TALKING WITH "NIKA"

Coming off of the weekend, Natalie Radford cannot remember what she did. Which indicates that for her too, it was not long enough.

Her roommate, "Romeo", is present, making sure that he gets into the interview as well. Romeo is her two pound Maltese dog.

Richard: Tell me about your family in the Toronto area, and about growing up in Toronto.
Natalie: Well, I grew up as a normal, suburban kid...I guess. And I liked playing a lot of "guy" games. Like, I liked to play hockey and baseball. And, I hated Barbie dolls, because their legs and their arms would pop off, and they wouldn't bend, and they had these weird breasts which I couldn't relate to at all.
R: (Laughter)
N: So that's me and Barbies.
R: Okay (big smile)
N: And I had a really cool Hot Wheels collection.
R: Cool!
N: You know those little mini cars?...whatever you call them. I was a bit of a tomboy. I was a lot of a tomboy, actually.
R: Do you still participate in any sports, aside from bowling?
N: (Laughter) That was for charity! But, actually, I do bowl.
R: Last time you told me bowling was 'cool' so I have to make sure...
N: Yeah, I like bowling!
R: ...I have to include that.
N: Sure, you can include bowling. Sports, sports,...let me see. Well, I dance as well. So you know...that's kind of more my athletic outlet, I guess. I'm not involved in any teams. I like rollerblading, and I used to instruct windsurfing for awhile.
R: Oh, really?
N: Yep!
R: Where at?
N: Up north at camps.
R: Where at "up north"? For those that are not familiar with Canadian geography.
N: Oh, sorry. In the Muskokas. (I'll have to look that one up!)
R: And your family is in the Toronto area?
N: Yep.
R: Mom and Dad, or extended family as well?
N: Yeah, a lot of extended family actually. A lot of Aunts and Uncles in the Toronto area. My Grandma.
R: And how do you generally spend your time...
N: Oh, one thing I can say about my family, is that my sister..., I have one older sister, and she actually IS a computer whiz.
(Ironically, Natalie is not. Natalie doesn't even own a computer!)
R: Oh, really?
N: Yeah.
R: So, has she given you any tips?
N: Ah,...(laughter)
R: Or, is she just laughing at you? (Laughter)
N: No, we don't really get into the nitty gritty of the computers, but she helps me run my lines.
R: Okay. Well, good. How do you spend your time away from "TekWar"...such as right now, during this break?
N: Okay. Well, I guess I mentioned (to me in a previous conversation), that I catch up on movies and stuff like that, that I haven't seen. Or I like going to film festivals. Seeing foreign films. Playing virtual reality games.
R: Where exactly do you do the virtual reality?
N: They have a new thing down at the CN Tower,...
R: Which is?
N: What's the CN Tower???
R: Yes.
N: (In her best Bureau of Tourism voice) It's the highest freestanding structure in the entire world!(Laughter)
(That's two. I have been given an architecture lesson, to go with my geography lesson.)
R: Which is located there in Toronto?
N: Yep. And at the base, there's...

(We are interrupted by a call on her other line, as Natalie is going to a big audition today, so she wants to make sure she doesn't miss an important call. She returns).

N: (She returns and picks right up where we left off). At the base of the CN Tower, they have virtual reality games and they have Laser Tag. Everybody likes Laser Tag. That's kinda of a sporty kinda thing.
R: So they have a large indoor area to do all these things?
N: Yeah. (She gets another call. She sighs.) I'm not...okay fine. I'm not gonna answer it (the telephone). Anyway, keep going.
R: Okay. (We are thankful.) I understand that Nika was originally intended to be a different kind of a character, that was sort of a tek addicted, down on her luck sort of character. Are were [sic] gonna see any backstory on any of that?
N: Yes. I can actually give you a date for that. It's episode twelve, and it's called "Cyberhunt".
R: Okay. (Get the scoops here, folks!)
N: It will air on USA (Network) June seventeenth, Saturday at seven P.M. And, it'll be repeated on Sunday evening at nine P.M..
R: Now go ahead and tell me a little about that.
N: An ex-"Cyber-buddy" of hers, from the past, comes to visit her at her "day job". Her "boring" day job. And he like, teases her, and kind of is laughing at how "normal" she's become. He's also got a proposition for her. So she gets intrigued by that, and pulls out some of her old Cyber-tech gear and goes to meet him. And that's when you see physically, and wardrobe-wise, what Nika used to kinda hang out in. Which is kind of like a "Joan of Arc-leatherette look".

Copyright 1995 Official Tekwar Fan Club. All rights reserved.