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A Second
Chance
Maclean's
(January 2, 1995) Vol. 108 Issue 1, p43, 1/3p, 1c
edited by: Barbara Wickens
In the futuristic
television series Earth 2, Toronto-born actress Jessica Steen portrays
the "genetically enhanced" Dr. Julia Heller. It is a key role in the one-hour
drama that focuses on the adventures
of a group of survivors after they crash-land on an Earth-like planet
22 light-years away. But before signing on for the show - whose stark
landscape is filmed in and around Santa Fe, N.M. - Steen says that she
seldom watched science-fiction entertainment. "I was never a Trekkie,"
she says, referring to the fans of the immensely popular Star Trek series.
Instead, says Steen, she was drawn to Earth 2 for
another reason - its strong environmental message. On the show, the crash
survivors had originally set out on their expedition because a mysterious
syndrome was fatally ravaging humans born or raised on
space stations orbiting a planet that was no longer habitable. "In the
future of Earth 2, it is clear that we have blown it on Earth 1," says
Steen. "Then, we get a second chance on a new, pristine planet.
I hope we can convey that sense of awe and wonder - and people will begin
looking around the environment as if they too were seeing it all for the
first time."
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