There's not anything I want to change about the character, because I worked on that for six months before the show started and I have a very full character and it's there. What I'd like is some of the writing to change so I had a vehicle to actually show the whole scope of the character.

Because as an actress, I can't really let the character rip, unless the writing permits it. If I let the character rip with the writing I've got -- I did that in the beginning and they didn't get it, so they didn't know how to cut it.

Because they were like, "Well, you should do it on the page as a subtext." I said, "But it doesn't matter what you are saying, it's about what the character's doing." It's not really what a person says, it's how they -- it's their behavior that sets up who the character is.

I need them to write stuff which is a bit deep, so the depths of the character can come out. And maybe they will in the next season. I do get a good, positive sense and a positive vibe that they're going to do that, because they've seen the way the character's going.

Now I'd like to pose the question of whether or not you think you'll stay with television acting for much longer. I've heard you mention in some interviews and such that TV acting isn't really your cup of tea... compared to perhaps theater or film. Do you think you'll stay with the television acting for much longer or will you go back to film and such?

I'd love to go back to theater and I'd love to do films, but mostly theater and mostly on my own terms. I'm hoping that if the show's successful, as it's going, I'll make enough money to have a production company, which I'm starting to do now, just to set it up, so that I can produce and direct and possibly -- I don't have to always be in the leads, little parts -- but actually get films going that I think are really good and actually use my commercial success to sell those things.

It has been a number of years (say back to the days of Emma Peel) since a female television character has had the strength and abilities of the character Nikita. Do you feel it is important for young women to see other women in untraditional (i.e., screaming meemie) roles where they are physically and mentally capable, and do you think it makes a difference in the way they view themselves?

I love men. I don't see the reason to push them into the ground. I just think we have to be a little smarter getting what we want. And we're more cunning than men anyway. We're smarter.

My role models weren't from television. I liked Angie Dickenson in Police Woman, but mine came from history. You know from studying Joan of Arc and there are so many, even the queens of England. Shakespeare wrote great women. So I think generally my role models haven't come from television, they've come from history books and my mother.

Sissy Spacek was a role model for me as an actress. And the character she played, Loretta Lynn, was a role model.

I read in an article you see the character Nikita as looking at the others through her sunglasses because they have taken everything else away from her. Which character in Section One do you feel Nikita has developed the strongest attachment to?

That's a very interesting question. I don't know I can answer that. Because I don't know that Nikita is really attached to any of them. She's attached because she has to be, but let's not forget that they're -- she doesn't want to be there. You know? I think she's going miss Walter. She likes him. She cares about him. She's got all kinds of weird things for Michael but, you know, if I answer that, I might give it all away.

I was wondering if you'd seen the original Luc Besson movie and what your thoughts were on how Nikita deals with being forced against her will? Of course she ultimately triumphs in the movie against all those who are trying to tie her down or quash her independence, but do you use any of those emotions and situations to create your TV character?

I saw the film when it first came out like everybody and loved it. I just thought this was rockin'. I said, "Right on." All right. The boys are really waiting for girls like that. You know, a little defiant. I think each actor has a different interpretation of any role. If, for example, I played Martha in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? it would be very wrong of me to look at Elizabeth Taylor's performance and then say, "Well, how did she do that?" and work it out and then create the character. It's the same thing with Nikita.

If I had looked and studied the film -- I saw it once when it came out -- I would be all screwed up. Because the truth is, to play a character well and right, to play the human being, you have to go down inside your own heart. And the only way you do that is through the technique of understanding how to break down a character technically. You find the answers within the text and within yourself.

And so the Nikita I created is completely my own, and she reacts the way that she does in the show and it's very different from the film. I love the film by Luc Besson. He created that for that girl and taught her to act, and taught her everything, from what I understand.

How did you feel about doing Leno/Conan/Rosie? Do you enjoy the exposure or do you miss your privacy? Does your being the focus of the LFN publicity affect your working relationships with rest of cast?

That's an interesting question. First of all, I feel like a saleswoman. I feel like I'm out there -- we've got this huge conglomerate right -- it's like a big building -- and everyone else is working on it. Without the tiler, the painter, the plumber, we have no building. But guess what? I'm the saleswoman. So they build the whole thing and make it look really great. And I get out there, and I'm the one who sells it. So I'm on Leno. Thank you very much.

But the truth is, I embrace my crew and love them, so I share the whole experience with them and if given the opportunity I'd say thank you to my crew. Because without them, La Femme Nikita wouldn't be.

It also wouldn't exist without the audience to watch it. So, thank you!

The question I would like to ask is: which actor on La Femme Nikita is most like the character they portray, and which is not, and why?

Don Franks, who plays Walter, is very similar to the character he plays. Who else? Probably me. I'm most like my character. I don't give myself limitations. I'm not the kind of actress who would say, for example, "My character wouldn't do that." I never said, "She wouldn't do that." What I said is, "Well, let's see how Nikita would do it." So, therefore, I am a lot like the character.

Some of the other actors are very strict about their characters and they not giving themselves a lot of room to breathe, maybe. But Roy's a lot -- well he's not Michael but there's similarities between the two. And Alberta's not like that. She's not like Madeline. You know, she's much more nurturing as a person. You see it now and again in the character. And Eugene is definitely not operations, he's the sweetest guy in the world.

My question is, I heard you, your brother and father had been awarded the title Champion Trailer Sailor. I don't know if I spelled that correctly or not. I'd never heard of this. What exactly is it?

A Trailer Sailor is a boat, a sail boat, that you can tow in a trailer on the back of your car. And we had a Corsair, which is like -- I can't remember what the size is -- it's like a dingy. It's a racing boat. And we actually had the heaviest boat in the fleet. It was called Bewitched. And my father had the youngest crew. Me and my brother and three other kids. And me and my brother were the only ones that knew what we were doing, and the other kids were just sort of in the boat for weight.

And my father was in command and I was the first mate. I worked the spinnaker. It was great. We were third across the line among 500 boats. We capsized three times. And we were third over the line in the heaviest boat in the squadron by a lot. And we were the youngest crew. We also won the top/bottom trophy, which was a toilet seat. Because we capsized the most amount of times. What was your favorite episode and why? Also, what is it like working with Roy [Depuis], Matthew [Ferguson], Alberta [Wilson], Gene [Robert Glazer] and Don [Francks], aka "Old Ironhorse"? P.S. I hope you are feeling better after your bout with bronchitis.

My favorite episode is "Mercy." The finale. Because I feel like it's the most honest. I had had to tone my character down a bit throughout the season. The producers and I sort of met each other halfway on some character issues. For me as an actress the finale was the most fulfilling experience. I really felt Nikita was really in a place that I wanted her to be at and I think we see so much of who she really is in that episode, and everything sort of comes out there.

How do I like working with all the other actors? They're fantastic. They're very giving, they're very different, all of them. Madeline has been acting for a very, very long time. And so the most women who are that age, they can seem to be a little insecure about a young leading lady. But Madeline is very secure in herself and she is giving to me and not at all intimidated by everything coming to me. She's always there to give me a helpful word and encouragement.

They all realize I work 60 percent more than they do. So they know how tired I get and hard it is on me, and they're always there to be nurturing, so they become my family in a way.

Roy is beautiful, but it's kind of like working with a very different kind of man, because he's completely opposite to me. He's kind of soft and softly spoken. He's French Canadian and I'm Australian. You couldn't get more opposite. I'm used to dealing with a very different kind of man. Roy is sometimes is shocked by me and my antics.

Matthew's a sweetheart. He's a very good actor. He's done many things. He was in The English Patient, he was in Love and Human Remains, he's been in many things. And again, they -- they were really great. Jim gives me a lot to work off.

And Gene is a sweetheart. I can't stand the character he plays. But he is a lovely, lovely man. And you couldn't get more of a sweetheart. He kind of wafts onto the set with his little French beret and his cashmere coat. He's a sweetheart. And he's very debonair.

And Don is a very interesting man. He used to be -- he's sung with people like Frank Sinatra. He's a great, great jazz singer and he has an incredible band and between takes Don sings me jazz songs. And if they're having a bit of a rough day or having a bit of a hard time with some kind of suits or people, Don will come by and give my arm a rub. And he will then go and break into song about my eyes or something.

So he's like a -- he's not like an old iron horse, he's more like -- he's like a little sweetheart, you know, like a little raindrop. And he gives me these black books. He makes up these black books where he puts all the photographs of me in them or of the character. And he encourages me to keep up a journal of all of the things that happen. He's a hippie kid. He lives on an Indian reservation. He collects old cars and I collect old cars. Or, rather, I'd like to collect old cars. So we have that in common.

And my bronchitis is much better. It was more from lack of sleep -- they worked me a bit too hard. It was very cold in Toronto. Minus 20 degrees. I got sick right at the end, but I don't think that will happen next year. I'll pace myself a little bit better. And I know what to expect.

My question is, in what ways are you like Nikita? In what ways are you different? P.S. I so agree with you about how Pam Anderson is a lame excuse for a blonde.

Oh, actually, I shouldn't say that about Pamela Anderson, because I've nothing personal against her. I don't really know her, so I can't really make any judgments. You know what I'm saying? That's how she makes her money and her career and she's really comfortable with that. Maybe she didn't like who she was before, so it's the '90s, and in the '90s world you can change it, if you don't like it, you can change it. So she changed it. And she's now a happy little camper. She's got that sexy boyfriend with all of those tattoos and she's a happy girl.

How am I like Nikita? It's so bizarre, but the Section, how Nikita feels about the Section, I generally kind of feel about Hollywood in a way. Not that I don't dislike Hollywood, but from something so foreign, and I'm acting because I love it and I have a lot of energy. And it's not an ego trip for me or having to assert my identity. It's just because I really like doing it, and I love telling the truth and love that I have the ability to be like a window and tell the truth about other people that I play. I can actually get my ego out of the way and do that very well. So for me, the metaphor's humongous.

I guess I just don't like people telling me that something can't be done. And they're in the position of power, that they can say yes, or no, and things happen. But they don't even try because they can't be bothered. That gives me... that gives me... that gives me a real pepper up my butt.

And I always look for a way around people like that. I don't meet murderers every day, the way Nikita does. I meet these other people. Then there's this little voice inside of me that goes, "There's a reason that he's like that. He wasn't loved. He needs love." There's something.

So what we do is we smother them in love. Kind of like a bee with honey. Give them enough, they'll drown themselves. So it's kind of like that reality in Nikita. Even with these really, really bad people. She's always looking for that. She's always looking for that one thing that -- a reason why they're doing it, so that maybe she can -- you know, give them what they need. Do you know what I mean?

And as for Pamela Anderson: We must not hate these people, we must envelope them, and just understand that they're different from us, and it is a freaky world and show business is full of freaks. We love her because she is what she is and she's doing the best she can do. And someone loves her.

Hi, Peta. What kind of music do you enjoy? Who are your favorite artists?
You're doing a wonderful job! Keep up the good work! You and Lucy Lawless are both wonders from Down Under!

Well, Lucy's from New Zealand and I'm from Australia. That's like Canada and America. So we're sort of from the same place. And thank you very much for putting me on the same par with Lucy Lawless, because I do agree with you, I think she's fabulous and a very truthful actress.

What kind of music I enjoy? I like everything, as long as it is done with heart and soul and people want -- they've got a point to tell. I love it. I don't like -- I don't like manufactured music that's like some guy taking some girl and turned her into a big star. I'm not into Spice Girls and all that stuff. I really love Dead Can Dance. The first rock concert I ever saw was the Doobie Brothers. So I kind of like some of the old Doobie Brothers songs as well. I'm not very cool when it comes to music, because I like whatever makes me feel in the moment. You know? I really like Luscious Jackson, and that song "Naked Eye." Oh, Jamiroquai, I love those guys. Incognito, Brazil '66. I also like Burt Bacharach. I really love the Rolling Stones. One particular song I really liked was "Melody" by the Rolling Stones. It's on the album Black and Blue.

I also really like Frank Sinatra. "Witchcraft." I really like Liza Minnelli. I think she's fabulous. Hmm... I like Ella Fitzgerald. I love Tom Jones. He's especially good when I'm cruising in my car, '56 Thunderbird. I've got Tom Jones turned up and I want to get in the mood.

I like country music. I love Patsy Cline. Loretta Lynn. I like Lyle Lovett. I saw him in concert, he was very good. I like classical music too. I like a cellist called Yo Yo Ma.

I really like classical music. I like film music. U2 were very good. And still are. I think they're a bit commercial now but that Joshua Tree was a great album. Joy Division I like. I liked Madness. The Australian band INXS is a very good band. There's a band that's called Men at Work that was big years ago. I also like this Australian band called Split Enz, which is the original Crowded House.

Well, that's just a few. I have very eclectic taste; it all really depends on my mood.

I understand you practice yoga. I recently began studying a contemporary form of yoga, and am completely impassioned by it. I wondered how you got started, did you take a class, get a video, use a particular book? I find the spirituality gained with yoga is invaluable, and you must find it a requirement with your busy schedule. Yoga is medicine for the mind as well as the body. Too many people are like speeding bullets of activity, with no soul. Yoga cures you of that malady.

Yes, I agree that yoga is very beneficial. I got started with yoga because a friend of mine, who is a film director in Los Angeles, thought that would help me with my busy schedule. I was part of a theater company. So with not enough hours in the day and many things to, I started my every morning at 8 o'clock and I studied a very physical style of breathing yoga. It took me a long time before I got results, because I was wanting results. And as soon as I stopped wanting results, the results came. My mind was going 'come on, come on,' because my body was able to sort of do it. But as soon as my mind chilled out, I began to see the results. I use it all the time now, on the set. I agree with Pamela. She should keep it up and I think she should pass it on to the friends around her. That's what I try to do, pass it along.

Hi, Ms. Wilson. My question is about your stunt work. I was wondering how much of it you do... it seems to me that you look as if you have had some kind of training in martial arts. Your fight scenes are great. I just want to thank you for bringing a great character to life. You are truly a joy to watch after coming back from my college classes.

I do as much as they'll let me. I do train and then I work with an airborne, and ex-airborne ranger called Tiron Mortrell who was one of the big stunt guys at Universal. I mean, eight weeks of tai chi, tae kwon do, stunt punches, stunt falls, stunt throws -- breaking and entering techniques. How to defend myself if someone came after me with a knife. How to defend myself if anyone came after me with any object and vice versa, if I had to go after someone with an object. So I did this and I was all prepared to do all my own stunts, kind of like a Jackie Chan, and I was told not to, that I wasn't allowed to by the studio. So they allow anything that won't endanger my life.

And, Judi, keep working hard in college. I studied very hard when I was at drama school and I'm living proof that if you keep focus and keep studying, it does come to you. Just keep working at whatever you want to do.