Black: Season Nine shows the real Vala

Claudia Black is enjoying the chance to more deeply develop her Stargate SG-1 character, the actress told GateWorld in a recent interview. Black returns as the alien con artist Vala in the first six episodes of the show’s upcoming ninth season.

“She’s a very vibrant, very — hopefully — entertaining character,” Black told GateWorld. “People responded very, very well — especially on set — immediately to the chemistry between Vala and Daniel. She’s a perfect foil for him because he is so serious, and she’s just this wonderful ball of light and energy. And the fact that she’s got an edge to her and can’t be trusted means comedically I’ve got fantastic scope.”

Black first appeared in Season Eight’s “Prometheus Unbound,” in which Vala hijacks the Earth vessel only to discover that Daniel Jackson (Shanks) is still on board.

But by the episode’s end, viewers learn that nothing Vala has told Daniel about herself may be true. So will fans get to know the real Vala this season? “I think we actually get to see some of her vulnerability,” Black said. “She really is an onion. She’s a cute onion! Maybe she doesn’t smell so bad! Occasionally Daniel will get close and peel off a few too many layers, and her guard comes up again.

“And what I like is the idea — and because I am such a romantic — that she has never come across someone like Daniel before. And it seems that she’s been sent to drive him crazy.”

Season Nine of Stargate SG-1 premieres July 15 on The SCI FI Channel.