Interview with Marjean Holden, who plays Arina on "BeastMaster"

by A. Jaye Williams

Whether it's portraying the highly intelligent and beautiful Dr. Sarah Chambers on the short-lived but much beloved "Crusade," or fighting Terron soldiers and the "BeastMaster" himself as Arina, the mercenary warrior, Marjean Holden always seems to choose roles that reflect the kind of person she is. "Hopefully it's a direct reflection of my personality. . . . I think it's good because it gives young girls an opportunity to (say) 'oh, I can be strong like that.' It's okay to be a woman that's strong of character. . . . and (show's like Xena) shows girls that you can be strong, but you can still have feelings, and you can still care, and you can still be strong even if you show your emotions. . . so, really for me, that's what really excites me about the industry. . . and I am, personally, a very strong individual."

Born in Minneapolis, but raised for the most part in Colorado, Marjean Holden has always aspired to be an actor. She attended college in Northern Arizona in which she majored in film and television, with a minor in theater. But "when I was in the fourth grade I produced, directed, and starred in my first play . . . The Three Little Pigs," Marjean says, a hint of nostalgic whimsy in her voice. However, it was in modeling that Marjean made her first foray into public attention. Though she started to model while in high school, it wasn't until after college that she worked at modeling even more heavily and seriously, as well as working in film production. "I did my first two films right out of college in Arizona . . . 'Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure' was my first movie. . . . I was working on the crew . . . and the director said 'You know, I've got this really small part, and it's only one line, but would you want to do it?' and I said 'Yeah, great, sure'."

Since that early break for Marjean, she admits that she's been very fortunate and kept busy, having appeared on such shows as "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Suddenly Susan," "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," "Crusade," "Nikita," "J. A. G." and others. Her movie list is just as impressive: "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure," "Philadelphia Experiment 2," "Mortal Combat: Annihilation," and "John Carpenter's Vampires," among others. Though the part may not have been big portraying Female Vampire Master #6, in "John Carpenter's Vampires," Marjean has nothing but praise and respect for John Carpenter himself. "That was a dream of mine as well, to work for John Carpenter. . . . He is just the nicest director to work for; really, really wonderful; him and his wife Sandy, who was the producer. . . . It was really one of the most enjoyable sets I've been on in my career."

Marjean's longest stints on regular television was a year on the soap "The Bold and the Beautiful," in which she acted alongside Monika Schnarre. One of the draws for her to join the cast of "BeastMaster" was that she'd be reunited with Monika Schnarre again. It was also quite flattering that she didn't have to audition for the part. They wanted her! "I met with the producers, I showed them my tape, and they offered me a job. . . . Because I've done so much physical stuff before . . . (they) knew (I could) do it." However, Marjean quickly adds, it's not always like that. "Mortal Combat: Annihilation, I went back five times. And I auditioned for the same people five times. And they wanted to see the same thing, five times. . . . But everybody that auditioned for that went back five, six, seven times. . . . It was crazy!"

With "BeastMaster," she has found a character that has many dimensions, levels, and characteristics to explore. In the second season, the audience is introduced to the character of Arina. But who is Arina? Marjean explains that Arina is "(a) girl who's whole, entire family and tribe has been wiped out and her initial objective is to seek revenge on those people that have actually caused her this pain. But in the process, she realizes that no matter what she does, it's not going to bring them back, and (it) starts to change the way she feels about that kind of work and harming people because they've harmed you." Marjean adds further, "that there's going to be a really good moralistic issue with this character. People will be able to get something valuable out of this."

Arina seems to be the kind of character that isn't just another woman warrior who is simply out to prove herself equal or superior to any man out there. Instead, she has a background and history that supports and defines her character--that will set the foundation for everything she does, why she does it, and, inevitably, how and why she changes because of it. And, most importantly, she has a conscience. Without revealing too much, Marjean adds that "she's made allies with people that can . . . help her with her objectives, only to find out (that) this isn't making (her) feel good inside. . . .Because she was so blinded by the fact that she needed to avenge her people and bring honour to her peoples name, and once that happens, it's like, 'Oh, why am I still fighting this war?'"

Another appealing element to the character of Arina is simply the fact that "she gets to come in and kick a lot of butts," Marjean says with a wry chuckle. Compared to her character from "Crusade," Marjean says that Arina is very different from Dr. Sarah Chambers in more ways than the obvious because both are intelligent people. However, Arina "is smart in a different kind of way. She's very smart in the fact that she knows how to get people to do things for her, and uses that for her purpose. . . . She's a fun character!"

Regarding Arina's relationship with the main characters, she reveals in a shrouded manner that "there's a good thing happening with Daniel's character, with Dar . . . that's sort of this kind of push-me, pull-me . . . type of thing, it's like a back-and-forth with us. So it's really good and we're really enjoying that." Behind the scenes, Marjean can't help but laugh. It is clear that she's really enjoying working with a very professional and respectful crew. Though they seem to joke around a lot verbally, the professionalism shines through when it's lights, camera, action. "The stunt guys on the set are like 'are you beating me up today?' and I'm like 'I don't know if I'm beating you up. Would you like me to beat you up?' and they're like 'Yes!'" Marjean says, laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing. "But it's really good because it says to me I'm doing my job right," she adds more seriously.

Still, the best part of working on "BeastMaster" is the cast. Marjean can't but help speak with joy and amusement at working opposite her ex-"Bold and the Beautiful" co-star, Monika Schnarre. "I was like, 'oh, yeah, this'll be great, because I get to work with Monika again.' And that's been just fantastic, because we've had scenes together and we just have so much fun, like it's hard for us not to look at each other and crack up . . . because we know each other so well. . . . The energy is just really, really good on set with the actors and the guest stars and the crew." Marjean says that everyone gets along so well that it makes it a pleasure to go to work everyday, to work and see each of the people she works with and have a good time.

Speaking emphatically and with pure delight in her voice, Marjean can't emphasize the quality of her working environment enough! When asked what makes "BeastMaster" stand out from its comparative brother and sister shows of the time--i.e. Xena, Cleopatra 2525, The Lost World--Marjean has many opinions about that. However, the most important one is the most obvious. The animals! "The animals are very popular. People love seeing the animals interact with the people. And there's a lot of that on this show. . . . We've got lions, tigers, ferrets, dogs, horses, monkeys . . . snakes . . . and it's just so amazing working with these animals!" When speaking of her co-stars earlier, one can't help but think that she included the animals in that grouping without mentioning them separately. Since it's an everyday process on "BeastMaster" to work with animals, it almost natural to automatically include them. The animals are as much a part of the show as the scenery, the actors, and the storylines themselves.

When talking about "Crusade," Marjean notes that the experiences were vastly dissimilar--though still enjoyable. "Oh, God, it's so different! . . . This crew on (BeastMaster) has been together for a year and a half, but the crew on Crusade had been together for five years on Babylon 5! . . . And Joe (Straczynski) had it down to a system: 'Here's your script, it's not going to change, boom!' I mean, we get a lot of revisions on this show (BeastMaster)." The benefit, however, is that it makes "the mental processes so much quicker," especially in the context of series continuity. Marjean and Daniel Goddard have at times picked out scenes that conflicted with past episodes because of a revision, in fact. Going back to J. M. Straczynski, Marjean adds "I pray to God Joe Straczynski writes another series and goes 'Hey, do you want to be in it,' and I'll be like 'Yes!'" She relishes how this master of science fiction writes and produces a series, "the way he works, and the process that he uses. I love it!" His efficiency and work ethic made working on "Crusade" a wonderful experience, in which she hardly worked overtime and still managed to have a social life.

The future for Marjean Holden looks just as bright as the present. Aside from "BeastMaster," look for Marjean in a UPN movie of the week titled "Code Red: The Rubicon Conspiracy." Marjean explains, with a chuckle, that it's "another alien, meets predator, meets the army. (It'll) be fun." But even further down the road, Marjean hopes to eventually leave acting behind in order to concentrate fully on producing, directing, and writing movies. It was her plan from the start to learn as much as possible about the movie and television business through acting, and then eventually turn that around and move behind the camera. She's already been writing for about six years and has about six feature films written and is in the process of developing them. The subjects vary from comedy to science fiction to low-budget action. "But that's where I'm going . . . I really want to create something from square one, from the initial writing all the way through to the final edit and the final mix." Whether it's acting before the camera as a doctor aboard a starship, or a warrior battling evil villains, or creating her own projects with her husband and writing partners, Marjean's future is full of limitless possibilities and potential. She's very experienced in front of the camera and has worked with the best the business has to offer behind the camera. She knows the business of television and movies. And with the passion and heart felt emotion that she expresses when talking about her craft and the people she's worked with, she's going to have nothing but fun and pleasure (though more than likely the occasional headache as well when dealing with studio executives) when making her movies.