La Femme Fatale

Peta Wilson's latest assignment is anything but undercoer

Peta Wilson has built a Hollywood résumé conspicuously lacking in the typical girlfriend and damsel-in-distress roles, and that's fine by her. "I like going for it," she says in her distinctively breathy voice. "When I'm 85 I'd like to be able to have my great-grandchildren say, 'Wow, I can't believe that was you.' It's thrilling to walk on the edge to somewhere you'd never go in your own life."

For the statuesque 33-year-old, this has included playing Dracula's vampire bride in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, a lesbian seductress in Mercy and, of course, the sexy title assassin of TV's La Femme Nikita. When the popular cable show about a falsely convicted murderer forced to become a government spy wound down in 2000 after four seasons, the network received more than 25,000 protest letters, which inspired Peta to return for eight more episodes. "I was so touched that I agreed to do it to tie up some loose ends for the fans," she says. "And I'm still open to doing that character if they want me to. Nikita was a beauty--her vulnerability was her power."

To prepare for Nikita's backstory as a drug-addicted street denizen, Peta spent six weeks hanging out with the "wolves" on the streets of L.A. and New York. Similarly, she immersed herself in S&M dungeons and even hired a dominatrix to prepare for her steamy role in the 2000 erotic thriller Mercy. "That is my favorite movie to date," she says. "My father rented the video and rang me. I hadn't encouraged him to see it, because I kiss Ellen Barkin and there are other things going on, so I tried to change the conversation. But he said, 'I got sucked into the film and really believed you. Within the first minute I forgot you were my daughter.' I thought that was a great compliment."

Born in Australia, Peta spent large chunks of her childhood with her military family in Papua New Guinea, sometimes staying eight weeks at a time on a houseboat, exploring remote South Pacific islands. "My brother and I were exposed to a pretty intense, primal kind of healthy human behavior," she says. "We got a sense of what it feels like to be different, and we were absolutely loved for it. You would have thought we were gods the way the natives treated us. They taught me fearlessness." Back in Australia Peta's family encouraged her to nourish her creative impulses as well. "My mother's side was a big, loud Irish family. They constantly impersonated one another," she says. "When I was at an early age, my grandfather had me up on the table, doing little dances and telling stories."

Now living in Los Angeles, Peta says home will always be down under. "I've got 10 acres on the beach six hours north of Sydney, in a town of 3,000 people," she says. "It's nice and quiet. There's lots to do but not a lot to contend with. In this little town of Los Angeles there are a few more films going on, so I'm here at the moment. A lot of things are bubbling away in different stages of eruption. I just read a script featuring an otherworldly character. I think it would be so much fun to play her because it's something people would say women don't do."

After La Femme Nikita ended, Peta took the opportunity to have a child. "He's my little king in the making," she says. "I've always been a strong woman. Some people describe me as a broad. I've always liked men, of course; I'm definitely a healthy heterosexual girl. But after having a baby boy, I think I'm going to understand men a lot better and love them all the more because I've got one of my own now." Another man in her life is Steve, her cherished 1964 Mustang fastback. "It's like the model from Bullitt, so it's named after Steve McQueen," she says. "It's great. It idles at 25. My father and I sort of collect cars together, but I sold my 1958 Chevy Impala, Lucille. At the moment I'm not indulging in extravagant treats. I have Steve and my baby, and that's plenty."

As much as guys appreciate that classic car, when Peta emerges from the driver's seat all eyes are on her. "Sometimes fans look at you as if you're this extraordinary thing. It's really flattering, but it's a projection from them onto me," she says. "I don't feel as if I'm anything special. I'm just a normal girl living out a big dream."

"I don't think you should be cruel to anyone--animal or person," Peta says. And yes, she has been approached by Peta to join the cause. "But I wear leather shoes and eat lamb chops. I don't want to be a hypocrite."

"What really made me want to do Playboy was finding out that Patrick Demarchelier was the photographer," Peta explains. "I said, 'Work for an iconic magazine, look like an icon and be photographed by an icon? Yeah, now is the time to do it.' "