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If you're a pop culture junkie who loves TV, film, music, comedy, and other really important stuff, then you've come to the right place.Get ready and settle in for Classic Conversations, the best pop culture interviews in the world.That's right.
We circled the globe, so you don't have to.If you're ready to be the king of the water cooler, then you're ready for Classic Conversations with your host, Jeff Dwoskin.
All right. And thank you so much for that amazing introduction.You get the show going each and every week.And this week was no exception.Welcome everybody to episode 340 of Classic Conversations.As always, I am your host, Jeff Dwoskin.
Great to have you back for what's sure to be an out of this world episode.My guest today coming to us all the way from Australia, Jane Badler.You loved her as Diana on V, the miniseries, the final battle, the TV show.
We're diving deep into V and so much more, and that's coming up in just a few seconds.And in these few seconds. Do not miss my amazing deep dive with Stanley Livingston.Chip from My Three Sons was here last week.
So much nostalgia packed into one episode.Could barely contain it.You're going to love it.You know what else you're going to love?You're going to love my conversation with Jane Badler.She's amazing.
We talk V, Falcon Crest, the Mission Impossible reboot, and so much more.And that's coming up right now.
All right, everyone, I am excited to introduce my next guest, actress, recording artist, best known as Diana on V, one of my favorite shows of all time.I am so excited to have on the show, Jane Badler.Hey, Jane.
Hello.Thank you for that beautiful introduction.I loved it.
V, I wanted to dive into V and kind of just kind of dive into all your career and goodness.V has a special place in my heart.I just rewatched it all.Well, the two miniseries.So it's just one of those things.
It was one of those things that I remember because I watched with my dad and it was like, It was so great.It was something we did together.So it has a special place in my heart.I interviewed Kenny Johnson once.We kind of dove into it a lot.
And so I do want to kind of just start with, before we go back in time, TV Guide.Yeah.Named Diana.Your character Diana was ranked number five in TV Guide's list of the 25 greatest sci-fi legends. That's pretty cool.
That's just incredible.Wow.I love that so much.I forgot about that.When was that?When did they do that?
That was the August 2004 issue.Wow.
So that was like 20 years after.Yeah.
That's pretty incredible.That is incredible.I thought you might be like, oh, I wonder who else was on that list.So I found the whole list.
Well, I wouldn't, I don't need to know everyone, but I wouldn't mind knowing who was before me.
Yeah, they, of course, of course.You were just edged out by George Jetson.
It's a very interesting list.
That makes me not so happy to be number five.But anyway, let's see.Number one, was it, was it Joan Collins?
Number one is Rod Serling from The Twilight Zone, so that's respectable.
The Star Trek crew is number two, and Uncle Martin from My Favorite Martian was number three.But you beat out Alf, you beat out Fox Mulder, you beat out... It's still fine.It's still awesome.
It's just, like you said, 20 years later to be popping on the list.
Gosh.It's just amazing, the longevity of that series.It's incredible.
Yeah, it's been 40 years since I think V The Final Battle came out.I think it's like literally, literally, as we're taping this, I don't know when it's gonna release, but like literally 40 years, like when it aired.
My God, it's so crazy, isn't it?Oh my God, I can't believe it.
What's crazy is like, I remember like it was yesterday watching this show.I mean, it was just, it was so great.But all right, let's build up to that.When did you know you wanted to act?What's your origin story?
Well, I think that, you know, for me as a child growing up, I loved fantasy.That was, you know, I used to pretend I was Cleopatra and I would have all these men, you know, kind of bowing to me.I don't know why I had that.That was what I loved.
And I just, I think coming from a home, my parents were divorced and I really wanted to make good in the world.I wanted to do something and really be famous.I thought I wanted to be famous. So I always acted, that was kind of a fantasy for me.
And then I got into Northwestern as a theater major, one of the great schools.And so when I graduated, that was what I was going to do.And I went off to New York on my own and said, I'm going to be an actress.Yeah.At the time it was really brave.
I was, I didn't know a soul there, but it was just as burning desire I had inside me.
When you were in New York, did you start out in theater?
I started at, that's a great question.I started out doing a lot of commercials.I became the commercial queen. I worked with OJ Simpson on Hertz Rent-A-Car and Bob Hope.
We did a commercial together and I did just, you know, Arid Extra Dry, English Leather, Playtex Bra.And then I did theater and I would do Summer Stock.
As you know, theater in New York often starts outside of New York and they try it out and then bring it in.And I did The Fantastics, which was one of the longest running plays off Broadway.
And then I got my first soap opera, which was kind of destiny because that pulled me out of theater into television.
You were also in pageants, right?You were Miss New Hampshire, and you were in the Miss American pageant.Where does this fall on that timeline?Is this?
You know, I think I was in when my mom said to me, look, I was getting a little rebellious.I was 17, and my mom was worrying.And she was a single mom, and we had four kids.She said, why don't you join the Miss Manchester pageant?
That was the last thing on my mind.And I had just moved to New Hampshire, so I didn't even know anyone. I just showed up and did the Miss Manchester and I won.
And then I went on to Miss New Hampshire and won that and suddenly, oh my God, here I am, a beauty queen.It was the last thing I was thinking about, you know, and cutting ribbons and on floats and all that stuff.
And it was kind of a strange thing for me to be doing at that time.Then I had to prepare for the Miss America pageant and it was very big deal for me at that time.It taught me a lot about discipline and I got to sing.I got to hone my singing skills.
Yeah, it was good.It was really good at the time.Do you remember the question they asked you?
Don't they always ask like a question?How, Jane, how would you solve world peace?
That's exactly what they ask.How would you solve world peace?That's the regular question.Or what good would you do for the world?And you practice it, of course, before you go on.
But the girl that won that year, she was Miss Wisconsin, and she was anti-abortion and a Christian.I mean, that's where the world was at.That was 1972 or three.Yeah, I just remember, God, they ask you the question, how would you solve world peace?
An 18-year-old beauty queen, I love it.That's so fantastic, isn't it?
I know it's crazy.But yeah, that when I went to when I went to Northwestern, just a little, it's like everyone knew who I was, you know, here, this was a great theater school, snobby theater school.
And I walked in and Hey, Mr. Hampshire is like, it was pretty funny.It sort of followed me.
You do all the commercials.Did you know age OJ at the time?Or you were just in the same commercial?
He was not notorious then.
Oh, sure, sure, sure.Yeah, he was running through airports.Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, he was running through airports, exactly.And super charismatic and handsome.I was very excited to work with OJ, you know, at that time.He was a huge star.He acted, you know, he had an air about him of very much self-importance.
You know, I didn't really chat to him that much.I just kind of did my little thing with him.I was the girl behind the counter.
That's funny.No, I mean, everyone loved OJ.I mean, OJ was the best.I mean, like, he was great in the Naked Gun movies.It's just like, that's why it was such a shock, you know, when he decided to kill people.Allegedly.
Oh my god, exactly.But I do want to say, like, the best commercial experience I ever had was with Chevy Chase. I did a commercial with him for an insurance company and he came out to Australia to shoot it and we were together for a week.
We got very close, not that close, but very close.And that was just, I'm always grateful that I got to work with Chevy Chase because he was a very sensitive man who played beautiful piano, not at all how we think of him.
Yeah, he gets such a bad rap.Everyone says he's such a jerk and not a nice person.It's nice to finally hear a good story.
He was very nice to me.Yeah, I mean, one night he said, oh, do you want to come into my suite?And I did.And he played.He asked for a baby grand piano in his suite.I walk in, and he's playing a concerto for me or piano for me.
And so I just think that's kind of pretty sweet.That's pretty sweet.
in his heyday when he was it's movie heyday like Fletch and foul play and all those movies like I just love Chevy Chase.So funny.So funny.Alright, so and then you got to hang with Bob Hope to that you mentioned that's pretty cool.
Yeah, I don't have such a nice story about him.He wasn't very nice.I mean, he was an older man by then.
I don't even know how old he would have been, but if he was 70s, which is not to me, that's not that old, but at the time it was old and he kind of wouldn't, he didn't engage with me.It was just him and I, and he read off a card, all of his lines.
There was a card there, so he hadn't really looked at it. And I don't remember, like, I loved Bob Hope.He was one of my, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, those movies were my favorites growing up.
I was a little starstruck and a little disappointed that I couldn't sort of engage with him more.
Maybe he was just older.Maybe it wasn't, he was just not as with it as he was.
I would give up the opportunity to hang out with Jane Badler.Not, you know, it's crazy, crazy.
Well, I wasn't the girl then, you know, I was just a young girl trying to make it in the big bad city.
Is Baddler your maiden name?Is that your real name?Or is that a stage name?
Oh, no, no.God, who would pick that name?I'm sorry.I would pick a much more interesting name like Lacey or I don't know.Baddler is definitely my real name.
I just asked because it's funny because you've gone on a villainous role.Yeah.It's just, uh, you know, some people say you've grown into your name.I'm just like, I'm like, Oh, I wonder if that that's her real name.That makes sense.Okay.
I mean, I thought I didn't see anything.It said it wasn't.So I figured I'd ask.Exactly.It's funny.Right.Okay.So soap operas, you know, you're doing one life to live.Do you enjoy soap operas more than, that's a grind, isn't it?
Like you're always the day to day of a soap opera.
I think it was just one of those kind of things that really kind of throws you into the fire as an actor, and especially a young actor when you've got to come up with the most extreme emotions very quickly and learn sometimes 20, 30 pages of dialogue a day.
I mean, you're doing an hour show a day. It's just a way of really learning your chops, you know, getting your acting chops together.I was only like 22.And I remember Judith Light.I don't know if you know who she is, of course.Who's the boss?
Transparency.One of the great actors, actresses.She was on the show.She won all the Emmys.And she was, I was in awe of her.She could cry.I've never seen anyone cry like her.
Like literally, not just like a little few tears, but like the dripping tears that with the snot and the dripping. and just could do it like on cue, like off, on, off, on.
And I just thought, damn, I wish that's a skill that I have always struggled with.I remember how extraordinary she was.
Do you ever ask her how she does it?Is there something just so painful in her head that she can call upon to like be able to get to that emotional state?
Do you know what I realized as I've gotten older?It's you just have different skills.Do you know how like some people can just do a backbend and other people can just run?It's just like it's not even like anything she even had to work at.
She just had that skill, that skill set. which in the acting world is really a great one to have.And, you know, I did try to get in touch with her years later.I sent her, I saw her do a one woman show off Broadway that blew my mind.
And so I sent her a little DM, but she probably didn't remember me because I never got her response.Or maybe someone does her social media.I don't know.
Right.You never know.You never know.You took a trip to Fantasy Island, one of my favorite shows.I was surprised you've never been on the love boat.
Yeah, I am surprised.I think because I probably got V before that.Yeah, I think Fantasy Island was probably one of my first jobs, even before V. And yeah, I was a sex slave.And I was in the dungeon with five other beautiful women.
One of them was Miss Dorothy Stratton, who was Playmate of the Year. who sadly, she fell in love with Peter Bogdanovich and her husband ended up murdering her like literally two months after that.
And I became very close to her on the set because she was, you can imagine Miss Playmate of the Year in a bathing suit and the way the crew behaved, definitely before the Me Too movement.So a lot of cat whistles and she was very vulnerable and young.
And I just took to her.She was beautiful, very beautiful.
Yeah, that's a tragic story.Was it Star 80?I think it said that.Is that the movie?
Yeah, I do have trivia.Yeah, you do.
You're like nailing it.You're great.Oh, wow.And then before V, you also were in The Doctors, another soap opera.Was Alec Baldwin in that during the same time as you?
Alec Baldwin and I acted together for about a year.He was very young and very charismatic, very handsome.And I had a mad crush on him.Alec, wherever you are, I know you have seven children now, but I did have a mad crush on him.
So he didn't sadly have a mad crush on me back, but we had fun.We worked together.Yeah.
The Baldwins are all very handsome crew.
They are, they really were, but I think he was the most handsome.That's just my feeling, you know?Yeah, he was, he was really something.I mean, we kind of, we had fun and he remembers me because guess what?
Here's a bit of trivia, not trivia, but I don't know what happened.I sent him a message, never expecting to hear from him with his millions of fans.And he sent me a message back and said, Janie, is that you?
I was like, that was fantastic that he remembered me.I thought that was great.
Oh, that's awesome.Well, it's hard to forget someone if you work together that close for a year.
I know.But he's had such a stellar, you know, he's just gone broom.
Because I imagine the people that versus like a V or like like when you're working with someone like an Alec Baldwin for a year, that's like every day for a year.V might have two months shooting schedule and like.Yes.Right.Or something like that.
So it's like the intensity in the time that you were with Alec is good thing.Yeah.Yeah.He should remember.
We were a little bit of a side story.He was Billy on the soap opera and he was very bad and I was very bad.We did terrible things together.So that was kind of the bad side story.And then I had a loving husband who thought I was great.
In real life, he had a crush on me too. It was all happening behind the scenes, too.
So you're always being cast as the evil.You have that devious look.All right, so the role that kind of blew up, V, Diana on V, how did that come about?How did you find out about this?How did you audition?Who were you up against?
What do you remember about just landing the infamous role that would later land you as number five on TV Guide's top
Changed my life, that number five on TV guy.Well, they had already started shooting.I think they were a few weeks into shooting and they still hadn't found the part.I think they'd seen hundreds of girls.And I was flown out to LA to audition.
I was at the time doing The Doctors.And I remember they put me up, they always used to put you up in these beautiful hotels and fly you out first class.It was all very nice.
And then I went, I think it was early evening and my audition was in a hotel room. And Kenny was there and the casting director and all sorts of people went back to my room.And then I got a little note, don't leave town.Yay.Don't leave town.
So the next morning I was in prosthetics and they were building that big head that you see, the one where I eat the rat, the guinea pig.
that was what they were building the first thing i did they had to make that head and then i think i started working pretty soon after that on the on the show and once again that was um it was a real error because tragedy had happened on that show as well where the lead actress right dominique don,
Yeah.So that had happened, I think, a few weeks earlier.And so that was just, you know, to walk into that and everybody had already been, you know, they'd gotten quite close.
So yeah, I felt it was, it was, it was hard and I felt shy and Kenny took me under his wing and just kind of had a real vision for the role.
It's interesting, Kenny's whole vision for V, which makes it even more tragic when you're like, well, I shouldn't say tragic, I would just mention real tragic, but like where he wasn't invited back for V, the final battle.
And was everyone aware of this going on that Kenny Johnson was kind of pushed out and they were just kind of rushed this new, the second mini series?
Do you know, at the time, you know, I don't know why I was unaware.I was not in on the, you know, on all the politics of it.But now looking back, it's just appalling what happened.I mean, it was really about money.
That's really what it was about, which it always comes down to, it seems to a lot.But Kenny had a very strong vision, and I think they were worried that he couldn't stay in budget.
So they sadly, and I don't know if I can use the word bastardized it, but it was never the underlying vision that he had was even now is a vision that we all can look at and go, wow, that's a visionary.It was the past and it was the future.
The new one did not have that.It was fun, but it was more about action and having a good rollicking fun story, but it lost all of that deep meaning, which was just such a shame at the time.
Right.Because, I mean, Kenny Johnson comes in.For people who don't know the name just off the top of their head, Kenny Johnson was the one that brought us the Incredible Hulk TV series, created the Lindsay Wagner's Bionic Woman.
There's one more that I'm blanking on.Oh, no, Envy.Yeah, Envy.
Yeah, that's the two that I know of, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, and V would be the third one.And so V itself, the miniseries, and I just re-watched V, and then I hadn't watched Final Battle in a while, but I did re-watch it as well, back-to-back, and felt the same way that you just said.
14-year-old me loved V, the Final Battle.It was the greatest thing ever.
But now, flash forward, in watching V, because V is basically a retelling, it's about a retelling of the Nazi Germany takeover, and it's extremely deep, and it's even relevant today, turning people against science, turning people against
the news, and it was what science fiction, great science fiction is, where it's using society and telling a story, but under the guise of, oh, it's lizards, so I can.
It's psychological.It's actually, as people say, a wolf in sheep's clothing.
So it's sort of like seeing people, they're beautiful, they say all the right things, they feed into the poltergeist at the moment, but actually they're not there to do good for you.
right and re-watching it it was still I like moments where I was just like oh yeah because being Jewish myself and like all this and it's like it always meant a lot to me and it still holds up I mean yeah some of the effects or the ships going whatever but that was in the 80s so you can you can the storytelling though is so great so great yeah oh great I feel bad that they couldn't bring it back the way it was meant to come back
which we can talk about in the new one.But it's really so hard to watch when there's these opportunities to do great, greatness.And people fall into the commercial idea of kind of the money or they don't want to put it in.
They don't want to have this person doing it because they're too expensive.But looking back, it really can ruin something.We all want to make greatness.That's what we're here to do as artists.
Yeah, V was just so great.So great.And I was like, well, let's talk it since you brought it up.Let's talk about it.So the iconic moment.
Which is the big reveal when you realize, oh, wait, these aliens that are like pretending that it's secretly taking over the earth.But, you know, it's like, hey, we can cure your cancer next week.We'll cure it next week.We'll promise.
It's always in the future.They always were pushing it off.And then when he Mike Donovan, Mark Singer is in there and you swallow the it was a guinea pig or hamster. I mean, that's like one of the most iconic moments ever.
Ever, yeah.It's like, oh my God, suddenly this beautiful woman, this beautiful young woman who you think is one way, you realize, oh my God, nothing you thought is the way it is. It was like crazy.Eating blood.And they spent three days shooting that.
That was huge because in those days we didn't have special effects and green screen.I just couldn't understand why they were spending so much time on it.And of course I know now why they did, you know?
It was just so great.So great.
It really was, what a moment, what a moment.And to be part of that moment, I didn't realize it at the time, no way.I realize it more and more as time goes into the distance, how great that was, that moment, and how lucky I am.
And still to this day, people know it, which is incredible, really.
So Diana is the ambitious and one of the science leader
is in rewatching it I realize they're like they kind of undertone it like oh like you're sleeping with the leader so that's why it's no one respect you everyone's trying to undermine Diana but you won't have it you're like I'm not having it and like
I don't know, it's so funny.It's like I'm always shooting everybody and getting rid of people and it's like funny.And especially the TV series that went into high camp.
Oh my God, when I look at that, I can't believe the things that I was... I got married to Charles, Diana and Charles, and we were in lizard suits.I mean, really, who made that decision?Do you know?
It lost the thread along the way, but your hair was great.
Wasn't it great?Oh my God.
I had that little curvy figure.I thought, yeah, okay, I get it.It's funny.
Oh man.So Kenny Johnson was also the director.So being on set, I mean, you guys were all aware that this was kind of a retelling when you're doing it, right?I mean, and the overall vision.
No, I think certainly like Faye and Mark, they had worked with... For some reason, they seemed to know Kenny better than I did.I was kind of thrust into it without doing any... I didn't know what his vision was.
I just kind of went on the set and he told me, kind of like Alfred Hitchcock, kind of told me, look this way, now turn this way.He basically took me and formed me into the role. And so I wasn't really aware until later of what it all meant.
Because through V, then V, the vital battle, and then the TV series, like your role just escalated.Like Diana became the main, main person.And like, so I found this statistic.This is the mid 80s, early 80s, 84, 83, and then V, the final battle, 84.
I think this was from a Vanity Fair article I found. It said that 33 million people watched V.33 million people.That's 40% of everybody who had a TV.
Is that America?That's America.
But this was even, this was even more interesting.Well, they layered on for context.Yellowstone. which is today one of the more popular shows, only averages 13 million.So it's like it was just so tremendously huge.
So to have that one role where you popped and this is sweeps month and everyone's watching it.
It's like. Oh my God, it's crazy.I mean, but then to think like, you know, like there's no social media, there was none of that in those days.
And, you know, if I'd been a bit more savvy, you know, in those days, if you were, I was in my late twenties, I mean, you sort of are, that's your age.You're not like the way they are now.
They're very, people in their late twenties that are actors are very savvy about how to propel their career to the next stage.And at that time, I just didn't know how to do it.And I didn't have a big, I was not with a big agency.
ICM wanted to sign me. And I walked in to fire my agents and they would not let me.They got hysterical.They slammed the door and bullied me.
So, you know, it was a different time because that role really should have propelled me into, you know, doing the big Marvel pictures or something.
Right.Yeah.But I mean, not everyone gets that role that 40 years later people are like, Oh yeah.
I have to be so grateful.
But the problem is when people there's, and you can think of people who've had exactly what I've had that one moment in time when they are propelled into superstardom, they're always trying to scramble to get that, that same role again, to get another role like that.
And it just probably will never happen again.Do you know?
Yeah.I mean, it's, it's hard.You know, it's sometimes it's like a catch 22, right?It is sometimes it's, it's a blessing to get it one time.Some people never get it.
Yeah.So it's at least you had V and then V the final battle and then, uh, and then the TV show and then the reboot now just to get out of timeline for a second.Cause I know you did a lot more, but, but just keeping with V for a second.
So was it exciting to come back and play a version of your character, right?Cause it's kind of like a version, right?It was still Diana, but now you're the mom of the mother of Anna Morena O'Bakren.
Who is Diana.Her name's Anna, but she, she was Diana.Right.Right.And the experience that was, let me tell you, I had, that was my first American job, you know, since I had moved to Australia.
So we're talking, um, you know, 30 years late, you know, I don't have no 20. 20 years after I had not worked in America, only here in Australia, which is a very different industry, I can tell you.No glamour, not the glamour you find there.
Yeah, I really did get myself that role.They were not thinking of me.And I literally flew to California and pretended to be in California from Australia, not a short trip, and called the producer and said, Oh, I'm in town.I'd love to meet you.
And of course, he saw me because I was the original And when they met me, they were very open to suddenly going, Oh, okay, this looks interesting.You still look great.
And so they actually wrote the character in the following year and I had to audition.I think I heard Angelica Houston audition for it and I got the role and I was in Vancouver for four months shooting the season. But it wasn't really that fun.
It was very hard, because they kept me in the bloody dungeon.They never let my character leave the dungeon to fight Morena, who I felt was doing bad.Or to give my character, they made me good, but I wanted to be bad again.
I wanted to, underneath that good, actually be just like her and the only force that could save the world would be for me to fight her.But they just would not politically, there was number one on the call sheet.I was number 10 or 11.
If people out there don't know what that means, number one means you're number one and you get the best lines and you get the best role and you're usually the star.
So there's no way they're going to make number 11 on the call sheet, kind of have a bigger role. So it was kind of frustrating, but then frustrating that it didn't go anywhere.And they brought Mark Singer on at the very, very end, too late.
They should have brought him on sooner.So they, I think they made a few mistakes in that series, but having said it, how great to have worked with the incredible, what's an IK member, Mirena Makaren.
She's just, she's now in all the big Deadpool movies and she's incredible.Incredible.
Yeah.She was, uh, she was good in that role.She had like, uh, it was funny cause she has like that real, real tall neck.
Oh, long neck and she looked alien-like.And how good was she?Oh God, I loved how she played that role.
Loved it.She was great.She was great.She was in Homeland, the first season.
Oh, I loved her in Homeland.Yeah, loved her.
Yeah, and Deadpool.Rocking Deadpool.You worked with Robert England.I don't know how many scenes you had with him, but the future Freddy Krueger.
played a very, very innocent and friendly alien in V. I always thought that was funny because you watch it and it's like, he becomes like one of... Yeah, no, it's so funny.
I mean, here's someone who, I mean, it wasn't like that role.I don't know if that role propelled him into the same kind of stardom. but he sure found it with Freddy Krueger.
It had given him a fantastic career.But I don't remember having any scenes with him.I felt, in a way, the Resistance, all the people that played the Resistance characters and then all the people that played the Visitors were quite separate.
And every once in a while, you'd come together.But we didn't really hang out that much.
Right, because you're a lot of it on the ship or in very specific scenes.And you were a lot with the amazing Richard Hurd, John.
Yes, very close.I got very close to all of them.And Lydia, the girl who played Lydia, and then eventually Sarah Douglas, and I became very close.She was in the second miniseries.So yeah.
Close until you shot her.I know.You shot everyone.You shot John Heard.You didn't shoot Andrew Prine.He ended up getting, I think, Ham Tyler took him out.Ironside took him out.
That's right.Oh, God.It was fun.Fun, fun.
All right, so after V, you had some stints in like a bunch of different shows.I mean, you were on Falcon Crest for a while.
Yeah, I did that for a year.
Yeah, but like 22 episodes.I mean, so that's like more than just a In-N-Out type thing.Yeah.Like Riptide, one episode, or Jake and the Fat Man, or Murder, She Wrote.You got a Murder, She Wrote?I mean, come on.
I got a Murder, She Wrote.I worked with that amazing Angela Lansbury.Oh my god.How great is that?
That is.That's better than The Love Boat.
That's much, that's much better than the love bug.I couldn't believe when I got that one.I was very excited to work with her.
Sorry to interrupt.I have to take a quick break.I do want to thank everyone for their support of the sponsors.When you support the sponsors, you're supporting us here at Classic Conversations, and that's how we keep the lights on.
And now back to my fabulous conversation with Jane Badler.Is it fun just to kind of come in, do a show, and then leave?I mean, I know from an actor point of view, you're like, I'd rather be a reoccurring character or probably have
more, but is it fun just to go into one of these iconic shows even just for a little bit and just be a part of it?
Yeah, it's super fun.I mean, I think it has its challenges.
I mean, it's very exciting because you kind of don't know anyone and you don't know what to expect and you have to be super prepared and you kind of feeling everyone out and there's kind of this adventure to it.
Then on the other hand, it's also hard because everybody's worked together for a long time and you're kind of having to be very intuitive and slot in to the way everybody works.
So there's a lot to think about when you come into a show and you hope everyone's friendly.Sometimes they're not.Sometimes they don't treat guest stars very well and other times they do.So you kind of have to go with that and navigate it.
How was Falcon Crest?Jane Wyman, classic.
Yeah.Falcon Crest was probably one of the hardest gigs I ever had.
It was incredibly clicky and I felt like a lot of the actors were not happy about a new character coming in and taking, letting, and their storyline becoming, because they were all fighting for their storylines.That's what happens in soap operas.
You know, you go, get your script and you go, how many pages am I in?You know, and you kind of look at that. And, you know, it's very depressing when suddenly the writers decide that you're not the main story and you only have like five pages.
So I think there was this kind of, I could feel this kind of competition between people on the set and that's never a good environment.So I came in as the nanny to one of the main characters, Baby.
And at first they had me kind of, you know, trying to seduce him and wearing these kind of strange little outfits with my, you know, breasts showing, not showing, but you know, in those days it didn't show a lot. I don't know.
I don't think it really went anywhere, that role, but I think I ended up becoming bad again.Oh my gosh.Another bad character, another evil character.I think I kidnapped the baby or something.But look, it was an iconic show.
So once again, I was so excited to get it, to get that role and be on another iconic Falcon Crest.It was just great.
Yeah, I think it was one of those shows.I caught Falcon Crest every now and then when I was, you know, I don't know why.Maybe my parents watched it or something, because I would have been like, I don't know, 16, 17.
So it was like, probably was always out or whatever.But like, you know, TV wasn't my focus at the time.But I remember like, because I remember Lorenzo, I remember.
He was great.The other girl, I mean, actually I watched it too and I thought it was quite good.It was quite riveting.I really, every week I wanted to watch it again because the actors were fantastic.
Susan Sullivan, that wonderful actress, she was, she had long hair.She was, what was her name?I can't remember, Elise or, she was fantastic. So yeah, I mean, it was fun.
And I think what that famous actor who died, actress who died tragically in a car crash was a sex symbol.Her daughter was in it.Jane Mansfield, Jane Mansfield's daughter was in it.So anyway, it had a great cast.
I think the thing that I remember the most, it was, oh, Jane Wyman was married to Ronald Reagan.
Oh my God.I didn't even know that.Was she?
I think she was his first.I think so.Yeah.Before Nancy.Yeah.I thought so.Not I'll edit it out, but okay.
Kim Novak was on the show and I worked a lot with her.She was just a very lovely down-to-earth woman who lived out in the country and had horses and loved riding.So yeah, that was cool to meet her.She was amazing.
It's awesome to be able to meet all these awesome people along the way.Yeah.All right.So you mentioned you're in Australia.And so what brought you originally to Australia was the reboot of Mission Impossible.
Yeah, that was a big job.That was a hard job to get, very competitive to get that one.And to do the reboot of Mission Impossible, wow.I'm really proud of that one.
I worked with Peter Graves and the original, I can't remember his name, Phil Morris's father was in the original and Phil took over in this one.And we shot in Australia, Destiny.
Right?Boy, did I have fun.I was single, separated from my first husband, and I had so much fun.We were a bit wild, all of us.We were just having fun on the Gold Coast of Australia, working hard, long hours.I got to play all different characters.
It was just fantastic, really.One of the jobs I've enjoyed the most.
That's really cool.Yeah, I was I was reading about it a little bit.And I guess it was really originally just supposed to be like this whole new crew.
And they were going to do scripts from the original Mission Impossible because there was like a writer strike or something going on.There was something.
And then they got Peter Graves to be James Phelps again.And all of a sudden, OK, new idea.
Oh, really?Yeah.Interesting.I didn't even know that.Because, you know, I wasn't originally cast in that role.
Originally they'd cast an Australian girl in it and she was very beautiful, but they decided to recast her after about, I don't know, five episodes.Unbeknownst to her, they were going to kill her off.I don't think she knew.
And they ended up hiring me in America and they flew me in and didn't tell her that that was her last show.So I had to sort of creep around and it was kind of really uncomfortable, the whole thing.
And that happened to me on the V, you know, the new V, the V Reimagined.They also killed me at the end and everyone knew there was going to be a death, but nobody knew who was going to die.And everyone was whispering.
And in the end, they killed me off.They killed me off. in that very dramatic death scene, I don't know if you saw it, where my daughter's lizard tail hit me in the back.
And as I'm dying, I say something like, you know, daughter, you will regret this or something like that.I can't remember.Something ominous.And then I go, you know, and the blood comes pouring out of my face.
But I was just thinking they killed her off too in Mission Impossible.So you don't want to be killed off.That's just a horrible thing.
Oh, man.Well, for V, jokes on them.They got canceled right after that.
I was so happy it did.No, I didn't.No, it wasn't.That sounds so horrible.I know.
I know what you mean.They did you wrong.They did me wrong.You weren't excited for them.
All right, so you love being a spy.
Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise obviously keeps it going with the movies and stuff like that, but it's like there's something about Mission Impossible that I think Mission Impossible is one of those shows that like Lucille Ball, during the whole Desilu time.
Yeah. It's amazing when you think like she was responsible for Star Trek also.Like some of these things that are like major, major franchises still today.
Major.Wow.Wow.And you know, it's funny because we did a second season and then we came to Melbourne to do that, which is the city I now live in.And this is a great city, Melbourne, if you ever get a chance to come to Melbourne.
And yeah, that's where I met my husband.So that's a whole new chapter.
All right, so you're working on Mission Impossible.Was your husband a fan of V?Did he know?He was like, oh, I'm dating Diana.
No, he actually wasn't a fan.But I mean, it was just so glamorous.He was a Melbourne boy in business, you know, in the money markets.And, you know, here I am, this glamorous, you know, actress, lead in a TV series.
And I think it was all very glamorous for us to meet.He was very handsome.And I think we just kind of connected.
That's not, well, yeah, obviously.And like, so that's awesome.That's really cool.You never know where you're going to find love.
If you're open, if your heart's open, you never know.
So you were mentioning that Australia, that acting community or that is not as glamorous as the United States.
So I imagine the Mission Impossible one was mostly like an American production because it was an American production just trying to save money by filming in Australia.Right.I mean, that was like, I think, one of the first ones to do that.
So was that a big shock for you?
Oh God, such a shock.I can't tell you.I mean, Mission Impossible was American and very glamorous.We all had our own trailers and had paid per diems and very spoiled.I stayed in the most wonderful, glamorous hotel that they paid for, like a suite.
I lived there for like months, six months.I mean, it was fantastic.Oh my God.Never have to do a thing.Not do your laundry, not clean your towels.It's just the best.
And then when I started to work here, the first show I got was Cluedo based on the board game Clue.I played Mrs. Peacock.And when that happened, I was, I could not believe it.No one had dressing rooms.
We all shared like a room that we got dressed in.Obviously no per diems.It was hard.I mean, you just show up, you work.There's nothing, there's no special nothing, you know, it's about the work.
And I had to kind of rethink whether I wanted to be an actress.I go, okay, do I really love this?You know, because it was really different.
I tell you, I never, I'll admit, I never heard of Cluedo.And I was like, oh, this sounds amazing.Like, you think this would be a show that America would have stolen by now, or this idea?Yeah, yeah.
Because the Clue movie was, it's kind of a cult classic in itself.
So I was like, it was funny, because I was like, oh, Miss Peacock.Yeah, yeah, I can see that.
What it did was it was interactive.So you do the, it's like the board game.You do, you act out the scenes and then the audience has to decide who they think did it.And then you have a panel and you all talk about the game.
But the truth is it was never done well enough.You know, it was, it was fun, but you have to really, you know, do that very well.
That's not easy to put, you know, to kind of make really exceptionally good as good as the board game, but what a great idea.You know, it was a great idea.
Netflix toyed with something similar where, I don't know if it was how it played out as in 1992, but in newer technology, Netflix had it like with the Kimmy Schmidt episode.
And I think there was a black mirror episode where you could like choose where it would go.
Oh, wow.Well, they did it in the UK and it was a lot more successful, Cluedo.And I think they called it Clue.I don't know.Maybe they called it Cluedo.
Do you know how many murders you've committed?I know the answer, at least according to IMDB.
Mrs. Peacock, you tied for the least murders with three, and Colonel Mustard had the most with six.So you're evil, but not as evil as some of the other ones there.
I really wanted to be the glamorous Miss Scarlet, who's got to wear all the sexy clothes.And I was kind of the matronly Mrs. Peacock, just because I was in my 30s now.Jeez.Oh.
You're over the hill in Hollywood. You were in a big show there as well called Neighbors and a villainous character, Diana, again.
Can we be a little creative?Oh, well, it's so funny because I auditioned for that role.I had to audition as usual.God, when will come the day when I don't have to audition?But I remember auditioning for Diana, Diana, and I got it.
That was exciting because, you know, Neighbors is an iconic.That's where Margot Robbie came from and, you know, Kylie Minogue.I mean, there's lots of very famous people who came from Neighbors.So I was very excited to do that show.
I did that for about five months.That was fun.
Oh, you were in a movie that I just saw recently, Ricky Stanicki.
Can you believe it?Ricky Stineke and I played William Macy's wife.Oh my God.Did you see that movie?
I love that movie.And I will say, you were great.William Macy was great.But somehow John Cena has become a gift to comedy.
Isn't he fantastic?How good is he, John Cena, the wrestler?He is so good.
I'm going to tell you, there was a day, I mean, the great fun for me, it wasn't a big role, but the fun was observing everyone because I got to really watch all these big stars and the director, Peter Farrelly, who directed Dumb and Dumber.
And I would sit there, and there were days when they would just say, we're going to redo this whole scene where they gave John Cena a whole new page.He'd look at it and come on and know it perfectly.I don't know.He was just, he was unbelievable.
There's a scene in that movie.I don't remember what it is.I used to have it memorized.I would tell people, if you only watch this scene.
Not the one with the rabbi.
Oh, that's funny too.Jeffrey Ross is funny.But the one where he's doing his lounge act, it's like 17 minutes in, and he's just doing all the different vulgar versions of the song as the different people.
It was nice to laugh at a movie again and have a good time at a comedy.
Don't need to laugh.I agree.Comedies are so good right now.So important.
So important.And how was William H. Macy?
You know, I just think he is one of those consummate actors.I mean, I'm not just saying it, you know how everybody says nice things about everyone.
But honestly, when I came on the set, I had this idea of my character because I didn't have a lot of lines, so I was going to really milk those lines.And the director came over and he goes, no, no, no, you just love him.Just love your husband.
And as soon as he said that, William Macy was always holding my hand, you know, putting his arm around me.Whenever we'd have close-ups, he'd go, come on, Jane, you're next to me.Come on.Like, so, like, I was his wife.
Like, he really, like, was into me.That's what actors have to do.They have to create these auras so you can believe you're in love with someone.And he knows how to do that.He's just a great actor.
They had some funny running joke with him where he was doing this thing with his hand when he would speak.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.Wasn't he fantastic?He was good.I loved William Macy in it too.I thought he was fantastic in it.
You know, and it's funny because I grew up watching with my kids Zac Efron in High School Musical.
He's great.I mean, he was great in this, but then the Iron Claw.
Oh, yeah.He's a huge star.He's a superstar.Out of all of them, he's a big star.
Jane, talk to me about Comic-Cons.Do you do Comic-Cons?
You know, if I lived closer to America, I would absolutely do them because I get asked to do a lot of things, but you have to understand it's, it's 20 hours, 24 hours for me to get to Europe.And it's for a weekend.
They basically need you for a weekend.And I just find it very hard on my body.And, you know, if they follow your business class, they'll only give you one ticket. So I'm kind of on my own flying into a foreign country just for two days.
It's really hard.And so I usually say no to them, but if I could, the last one I did was in Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia.I did a very big comic con there.And I can't remember, maybe it was five years ago.
I don't remember when I did that one, but that was really, I mean, it's hard work.Let me tell you, it's hard work.People do it for the money.I think a lot of actors, and also they do it to kind of touch base with their fans. kind of feel their fans.
And it's kind of a nice thing.So I wish I could do more.I really do.
Yeah, I imagine you would be extremely popular, especially if they brought in a few of the folks.
Yeah, that's what they did for that Comic-Con.They brought in Mark.Did they have Robin England there?
I don't remember, but they had a few of us from V. I don't know if you can see in my background, that one right there, that's Mark Singer, but it's him as Beastmaster.It's him as Beastmaster because Tonya Roberts was there also.
And so I got them both to sign the one because
Yeah, she was amazing.I mean, she didn't really have much of a career after that, but I remember Tanya Roberts and she was beautiful.And yeah, I remember.
Yeah, I remember when I was talking to Kenny Johnson, I was like, Kenny, I've met Mark Singer.I've met Lou Ferrigno at a Comic-Con.I met Lindsay Wagner.I have a whole, and now Jane Badler.
And so it was like, I had the whole greatest hits, the whole Kenny Johnson greatest hits.
I wish it was closer.I really think they're fantastic to do.I love doing them.
I imagine they're exhausting though, but I imagine there's so many people that still love V.
It's fun, though.Cute, you know?And people dressing like you and all sorts of crazy costumes, you know?I mean, it's mad.It's wonderful.
It is wonderful.You know what else is wonderful?Spending this time with you.Thanks so much.You're awesome.
Oh, it's so much fun.So are you.Awesome.You did a fantastic job, really.Thank you.
Thank you.Thank you.Is there a place that you keep in touch with your fans online?Are you on any of the socials regularly?
I'm very, very pro, I'm very active on my Instagram, which is janebadlerworld.And people DM me, I always DM them back, unless it's rude, which it's never rude. And yeah, and I'm on, I've got a Facebook fan page and a normal Facebook.
Twitter, I'm a bit more political, so that may not be the one for fans.I kind of speak my mind a lot more on Twitter.
I did notice that.I did notice that.So it's, uh, that's all good.All right.So that's awesome.Jane, I can't thank you enough.So fun.Thank you.I really enjoyed it.All right.How amazing was Jane Badler? I love V so much.
Did that show, did it come through?I love V. She was so amazing as Diana.She's just amazing in general.Loved talking with Jane.I know you enjoyed it as well.Can't believe the interview just flew by.Another episode is now over.Can't believe it.
Huge thanks again to Jane Badler and another huge thank you to all of you for coming back week after week.It means the world to me and I'll see you next time.
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