THN Speaks To ‘Defiance’ Star Stephanie Leonidas

Stephanie Leonidas was born in London and is well known for her work within the UK TV industry with roles in Daddy’s Girl, Soap opera Night & Day and Doc Martin. More recently Stephanie has starred in Neil Gaiman and Dave Mckean’s MIRRORMASK as well as a BBC adaption of Dracula, plus popular crime thriller Whitechapel.

Defiance tells the story of when aliens (referred to as Votans) come to Earth seeking a new home after their solar system is destroyed. However, they soon discover they are not welcome on Earth and a war erupts. After decades of war, a ceasefire is declared when both sides realise they must focus on survival on this new, almost alien planet. The show is groundbreaking in many ways but not only for having a video game release close to the TV-shows premiere but also for being a hit at Comic Con 2012 before anyone had even seen an episode of the series.Season 1 just finished airing and before the final episode was shown it was announced that it has also been extended to a second season.

We spoke to Stephanie in Devon about her move to American television in hit SyFy show Defiance. In the show she plays Irisa Nyira, the adoptive daughter of a human drifter who also serves as the local deputy law keeper. Irisa is a strong female character in and Stephanie tells us a lot of training goes into perfecting the fight scenes. Not only does she train physically to become Irisa but she’s now also fluent in ‘Irathient’, a language belonging to one of the Votan races. Stephanie has had to learn the language, which along with Castithan, that was developed by David J. Peterson specifically for the show. When asked about the heavy make-up worn on the show, Stephanie explains what a relief it can be to be fully emerged into the character, it also makes a incognito life easier to live at least in the UK as hard-core American fans will still recognize her even without all the costume. When asked about the difference between working for American television and British television she commented:

“…The days are longer, and there are more people on set – other than that it’s pretty similar”.

THN and fans alike will have to wait until May 2014 to watch Season 2 but you can enjoy Season 1 that’s out on DVD and Blu-ray today and you can pick it up via this link here! We wish Stephanie every success in the future!