Blasting oFF with Battlestar (ialacNca\lric\a HeJFer
cience fiction is about fantasy, about breaking the laws that govern the physical universe. Computers can have emotions, and swords can be made from shafts of light—by definition, none of the normal rules apply. Take, for example, the Sci-Fi Channel's Battlestar Gatactica. the second coming of the classic 1970s TV show, now enjoying the third season of its new incarnation. On the show Cylons are human-created machines that have evolved and taken on humanoid form and are now hell-bent on mankind's destruction. Among them is Number Six, a character so sexy, it is impossible to think of her as anything but a woman with radiant human flesh. And yet she is a robot. More to the point, she is a robot with an uncanny power to seduce humans. Now. that is interesting. We felt the need to do some Scanner DarWy-type investigating.
When Tricia Heifer, the actress who plays Number Six, strides onto the patio at the Chateau Marmont in Los Angeles, heads swivel to track the statuesque beauty. She is wearing jeans, a tight T-shirt and a black blouse. Minimal makeup, if any. We reach out and touch her. a simple handshake. Indeed, she appears human. Then the voice: velvety and feminine. As Tricia begins to tell us her story—how a small-town girl from Canada became
the sexiest sci-fi thing on earth—we have already come to one important conclusion: The 32-year-old is even hotter in person than she is on TV.
"I grew up with three sisters on a farm in Alberta." Tricia says. "I hauled grain and cultivated the field. We didn't have a television, and I think the only movies we saw were Star Trek and Star Wars. I'm not a chick-flick kind of gal." Tricia intended to study animal psychology and play volleyball in college, but one fateful day. at the age of 17, she was spotted in a movie-ticket line by a scout. Soon after, she moved to New York and began a successful 10-year modeling career, during which time she studied acting. Her big TV break came with a role on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation as a body-dysmorphic model who tries to cut off her face with manicure tools. She has since starred in Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels (she played Farrah Fawcett, naturally) and opposite Dennis Hopper in Memory on the big screen. The more success she has, the more she finds herself wondering how all this happened. "I never thought when I was a little farm girl in Canada that I'd be a model and an actor," she says. Not to mention a playboy cover girl.
As Number Six, Tricia has a tricky role. Battlestar Galactica chronicles the story of a group of refugees searching for the fabled lost world of Earth, following a war that pitted humans against the robotic Cylons. Number Six is not just one Cylon but a whole line of them, which means Tricia plays many characters. "I try to make all the Sixes a little different," she says. They all. however, have a certain sex appeal that is proving to be good for the show's ratings. The audience loves her. "I go to Battlestar Galactica conventions," Tricia says, "because I love to meet fans. They are really intelligent and passionate people, and I appreciate those qualities. I feel a sense of duty because they are looking for Number Six, so I can't just roll out of bed and show up. In real life I don't get noticed that much because I don't wear a blonde wig."
These days Tricia lives in Los Angeles and is married to an entertainment lawyer. The decision to pose nude in this steamy Acapuico shoot came down to gut instinct. "Nudity to me is not taboo." she explains. "I feel privileged to be one of this elite playboy group. Besides, we all have the same parts." Aha—proof! She is human after all. —Robert B. DeSalvo
