The Cast Of "FARSCAPE": Where Are They Now? - Warped Factor - Words in the Key of Geek.

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The Cast Of "FARSCAPE": Where Are They Now?

Join us as we go through the wormhole and get flung to "some distant part of the universe on a ship, a living ship, full of strange alien life forms."
Premiering on March 19th 1999, Farscape featured a diverse ensemble of characters who are initially escaping from corrupt authorities in the form of a militaristic organization called the Peacekeepers. The series ran for four full seasons, a total of 88 episodes, with a three-hour miniseries broadcast in October 2004 to wrap-up the plot. Throughout the run of the show, many of the main cast of Farscape were portrayed by actors, but others were bought to the screen through the creations of the Jim Henson Company. Whether humanoid or Muppet, what did the cast get up to next? And where will you find them today? Join us as we explore, whatever happened to the cast of Farscape...
Ben Browder (John Crichton)
As the astronaut from present-day Earth propelled through a wormhole, Ben Browder's Crichton was our surragate into the distant part of the universe where Farscape was set. Already know to US audiences in his recurring guest star role in Party of Five where he played Sam Brody in its 3rd season, Farscape became Browder's first leading part and one which garnered him two Saturn Awards for Best Actor in a Television Role.

After Farscape was cancelled, Browder appeared in the 2004 movie A Killer Within, and portrayed fellow actor Lee Majors in the made-for-TV film Behind the Camera: The Unauthorized Story of Charlie's Angels. Browder then returned to the world of science fiction when he joined the cast of Stargate SG-1 for its ninth season in 2005 playing the character of Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchell, the new commanding officer of SG-1. Several episodes of Stargate SG-1, most notably 200, comically alluded to Farscape during Browder time on the series. Sticking with the sci-fi genre, 2012 would see Browder appear in the Doctor Who series 7 episode A Town Called Mercy, and more recently he popped-up on the big screen playing Sovereign Admiral in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2.

Browder played the role of Max the Janitor in the 2012 live-action feature film Bad Kids Go to Hell, based on the graphic novel of the same name. He reprised the role and made his directorial debut in the 2017 sequel Bad Kids of Crestview Academy. His most recent on-screen appearances came in 2020 with guest star roles in a pair of CBS shows; All Rise and S.W.O.T.
Claudia Black (Aeryn Sun)
After playing the renegade Peacekeeper officer Aeryn Sun, Browder's former Farscape co-star Claudia Black appeared on Stargate SG-1 in the eighth-season episode entitled Prometheus Unbound, playing Vala Mal Doran, and again during the first episodes of the ninth season before becoming a regular cast member on the series at the beginning of its tenth season in 2006. Although they are probably Black's most notable international roles, she's also appeared on the big screen in a couple of other geek favourites; Queen of the Damned and Pitch Black.

Before Farscape, Black was quite well known in her native Australia having guested on Home and Away, A Country Practice and portrayed a transgender woman named Jill Mayhew in the Australian television series Good Guys, Bad Guys. She also took the lead role of Greek lawyer Angela Kostapas in the New Zealand soap opera City Life. Farscape would then see Black nominated for a Saturn Award in the Best Actress category in both 2001 and 2002, and then winning the award in 2005. Since then though, outside of SG-1, she's mainly concentrated on theatre work and occasional guest stints on TV shows.

You may well have seen Claudia Black playing Guru Sona in the rebooted 90210 series, also on The CW she appeared in 6 episodes of The Originals as Dahlia, and as Sabine Lommers in the 2016 series Containment. Black currently provides the voice for Sheryl Goodspeed in the Adult Swim series Final Space, and was most recently seen playing Stripe in the sixth episode of The Nevers. Black has completed work on a new science fiction film called Deus, expected to be released late in 2021, playing Karla Grey the captain of a spaceship sent to explore the formation of a black hole formation in orbit near Mars.
Anthony Simcoe (Ka D'Argo)
Unrecognisable as the ill-tempered Luxan warrior of impressive stature, 6ft 6inch Australian born Anthony Simcoe first found fame in guest starring roles in Australian shows like Home and Away, A Country Practice (alongside Farscape co-star Claudia Black) and as Steve Kerrigan in the 1997 film The Castle, before portraying Ka D'Argo in Farscape.

Since Farscape finished Simcoe has largely worked as a freelance corporate trainer, and also performs in the band Signal Room (formerly known as The Giant Killers, and Number 96), but has still found time for the occasional acting role, including playing the First Mate in the 2008 film Nim's Island and randomly popping-up as Ken Webster in 2014s The Inbetweeners 2.
Virginia Hey (Pa'u Zotoh Zhaan)
Playing the bald, blue-skinned female who belongs to a plant species named Delvians, Virgnia Hey had a long and successful career before being cast as Zhaan in Farcscape. Starting out as a fashion model after being discovered at a bus stop, Hey appeared in an early live performance music video for Video Killed the Radio Star by The Buggles on German television in 1979. During the 1980s Hey played the Warrior Woman in Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, and General Pushkin's girlfriend in the James Bond film The Living Daylights. Hey also appeared in various Australian soap operas including Prisoner (Cell Block H) as Leigh Templar, Neighbours as Beth Travers, E Street as Jennifer St. James, and Pacific Drive as Margaux Hayes.

After leaving Farscape, Hey has rarely graced the screen again, outside of voicing a character in the 2014 Rick and Morty episode Raising Gazorpazorp, and playing Diana Lord in the following year's Cosmos. Rather, she's concentrated her talents elsewhere and started her own company, White Flower Lei, which manufactured perfumes and soaps, and after gaining certification in natural therapy, Hey now teaches meditation across the United States and the UK.
Jonathan Hardy (voice of Dominar Rygel XVI)
Created by Jim Henson's Creature Shop and operated by puppeteers John Eccleston, Matthew McCoy, Dave Collins, Sean Masterson, Graeme Haddon and Tim Mieville, Dominar Rygel XVI was a diminutive creature who was once ruler of the Hynerian Empire but deposed by his treacherous cousin and handed over to the Peacekeepers. When nervous, Rygel expels helium – often causing his annoyed crew mates to complain in high-pitched voices.

Jonathan Hardy gave Rygel his voice. Born in Wellington, New Zealand, Hardy began his career studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) where he was a gold medal student. This brought interest from the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre where he secured contracts. After returning to his home of New Zealand in a 1966 touring production of The Comedy of Errors with the Royal Shakespeare Company, Hardy remained to help expand the country's theatre industry. A long and very successful career followed which saw Hardy appear in over 20 films, guest-star in over 26 television series, and take notable roles in many television movies and mini-series across the next 40 years.

Hardy played Police Commissioner Labatouche in 1979s Mad Max, the Magistrate in 1989s The Delinquents, and Man in the Moon in 2001s Moulin Rouge!. Hardy's final on-screen appearance came in 2012 in the Australian TV series Magical Tales. He sadly passed-away shortly after, aged 71, at his home in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales on July 30th 2012.
Gigi Edgley (Chiana)
Originally, Gigi Edgley was hired for only one episode of Farscape, and her character Chiana, the Nebari theif and con artist, was supposed to die at the end of the hour. However, the creators decided to keep her around for a few more episodes, eventually promoting her to series regular at the beginning of Season 2, and going on to appear in a total of 68 episodes.

Edgley's early TV and film work included several independent productions (with later Farscape co-star Anthony Simcoe). Between seasons of Farscape, Edgley appeared in other guest starring roles on TV, including the popular internationally aired series The Lost World and BeastMaster.

After the series ended, Edgley played Liz Kempson in the long-running Blackjack series of made-for-TV movies, and has most recently been seen on the 'small screen' playing Eliza Taylor in the 2016 Star Trek Continues in the episode Come Not Between the Dragons. After that, in 2018, Edgley played Lauren in the drama film Diminuendo, and will soon be seen as part of The Order, a new film about a covert group of vigilantes who dedicate their lives to eliminating violent threats and imminent disasters, and which co-stars popular sci-fi alum like Star Trek's Mirina Sirtis and Nichelle Nichols, along with one-time James Bond George Lazenby.

It was 2001 though that saw Gigi Edgley gain most notoriety, not just thanks to her acting work but also for appearing nude in the February issue of the popular Australian magazine Black+White. The same year saw her nominated for a Maxim Award for Sexiest Space Babe on Television. I'm sure she's honored.
Paul Goddard (Stark)
Paul Goddard joined Farscape toward the end of its first season as Stark. His half-mask covers an incorporeal area on the right side of his face that glows dark orange when uncovered, and can be used to take away someone's pain or assist in "crossing over" a soul. Playing the mentally unbalanced character was not Paul Goddard's first big role as he had appeared as Agent Brown in the Keanu Reeve's starring film The Matrix in 1999, as well as portraying Farmer Hoggett's son-in-law who tries to instruct him how to use a fax-machnie in 1995's Babe.

Eventually appearing in 35 episodes of Farscape, and both parts of The Peacekeeper Wars, Goddard then took a break from acting before returning in a 2007 Blackjack movie (alongside Farscape co-star Gigi Edgley). Guest-roles in Australian dramas Top of the Lake and Pulse came in 2017, with Goddard's most recent part being that of a newsreader in the 2020 Australian mini-series Halifax: Retribution.
Lani Tupu (Bialar Crais)
New Zealander Lani Tupu played Crais, the initial antagonist of the series, a Peacekeeper Captain who relentlessly hunts Moya and its crew, driven by the death of his brother, a prowler pilot who accidentally collided with Crichton's ship when it exited the wormhole.

Before Farscape, Tupu had appeared in both Time Trax and The New Adventures of Flipper, as well as small roles in film such as 1989s The Punisher. Like Gigi Edgley, Tupu would appear in The Lost World and also popped-up in a couple of episodes of Home and Away playing Lou Baines. Because it seems Home and Away is a little like national service for any working actor down under. Tupu also played something else you may or may not be aware of...
Lani Tupu (voice of Pilot)
Yes, pulling double duty, and so appearing in all 88 episodes of Farscape and both parts of The Peacekeeper Wars, Lani Tupu also provided the voice for Pilot, the multi-limbed creature who acts as the ship's pilot and is biologically connected to Moya's nervous system, serving as her voice to the crew.

Operated by John Eccleston, Matthew McCoy, Dave Collins, Sean Masterson, Graeme Haddon and Tim Mieville, the animatronic puppet's voice is just another string in Tupu's long bow of a career. Most recently you may have seen him guest-starring in a 2019 episode of the AMC series Preacher, the same year as playing Denian in Reef Break. Tupu's last credited role to date is in the 2020 Starz series The Gloaming where he played the Event MC in the episode Heathen Dogs.
Wayne Pygram (Scorpius)
Taking over the vacated role of main antagonist from Crais, the hybrid creature Scorpius is obsessed with extracting the secret of wormhole technology from Crichton, believing it to be crucial to an unavoidable war between the Peacekeeper and Scarran races. Like many of his Farscape co-stars, Wayne Pilgrim guested on The Lost World during his time on the series, but it was after Farscape's cancellation that he landed two of his most notable roles; playing the young Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and as Isaac of Uluru, a faith healer, on the TV show Lost.

The obligatory guest spot on Home and Away followed and a more recent part in the final season of long-running Australian legal drama Rake being just a couple of the few and far between on-screen roles Pygram has taken over the past 15 years, concentrating more on theater and his musical passion.

An accomplished drummer, Pygram is a member of the band Signal Room, along with his Farscape co-star Anthony Simcoe, and he also teaches the drums at Kildare Catholic College, an Australian Catholic school based in Wagga Wagga.

And that's what the cast of Farscape have been up to since the show ended. Now, how about a full four season rewatch? Anyone?

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