"I never say no," says Peta Wilson, who plays Nikita, the government-trained killer with a conscience, on the hit USA series La Femme Nikita, now in its second season. "I find that whatever I'm given as an actress, I really like to look at, read, and go, 'All right, this is not quite what I thought of but let me find a way to make it work.'" Wilson has certainly made this role work for her. Though her character has been played by Anne Parillaud in the original 1990 French film La Femme Nikita and Bridget Fonda in the disappointing 1993 U.S. remake, Point of No Return, to millions of television viewers Peta Wilson is Nikita.

"TV is there all the time, you know," explains Wilson, 28, of the show's popularity over the films. Standing tall in her low-cut black party dress at a recent press affair at New York City's Lincoln Center, the statuesque, Australian-born blonde seems more confident with her television alter-ego than she was when she first took gun in hand to become one of TV's hottest heroines. Two seasons back, she considered herself "very green." "I was. I still am," she says modestly. "I'll be green for the rest of my life."

But Wilson's fans think she's red hot (there are over a dozen Web sites devoted to her), as Nikita, code-named Josephine, framed for murder and forced to become a covert assassin for Section One, an elite, ruthless anti-terrorist group. She must kill or be killed by her own people. Wilson has not only grown into the part but she's taken an active interest in helping her character grow: "It's a very complicated character. She's growing so rapidly because every day for her is so life-and-death oriented. The lessons she's learning in instincts are really huge. It's not like a normal work day. I have to try and express that so the audience can...relate to her and the high stakes she faces."

Playing a sexy secret agent after two seasons still appeals to Wilson. After parts in indie features like the Canadian-made The Sadness of Sex (1995), she got the chance to become a lethal heroine the likes of which has not been seen on TV seen since Diana Rigg's Emma Peel character on The Avengers in the '60s. "I enjoy it. The hours are difficult. But I don't know what else could compare to it for a breaking role. I've been very fortunate and lucky to have [Nikita] still stay on the air."

Though she's dressed to kill tonight, Wilson was quite the tomboy growing up. "Yeah. I still am," she admits. Yet this onetime army brat has become one of television's biggest sex symbols. "Really? I haven't noticed that," she says sincerely in her husky voice. "Maybe that's why people think I'm a bit of sex symbol. Because I am a tomboy. That balance of the masculine and feminine."

On one hand, the athletic Wilson is into scuba diving, sailing, swimming and water-skiing, on the other, she loves fashion and wearing alluring outfits. "I do it for myself, to be quite honest. I'm glad the people are responding to it. But it's just me being myself, doing what I feel. Sometimes if you're not feeling particularly great one day, there's nothing nicer than putting on a great dress. Because then, all of a sudden, you feel kind of fabulous."

She also feels fabulous spending her money. "It's kind of great...I bought ten acres of land in Australia. And I've been able to provide my immediate family with an incredibly interesting, colorful couple of years. Which has been really nice, spending more time with my mum, my dad, my grandmother. And driving cross-country. I really enjoy the freedom that working in this industry and the kind of money that I'm making has brought to me."