Gina Torres

Gina Torres is most recognized for the tough, brainy women that she has played in the realms of Joss Whedon. Torres played Zoë in both the TV series FIREFLY and the feature film SERENITY, and then came to the world of ANGEL as the ‘kill them with kindness demon God’ Jasmine. Torres’ new series STANDOFF has her as the head of a team of hostage negotiators, and again she gets to take charge and carry a gun. iF MAGAZINE talked to Torres at the recently and got the scoop on her new show, being a female role model, and of course the Whedon-verse.

iF MAGAZINE : You have a gun again in STANDOFF correct?

TORRES: Yes. I still have a gun it’s just smaller. [Laughs]

iF: You play strong women. How is this character different from what you played in the past?

TORRES: I think they’re all different. Certainly these women to which you refer, [Laughs] are powerful and strong, but they all are very flawed. They are all incredibly flawed and they have different things that make them tick, and that move and inspire them.

What’s great about Cheryl is that we’re not quite sure about her yet. There’s still quite a bit about her that’s a mystery. What we do know about her is that she is very much committed to her job. She’s very good at it, and she’s no nonsense when it comes to her job. She also has a wicked sense of humor that I’m looking forward to exploring.

iF: How much of the relationship between the leading characters will she allow to continue?

TORRES: It’s out of her hands. As long as you can do your job and do it well. She is more concerned about the lives that are her responsibility. Those lives that are put into her hands day in and day out. She wants her team to run smoothly, that’s her biggest concern. If anything it’s going to jeopardize that then she’s going to have a problem with it.

iF: So in playing “strong but flawed women” is that what the draw was to this character?

TORRES: When I read the script, I thought “ok great! Here’s a woman who is fully realized, who is a professional. She is in present day. [Laughs] She’s not on a ship. I’m not eating people or consuming them.” I love that [fully realized female] image forth. I’m the stepmother to a fourteen-year-old girl, child, woman and I want the television and movie screens to be populated with as many of these intelligent, capable wonderful women as possible.