Frizzell: Wraith are not evil

Tonight GateWorld sat down with Andee Frizzell, the actress who has played all the adult female Wraith on Stargate Atlantis. Andee played the Keeper in the pilot episode of the spin-off, and later returned as the Hive Queen in Season Two’s “The Hive” and as Michael’s Hive Queen in the season finale, “Allies.” We took the chance to ask her about her thoughts about the Wraith as a species.The questions at the top of our list were elemental, such as asking her if she believes the Wraith are evil. “No, I don’t,” she said, shaking her head. “Nope. They’re hungry — they feed. I don’t believe that it’s evil and I don’t play it as an evil intention.”In fact, Frizzell finds that the Wraith reflect humans in many respects, including a craft at achieving our goals. “There’s manipulation to get the things that I [as a Wraith] want. … A snake bites. Is the snake bad because it bit? Well, that’s what the snake does. So I don’t believe they’re evil.”She chuckles: “I don’t want to be evil. I’m sure there’s evil amongst the Wraith, for sure. But we have that peppered within humans, as well.”

Contrasting this statement, she also believes that the Wraith, as a species, are beautiful creatures. “When I first cast for the Wraith I had been given a beautiful hand painting. It’s beautiful. I have it framed at home. He [James Robbins] painted that prior to me being cast for it. As I looked at it I didn’t see my character; I saw the beauty of the Wraith as he sees them. … I find them very, very beautiful.”Andee also confirmed that she will appear in the two-part season opener to Atlantis, “No Man’s Land” and “Misbegotten.”Stay tuned to GateWorld in the weeks ahead for a special two-part video feature with Andee Frizzell, covering everything from the Wraith’s physical appearance to the rationale that governs her own characters’ behavior.