Gigi Edgley (born 16 November 1977) is an Australian actress, singer, and songwriter. She is best known for her roles as Chiana on the series Farscape and Lara Knight in Rescue: Special Ops.

Gigi Edgley
Edgley in January 2013
Born (1977-11-16) 16 November 1977 (age 47)
Perth, Australia
Alma materQueensland University of Technology (BA)
Occupations
  • actress
  • singer
  • songwriter
Years active1999–present
Height1.67 m (5 ft 6 in) (5'5.75")
Spouses
  • Jamey Mossengren
    (m. 2012; div. 2017)
    [1]
  • Jed Luczynski
    (m. 2018)
    [2]
Parents
  • Michael Edgley
  • Jeni Edgley
Websitegigiedgley.com

Early life

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Edgley was born in Perth. She is the daughter of theatre, concert, and circus promoter Michael Edgley, known for bringing the Moscow State Circus to Australia during the 1980s. Her mother, Jeni Edgley, was formerly involved in managing a 250-acre (101 hectare) health retreat. As a child, Gigi Edgley performed both in and out of school. She also took several years of ballet, jazz, and character dance. She became mainly interested in acting and had her first professional theatrical engagement at the Twelfth Night Theatre. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Queensland University of Technology in 1998.[3] As a believer in the school of method acting, Gigi has developed a broad set of skills and experiences for her roles. Edgley is proficient in ballet, jazz, character dance, singing, and martial arts. Her signature skill is fire-twirling.[4][5][6]

Career

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Acting

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Edgley's early TV and film work included several independent productions (with later Farscape co-star Anthony Simcoe), as well as a guest star spot on the popular Australian series Water Rats and a role in Australian film titled The Day of the Roses.

Edgley is best known for her role as Chiana on the science fiction TV series Farscape. Originally, she was hired for only one episode, and her character was supposed to die at the end of the hour. The creators decided to keep her around for a few more episodes. At the beginning of Season 2, she was promoted to be a regular on the show. She appeared in total of 68 episodes of the series. Her character's nickname (Pip) was actually coined by her co-star Ben Browder.

Between seasons, Edgley has appeared in other guest starring roles on TV, including the popular internationally aired series The Lost World and BeastMaster (returning for a second guest starring role), has undertaken some independent film work, was cast in a feature film (pulled due to production and schedule reasons), and read a starring role in an audio drama for Seeing Ear Theatre.

After Farscape, Edgley pursued other projects including a role in the Australian drama telefilm BlackJack with Colin Friels. She joined the cast of Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us in 2003 and Stingers in 2004.

Edgley returned as Chiana in the SciFi Channel miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars in 2004.

 
Edgley in January 2011

In 2006 Edgley starred as the female lead in critically acclaimed Australian Drama/Thriller Last Train to Freo. Her role was nominated for a Best Actress in a Lead Role by the Film Critics Circle of Australia.[7] She also had a minor supporting role in the 2007 USA Network TV miniseries The Starter Wife. She had a leading role in three seasons of Rescue: Special Ops from 2009. In 2018, she appeared in the film Diminuendo opposite Richard Hatch.

She frequently appears at science fiction conventions and gives interviews to many magazines and radio stations around the world.

Music

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Edgley recorded a music single titled "Poison" with recording artist n8. The song is available as streaming audio on her webpage in the music section.[8] She also appeared in a music video for the song "When You Get to California" (2004) by Australian rock group Hoodoo Gurus.

In July 2007, Edgley began recording with Seattle-based artist/producer Kyle Stevens and writing songs for a new music release. At Farscape Con in November 2007, Gigi released "...SO IT SEEMS", a five song E.P. produced and co-written with Kyle. Edgley has recorded Fall, Ftang!, and Blue Sky Thoughts.

Other appearances and achievements

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Edgley was featured in several printed magazines. Most notably, she appeared nude in the Issue 49 (February 2001) of the popular Australian magazine Black+White. She was also on the cover of the FHM magazine in December 2003 and the cover of the US version of the TV Guide (29 July – 4 August 2000 issue).

Edgley was Yen Magazine's ambassador for the 2006 Pantene Young Woman of the Year Awards.[9]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Bastard Sara Short film
2000 The Monkey's Mask Tianna
2006 Last Train to Freo Lisa
2007 Showdown at Area 51 Monica Gray
2008 Newcastle Sandra
2008 Systolic Liza Short film
2009 Nobody Knows Trixie Blu
2010 Quantum Apocalypse Trish
2013 One Step Ahead Lisa Short film
2013 L.O.V.E. Insurance for the Heart Meredith Short film
2015 Whiskey Sour Emma Short film
2015 Della Mortika Zarah Della Morte Short film, post-production
2015 Hashtag X Short film
2018 Diminuendo Lauren

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1998 The Day of the Roses Erica Watson TV miniseries
1999 Water Rats Penny Lane Episode "Red Light"
1999 BeastMaster Maleena Episode "Amazons"
1999–2003 Farscape Chiana Main role
2001 The Lost World Pakim Episode "The Guardian"
2002 BeastMaster Talia Episode "The Alliance"
2003 BlackJack: Murder Archive Liz Kempson TV film
2003 The Secret Life of Us George Regular role
2004 Stingers Katherine Marks Recurring role
2004 Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars Chiana TV miniseries
2005 BlackJack: In the Money Liz Kempson TV film
2005 BlackJack: Ace Point Game Liz Kempson TV film
2006 BlackJack: At the Gates Liz Kempson TV film
2007 The Starter Wife Chloe TV miniseries
2007 BlackJack: Ghosts Liz Kempson TV film
2009–2011 Rescue: Special Ops Lara Knight Main role
2010 Quantum Apocalypse Trish TV film
2012 Tricky Business Kate Christie Main role
2014 Carlotta Jane TV film
2014 Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge Herself Host
2016 Star Trek Continues Eliza Taylor Fan-made series
Episode: "Come Not Between the Dragons"

Video games

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Year Title Role Notes
2002 Farscape: The Game Chiana (voice)
2022 High on Life Additional Voices

Music credits

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  • Vocal work on a single Poison by N8
  • Starred in a video for When You Get To California by Hoodoo Gurus

Awards and nominations

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Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2001 Maxim Award Sexiest Space Babe Farscape Won
2002 Saturn Awards Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series Nominated
2003 SyFy Genre Award Best Supporting Actress Won
2006 Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards Best Actress in a Motion Picture Last Train to Freo Nominated

References

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  1. ^ "Jamey Mossengren vs Gigi Edgley". unicourt.com. UniCourt Inc. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Actress Gigi Edgley and husband Jed Luczynski September 12, 2018". gettyimages.com. Getty Images. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Gigi Edgley - Contact Info, Agent, Manager | IMDbPro". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Gigi Edgley: Resume". Resumes.actorsaccess.com. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  5. ^ "GIGI EDGLEY - Resume | Actors Access". Resumes.actorsaccess.com. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  6. ^ Actors Access (SM). Retrieved on 4 September 2008.
  7. ^ "Last Train to Freo - IMDb". IMDb.
  8. ^ "Gigi Edgley". Gigi Edgley. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 7 July 2011.
  9. ^ Pantene awards Archived 1 September 2006 at the Wayback Machine
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