Interview with Christina Cox

Christina Cox has more than 40 roles to her credit but some love her best as Kim in Better than Chocolate, for her turn as the bisexual private detective Vicki in Blood Ties, and one half of the lesbian crime fighting couple in Nikki & Nora. Christina's newest sci-fi series, Defying Gravity doesn't have her playing a lesbian or bisexual, but she does get to wear form-fitting space suits and rattle off scientific jargon as a mission biologist. What's better than a hot nerd in space? Nothing, that's what.

Christina talked to AfterEllen.com recently about her new show,which is described by a production executive as a "sci-fi premise, told in a female-friendly way." She also gave us some dish on Ladycops, the show-within-a-show from the web series, 3Way, and shared her thoughts about this year's Hot 100 List.

AfterEllen.com: We're going to talk about many things, but first of all, Defying Gravity. You're an astronaut now.
Christina Cox: I am. It's my first astronaut.

AE: Many of your roles are sci-fi or other worldly. Do you consciously gravitate towards those genres or roles?
CC: Maybe I just don't fit in with the rest of humanity! No, it's part coincidence, and part that Canada [where Defying Gravity and other shows were shot] has become the go-to location for sci-fi. And a lot of my sci-fi credits are from before I moved to the States. So it looks like my passion, but it's mostly just coincidence.

AE: Speaking of go-to, you played a lesbian in Better Than Chocolate, a bisexual in Blood Ties, a lesbian again in the web series, Nikki & Nora, and yet another lesbian in Ladycops, the gay-show-within-a-gay-show on 3 Way. You're the straight go-to actor for lesbian and bisexual roles.
CC: I tend to gravitate towards strong, fleshed out, complex women characters. It's whether the writing is there and the character and the story interest me. I ask myself, "Would be compelling to perform?"

AE: And you can't help it if the "strong, fleshed out, complex women" are gay or bisexual. You have a large and loyal lesbian following because of  those roles.
CC: They've given me an incredible amount of support over the years. Both the GLBT and the sci-fi communities have been great, loyal fans. I'm really grateful for that. Chocolate and Nikki & Nora were really positive examples of what entertainment for the gay and lesbian community can be because they're grounded in reality. After doing Better Than Chocolate, I got sent every lesbian script out there. And a lot of them were insulting in how they portray lesbians. A lot of them have questionable motives and questionable execution, in my opinion.

AE: What was wrong with those scripts?
CC: Well, it was a lesbian character that was that way because she had been abused, or she had her heart broken by a man. It was a reactionary choice that made her go to the other side. Or the other versions are: She can be a part of a three-way, so a bunch of guys can get their rocks off, or she's crazy, or a black widow, or a damaged woman, or a stalker. And it's like, "Wow, this is not the way."

AE: Well, everyone knows we're either damaged or killers. Or both.
CC: Right. But I've been lucky. I look forward to more great roles for women.