Bionic Woman

The new Bionic Woman is so into her character that she simply embraces the entire experience, including all the demanding stunt work.  For her part, the original Jamie Sommers isn't exactly impressed with the reincarnation of the role she originated.

Michelle Ryan, who plays the mechanically enhanced bartender on the remake of the `70s classic, spoke to New York Magazine about executing as much of her Bionic Woman's physical chops as she can.  Meanwhile, Lindsay Wagner, who embodied the original Bionic Woman three decades ago, told the Los Angeles Daily News how she feels about the modernization of her flagship show.

If Michelle Ryan has her way, she's likely to need the same robotic implants as her onscreen persona, Jamie Sommers, has in her new series, Bionic Woman.  The 23-year old from Middlesex, England all but refuses to hand her stunt work to any double for her Bionic Woman episodes.  She told New York Magazine how much she loves conducting the action sequences and what her enthusiasm has brought her so far.

“I love it!” the British actress said.  “I'm sort of a tomboy.  There was one big stunt the other evening where I had to leap across two buildings, which I really wanted to do, and the NBC safety guy stepped in and was like, ‘No no no, the stunt double‘s doing that.'"

For the parts that she's managed to do on her own, Ryan has already reaped her fair share of injuries and accidents.

“I've got this lump on my leg where I had to run through a fan, and another injury where I had my arms tied behind my back and I did a flying kick and fell over on my arm and on the harness and everything.  That was sort of a burn,” Ryan confessed.

Of course, not all of her bionic skills can be accomplished the natural way.  Ryan explained how they come up with the magic of her bionic limbs.

“It's all CGI,” she revealed.  “Like in the pilot when she rips back her clothes and sees that her legs are just machinery.  They put lots of sticky dots on my legs, and in post-production they put in all the effects.

Meanwhile, the original Bionic Woman has offered her two cents worth on the modern version of the show.

"It's very different," Lindsay Wagner, who played the first Jamie Sommers back in the mid to late `70s, told the Los Angeles Daily News.  "It's very much like what the shows are today, kind of dark and broody and violent - what people seem to be getting off on these days.  So, it's not at all what we were doing.  We were doing a show for kids intentionally and making it fun and make it in such a way that adults could enjoy it, too, with their children."

Wagner first gave life to the Bionic Woman in a multi-episode arc as the romantic lead of Lee Majors' Six Million Dollar Man.  After the show received an overwhelming ratings boost due to Wagner's appearance, the actress was given her own Six Million Dollar Man spin-off, thus was born the original Bionic Woman.


-Rosario Santiago, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: New York Magazine, Los Angeles Daily News
(Image Courtesy of NBC)