Equal Opportunity Angel Valarie Rae Miller talks about why we’re not seeing much of her lesbian character on Dark Angel and if she has any trouble kissing another woman by Blase DiStefano

Valarie Rae Miller is now in her second season on the Fox series Dark Angel. "The show is set 20 years in the future when a major computer breakdown occurs and sends the nation into a depression," says Miller, who portrays Original Cindy, a sexually charged lesbian who is the roommate of Max, the title character. Original Cindy "sports a big afro and rhinestones on her face," she says. "She’s a tough chick, but she’s fine." And so is Miller. Born in Fort Worth, she is no stranger to Houston. Read on.

Have you ever been to Houston?

Oh, yeah. I’ve spent time in Houston, and I know all about Westheimer. Do you live inside or outside the loop?

Inside.

See. I know all about that. And Pappadeaux–my favorite [Houston] restaurant–every time I’m in Houston, I go there.

So, what’s going on with Dark Angel? They’re not using you very much.

They’re going through changes, man.

Not only did they use you more last year, the rest of the cast was used, and it was a lot more interesting.

That’s why I tell people they should write in, because the network takes the letters seriously. I was told that one letter is the equivalent of 500 people who would never write. Last season, the show did really well, even with preemptions. That was because the creators [James Cameron and Charles Eglee] were running the show. The network didn’t think the show was reaching the targeted demographic audience that they perceived the show should have. And I don’t think they really got that it had a much wider audience than what they gave people credit for. Since it’s so different than what they’re used to having, I think they’re trying to make it into something that’s more like they’re used to dealing with.

The storyline is getting…

It’s crazy, right? They brought in a gang of new regulars. In order to do that, they had to make space for them, so they’ve kind of spaced out the stuff that they use us for. At first, they were just gonna introduce the new people, and now I think they’ve gotten so far down that road, they don’t know what they’re gonna do.

What I loved about the show was that they did something so new by allowing you to be a lesbian without it being a big deal. You’d walk in on Max taking a bath, and there wasn’t some kind of weird thing going on where you had to say something about the fact that she was nude.

Right. Because she’s my friend. A lot of that can be credited to Charles Eglee.

What part do you play in your new movie, All About the Benjamins?

My character’s name is Pam, a bail bondsman assistant. Ice Cube is a bounty hunter for the same office, so I’m always trying to talk Ice Cube into letting me go with him for excitement.

Does he ever let you?

That’s like the big thing in the movie for me … I get to go and do some exciting stuff. [In the film, Miller’s character uses her considerable crime-fighting skills to help Ice Cube’s bounty hunter—turned private detective pursue a gang of diamond thieves.]

Did you enjoy making the movie?

It was so much fun. I got to spend a month in South Beach. It makes Montrose look like everybody’s sleeping. Seriously. It’s so out of control, and nobody wears any clothing, and there are the most beautiful women and men’s bodies you’ve ever seen in your whole life. It’s incredible. Everybody is like these beautiful bronze-colored people, and everybody has a tan.

Speaking of "tans," do you ever feel discriminated against?

Oh, come on. You know this industry is notorious for that. People are really small-minded. I don't want to say anything that sounds too bad, but you have to ask yourself how my character was such a large part of the show last year and such a well-received character, and suddenly you don’t see her very much.

I remember reading a quote from actress Suzanne Pleshette, a quote about women’s roles that has stuck in my mind for 20 or 30 years. She was one of the stars of the movie Youngblood Hawke, and she said, "I have a good role as female roles go, a sharp and sensitive book editor named Jeanne. But it’s Jeanne I play, not Youngblood." That was sort of how it was.

Basically, that’s still how it is. This show has been so educational for me. Though I got to do so much last year that you never see, especially for black women. Then the fact that the character is lesbian as well. Just the fact somebody even took the chance and did something like that is good, because it did open doors for people in general. But people still don’t realize how warped their perception is. And the people who are [scaling down Original Cindy’s part] are doing it because they don’t have a lot of interaction with people other than their little small sphere of daily interaction. It’s not like they’re doing it to be nasty–because they don’t see themselves as prejudiced–they just don’t get anything outside of that little ball that they live in.

How do you feel about playing a lesbian?

I think she’s a cool character. That’s just part of who she is.

I’ve had this thing about you since Dark Angel started. But don’t get the wrong impression, I’m gay, so I’m not…

[Laughs] That’s okay, baby, I’m equal opportunity.

So you didn’t flinch when offered the role.

I got the job after the part had already been offered to two other actresses before me. Both of them passed on it because they weren’t comfortable with playing a gay character. One of the first questions I got before I went to test for the network was like, This is the next-to-last step before we give you the job. We just want to make sure you feel comfortable playing a lesbian because we’ve already had some weird reactions. It’s very clearly stated in the material that she’s a lesbian. We just want to be sure you don’t have trouble kissing a girl. Hey, as long as she’s hot, I really don't care.

That means that these women who would not take the part were … well, you have no way of knowing, but I guess they were concerned that people would think they were lesbians?

Oh, yeah, and I do have a way of knowing, because one of the girls actually got to come on the show and do a small part, and poor thing, I know she was kicking herself. But things work out how they’re supposed to. I was told that everybody was so happy that it turned out the way it did, because I brought a lot of my own stuff to the character that was not there, that they never would have gotten.

How do feel about gay marriage?

If you love somebody, you love somebody. I don’t get what the problem is. Marriages have a hard-enough problem working anyway. I would think that gay marriages would work better because you’ve been through stuff together. So why not? And does that mean that everybody still gets half? On that I really wouldn’t care.

I have this personal feeling about sexuality … that everybody is really bisexual. Even though I’m not, I still feel I should be. I just feel like that would be the most normal thing in the world, because then you’re relating to the person, to the individual.

I think sexuality is more on a continuum, like on a gray scale, like you can be on one side or the other, or you can be in the middle. I know a lot of people both ways.

I just feel like I should be bisexual, that maybe something went wrong in my life.

[Both laugh.] There’s nothing wrong with you. How you are is how you are.

All About the Benjamins is scheduled for a March 8 release. Dark Angel can be seen Fridays at 8 p.m. on Fox. If you feel as we do that Miller’s character Original Cindy is being underused or that the show has become a bit too sappy, you can write and let them know: Fox Broadcasting, P.O. Box 900, Beverly Hills, CA 90213-0900. E-mails are supposedly not nearly as effective.