By William M. Dowd
Growing up on an apple farm near Ghent, Columbia County, may not seem like a launching point for one of the hottest young actresses around, but you can’t argue with success.
Kristanna Loken, the 5-11 ex-model who cut her show biz baby teeth with the Mac-Hayden Theatre in Chatham (“Snow White”), Albany Berkshire Ballet (“The Nutcracker”) and the Albany Civic Theater (as part of its Calamity Kids troupe), certainly can’t be accused of ignoring big girl roles in the past few years.
After going the usual entry route — TV soap operas, prime time guest shots, magazine modeling — she has moved on to some definitely edgier things in the past few years:
A killer cyborg in “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines”
A bisexual single mom in Showtime cable’s lesbian-oriented “The L Word”
And now, the personification of a graphic novel heroine who can’t be killed in the Sci-Fi Channel’s summer series “Painkiller Jane” (Fridays at 10 p.m.).
Loken is one of those actresses who can at once be a guilty pleasure, a riveting action performer, or a sympathetic character. But, don’t be surprised to see her break out in song and dance one of these days. As her mother, former model Rande, said in a 2003 interview with the Times Union: “From the time she was a little girl she showed a great talent in singing. She loved dancing … and performing. It came by her naturally.”
Until then, settle back and watch her (as seen above) chasing a bunch of mind-bending characters called Neuros through the noir sets of “Painkiller Jane.” Not familiar with the show? Brace yourself and hit that Web site for a course in Jane 101.
(Posted 07/14/07)
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