t has been described as the antithesis of Star Trek. Lexx, the sexy and darkly humorous sci-fi adventure series, has a nihilistic, savage edge. It has steadily grown in global popularity from its 1996 inception as four made-for-TV movies to its incarnation in 1998 as a regular series--partly propelled by the creative talents of writer Lex Gigeroff and the powerful Lexx appeal of lead actress Xenia Seeburg, who plays the charismatic, lust-driven Xev.
Gigeroff is one-third of Lexx's triad of writers, which includes executive producer Paul Donovan and Jeffrey Hirschfield (the voice of Lexx's lust-possessed robot head, 790). A genial and knowledgeable son of sci-fi, Gigeroff appeared in Donovan's much-maligned 1994 movie Paint Cans (which also featured Michael McManus, Lexx's heartthrob Brunnen-G assassin, Kai).
Seeburg was born in Geldern, Germany, and attended the famous Lee Strasberg School in New York. A demure contrast to the sexually open and aggressive nature of her character, Seeburg replaced actress Eva Haberman during season two of Lexx.
Recently, Gigeroff and Seeburg took a few moments to talk about Lexx, its evolution, and other aspects of the show.
Other sci-fi shows use a lot of sophisticated technology. Is it true that Lexx is reluctant to embrace anything but crude technology?
Gigeroff: It's funny. ... We use a lot of technology to make this show. A lot of computers are used, and equipment and all that sort of stuff, and yet the show's kind of suspicious of [technology, as it exists in the larger sense in the present day]. I mean, I don't know how everything works, and I doubt that Stan Tweedle [the Lexx's cowardly captain, played by Brian Downey] would. I think, a lot of the times ... we sort of assume that we're going to have this great bank of knowledge in the future, but it oftentimes doesn't work out that way. Not for everybody.
What was the reasoning behind all of Lexx's organic technology, epitomized by the Lexx itself--the crew's cybernetically enhanced insect spacecraft?
Gigeroff: Certainly, Paul [Donovan] has always loved the look. ... It just looks good if you've got some really good people doing it. Organic technology just seems like such a far-out thing, and it's fun to do. ... The pristine world of the future is going to have stuff that breaks down all the time as well, but it's more.... Just the tone of it is something which I think we like because it doesn't take itself that seriously.
How does writer Jeffrey Hirschfield come up with all of 790's great lines?
Gigeroff: When you've got a robot head with pure sexual overdrive, really, it writes itself.
About that sexual overdrive, what's the deal with 790 falling head over circuits for Kai?
Gigeroff: We'd almost run out of Xev jokes, but no. This is an important step in the emotional development of the robot head. It shows that he really is a robot head with deep passions. They may be directed in alternative ways and alternative thinking, but hey. I'd take a shower with [Kai]. Absolutely no problem.
In that vein, Lexx's humor can unquestionably be called quirky. Why do you think that quirkiness has caught on in Britain?
Gigeroff: There's something about the British. ... The tone of it, maybe, they seem to get. I don't know. I've heard some people call [Lexx] Pythonesque. I really wouldn't use that word myself.
What was the reason for the twin Kai in season three?
Gigeroff: It was one of those fun things to do in this peculiar, ongoing story. ... More importantly, it gave us a chance to really see Michael in some underwear. ... The less costuming, the better--unless it's Brian Downey. Then the more costuming, the better.
The character Prince (played by Emmy Award-winning Canadian actor Nigel Bennett) looks and acts a lot like Rutger Hauer's character Roy Batty in Blade Runner. Was this a conscious thing in the creation of Prince?
Gigeroff: I don't think it was a conscious homage, but hey. When you get the thick black suits, and get the hair people in there, then you're bound to come up with something.
What did you like best about the third season's change from a series of stand-alone episodes to a continuing story fixed solely around the binary planet system of Fire and Water?
Seeburg: It definitely gave the actors more and more freedom, because we could slowly but surely build up to a plot. ... Of course, it makes it a little more difficult for those people who haven't watched all the episodes ... but I think a lot of series have that problem. ... I think the look is good, and the stories were well chosen and well written. ... We're not really going for comedy anymore. It's much more of a drama now, which I don't mind.
In terms of the drama, it seems like Xev is much more in control of her passions, whereas she was largely a slave to her sexual whims in season two.
Do you see Xev this way?
Seeburg: I don't think [Xev] is always in control. She's trying hard to be, but I don't think she is, because this time, in the third season, not everything revolves around her personal interest. She's much more straightforward now. ... Also, this whole love-slave story didn't quite have the importance that it had before, but I was actually very glad of that, because I thought, "Well, it's nice to play that for a while, but I like the idea of doing [season three] in a much more serious way, as well as in an ongoing story, rather than separate episodes."
Amid the expanding universe of Lexx's success, how do you remain grounded?
Seeburg: In general, I'm a very grounded person. I didn't get into acting too early on, and I always think it's very dangerous if your success comes either too early, when you're still very young, like just grown out of your teenage years, or if it all comes too sudden. ... My parents are very down-to-earth, and they definitely kept me grounded, and I lead a very private, quiet background. And I'm not a crazy party person. ... I always know the difference between my character and myself. ... I've not turned into a love slave so far, and I'm not a nasty nymphomaniac, and still my skin looks better than cluster-lizard skin.
To sum it up, what's it like working on a show with few borders, like Lexx?
Gigeroff: It's like getting away with something.
