Interview: Enid-Raye Adams Unlike Firell, her placid, Zen-like Minbari character in Babylon 5: The Legend of the Rangers, Enid-Raye Adams exudes exuberant energy. It's easy to understand why: In addition to acting, Adams is a standup comic. For last year's Vancouver International Comedy Festival, she co-wrote and performed a well-received one-woman show about service-industry workers, "Would You Like Fries With That?" If you're up Vancouver way, you might catch her at her favorite comedy room, Lafflines, in nearby New Westminster. Enid has appeared on such series as The Lone Gunmen, Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years, the hit Canadian series Da Vinci's Inquest and SCI FI's The Outer Limits; she'll also be seen in SCI FI's much-anticipated 2002 miniseries Taken, and in the upcoming features A Guy Thing and Slap Shot II: Breaking the Ice. We spoke with her during a set visit in May. Q: What was it like wearing the Minbari makeup? A: Getting into the makeup is not that big a deal. The first day getting out of it, though, you discover you have all sorts of little hairs on your neck and face! Those disappear after the first day, as they are slowly and very painfully torn off your body. After that, it gets better — the process gets shorter, and it's fine. Q: Did the makeup help you step into this alien character and find her center? A: Absolutely. When you get into the makeup with the bone-crown structure [the Minbari have], it alters your movement — rather than my just turning your face and head really quickly, you move very slowly, and you find more of your upper body is required to move. And that affects your character, the way you think, the way you act. It's funny because Dylan [Neal], who plays our captain, says, I couldn't be more the opposite of my character — that as soon as the camera rolls, I'm a completely different person. Q: Tell us about your character, Firell. A: She's the doctor of the group. She's a Minbari healer, she's very spiritual, she's very centered. She's very aware of everything going on around her. She has a very specific, open belief system that perhaps some of the other characters don't share. So in that way, she's a little off-center. And I think she has to… not so much fight to be heard, but people don't really want to accept what she has to say. Or what [fellow Minbari] Dulann (Alex Zahara) has to say. It's going to be interesting to see how she interacts with everyone else, given the fact that she's not really comfortable [with others]. Let's just say she wouldn't go out for beer with the rest of the crew. Q: Is the role very different from the kinds of parts you've played to now? A: Yes, even though I've had a really fortunate year where I've played a wide range of characters… playing some really interesting, quirky women. Firell is definitely far more different from everyone else I've played up until now. Q: What's been the most challenging thing about playing Firell? A: When I get an itch in my ear! I can't scratch it, or else all of the costume will come off. The other thing is the latex boogers [laughs]. Sometimes, you just can't get all of your makeup off. [The makeup crew is] really great about getting it off you very quickly, but because they glue it on, sometimes you'll go home and you'll have these little balls of latex stuck on your face. And no matter how much you try to pick them off, they won't leave! Q: Have you had to rein in you lighthearted nature in order to play Firell? A: Sometimes — I'm a comic. But I like to play the exact opposite of who I am. I like to be challenged.