicking Ass.
First
up is the medieval epic Dark
Kingdom: The Dragon King, based on a tragic German
love story, in which Loken plays a Norse warrior Queen. The
mini-series airs in two parts on the Sci Fi Network on March
27th and 28th.
Then
there's the big-budget science fiction film In
the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, opening
November 3, in which she plays a wood nymph who lives in the
forest with her band of women and protects the trees.
Finally, she plays a femme fatale in Lime
Salted Love, which Loken hopes to see released sometime
in 2006.
In
a 2003 interview with Dark
Horizons
during the height of her Terminator 3 fame, Loken
elaborated on how she incorporates her sexuality into her
public image. "I think that you have to present an image
that is A, true to you, and B, the way you would like to be
perceived," she said, "so I think that through the
years I've worked really hard at trying to create an image
that is true to me. And I think sensuality is a part of me.
It's not all of me, but it's a part of who I am."
Issues
of identity and sexuality frequently surface in Loken's interviews,
primarily because of the type of tough yet overtly sexy female
characters she tends to play.
"There
was a period of time where I tried to cut my hair and dye
it and change my appearance," Loken told Dark Horizons,
"but I realize that in the end, you look better in a
specific way and people are always going to pass judgment
on you, so it's really up to them to see you in the light
that you want to be seen or just not understand you."
As for why she already has so many lesbian fans, Loken tells
Curve, “Women are drawn to other strong women. I am
the only woman who has ever fought Arnold [Schwarzenegger]
in any movie and won. That might turn some women on.”
With
this decision to come out publicly
now, Loken joins a small but growing list of actresses--including
Angelina
Jolie, Cynthia
Nixon, Heather
Matarazzo, Tammy
Lynn Michaels, and Portia
de Rossi--who are openly acknowledging their romantic
and sexual involvement with women.
When
combined with the increasing visibility of
lesbian and bisexual women in American pop culture, and the
media's extensive coverage in the last few years of gay rights
issues, these women help to chip away at the stereotypes and
misconceptions of lesbian and bisexual women that many Americans
still hold.
They
also make it a little easier for the next woman to come out--and
a little more fun for lesbian and bisexual women at the movies.
UPDATE:
Loken is guest-starring
on The L Word next season, and recently revealed
she is dating Michelle Rodriguez
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