Gigi Edgley

Media Guest

Edgley was born in Perth. She is the daughter of theatre, concert and circus promoter Michael Edgley, known for bringing the Moscow State Circus to Australia during the 1980s. Her mother, Jeni Edgley, was formally involved in managing a 250-acre health retreat. As a child, Gigi Edgley performed both in and out of school. She became mainly interested in acting and had her first professional theatrical engagement at the Twelfth Night Theatre. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Queensland University of Technology in 1998. As a believer in the school of method acting, Gigi has developed a broad set of skills and experiences for her roles. Edgley is proficient in martial arts along with ballet, jazz, character dance, and singing with her signature skill fire-twirling.

Edgley's early TV and film work included several independent productions, as well as a guest star spot on the popular Australian series Water Rats and a role in Australian film titled The Day of the Roses. Edgley is best known for her role as Chiana on the science fiction TV series Farscape. Originally, she was hired for only one episode, and her character was supposed to die at the end of the hour. The creators decided to keep her around for a few more episodes. At the beginning of Season 2, she was promoted to be a regular on the show. She appeared in total of 68 episodes of the series. Her character's nickname "Pip" was actually coined by her co-star Ben Browder.

Between Farscape seasons, Edgley has appeared in other guest starring roles on TV, including the series The Lost World and BeastMaster, has undertaken some independent film work, was cast in a feature film, and read a starring role in an audio drama for Seeing Ear Theatre. After the cancellation of Farscape, Edgley pursued other projects including a role in the Australian drama telefilm BlackJack with Colin Friels. She joined the cast of Australian drama series The Secret Life of Us in 2003 and Stingers in 2004.

Edgley returned as Chiana in the SciFi Channel miniseries Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars in 2004. In 2006 Edgley starred as the female lead in critically acclaimed Australian Drama/Thriller Last Train to Freo. Her role was nominated for a Best Actress in a Lead Role by the Film Critics Circle of Australia. She also had a minor supporting role in the 2007 USA Network TV miniseries The Starter Wife. She had a leading role in three seasons of Rescue: Special Ops from 2009. In 2018, she appeared in the film Diminuendo opposite Richard Hatch. In 2014 she hosted Jim Henson's Creature Shop Challenge as herself!

Edgley has won numerous awards as well including:

• 2006 – Film Critics Circle of Australia Award Nomination for Best Actress in a motion picture (Last Train to Freo)
• 2003 – SyFy Genre Award for Best Supporting Actress (Television)
• 2002 – Saturn Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series (Farscape)
• 2001 – Maxim Award Nomination for Sexiest Space Babe (Television)

Official Website: GigiEdgley.com | Twitter - @GigiEdgley | IMDB | Facebook Fan Page

Rachel Skarsten

Media Guest

Rachel Alice Marie Skarsten was born April 23, 1985 daughter to Mary Aileen Self Skarsten and Dr. Stan Skarsten. She has a younger brother Jonathan Skarsten.

Rachel danced for the Royal Academy of Dance for 12 years, earning her Elementary Level with distinction in 1999. After an injury to her ankle, Rachel was forced to give up dance and turned to sports. She played at the highest level of competitive female hockey as a goalie for the Leaside Wildcats in Toronto, where in 2002 she won the Toronto City Championships in a shootout.

One of her first movie roles was Caroline Lofton on Virginia’s Run (2002)

At 16 she won a major role — that of superhero Black Canary/Dinah Lance — in the WB series Birds of Prey(2002), after being discovered by Producer Brian Robins. After the show was canceled, she moved home from Los Angeles eager to take a hiatus from acting, to graduate high school and pursue an undergraduate degree. After graduating from Earl Haig Secondary School in the top 10% of her class, and being named an Ontario Scholar, she was accepted into the prestigious Canadian Queen’s University. There she completed a double major in English Literature and Classical History. She moved back to Los Angeles in the spring of 2008.

Following this, she returned to acting with arcs on Flashpoint, The Listener and The LA Complex.

Rachel represented the role of Tamsin in the supernatural crime drama television series Lost Girl (2010-2016), Andrea in the successful movie Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), Queen Elizabeth I in the CW series Reign and worked in several tv movies as Marry Me at Christmas, Timeless Love and For Love and important big screen projects as Aaron Sorkin’s Molly’s Game (2017) and Acquainted (2018).

Rachel has been cast as a villainous lead opposite Ruby Rose in Batwoman, the CW’s drama from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions and Warner Bros Television now in its third season.

Spencer Wilding

Media Guest

Spencer Lee Wilding (born 26 July 1972) is a Welsh actor and special creature performer in the UK. He is from Meliden in Denbighshire, North Wales. He has also had some success as a professional kickboxer and professional cruiser weight boxer. He was trained by former three-time world champion Russ Williams.

Wilding physically portrays Darth Vader alongside Daniel Naprous in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He is also notable for playing the werewolf form of Remus Lupin in the 2004 film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Ice Warrior Skaldak in the Doctor Who episode "Cold War," and the White Walker that stalks the Night's Watch in the Game of Thrones episode "Winter Is Coming" (sharing the role with fellow Star Wars actor Ian Whyte, while fellow Star Wars actor Bronson Webb plays the one survivor of the encounter).

Wilding went through a series of auditions for the role, during which he had to sign a non-disclosure agreement. His first three auditions were self-tapes, and he didn't know what production it was for or who the character was going to be. His final audition took place at Pinewood Studios, during which he got to try on Vader's costume for the first time. Wilding shares the role with Daniel Naprous, with Naprous doing the fight scene at the end of the film, and Wilding doing all the other scenes.

Cara Nicole AZPowergirl

Cosplay Guest

Cara Nicole aka AzPowergirl is a stellar cosplay sensation online and on the convention circuit. She brings her unique brand of sassy stylings to the world with her successful book crowdfunding campaigns, calendars, comic books, and convention appearances. Her success as a comic book creator and comic book cover model only add to her skill set. She also enjoys celebrity as the model for Magic: The Gathering, has earned great notoriety for her support of upcoming cosplayers in her informative panels on cosplay as a career. Music and stand-up comedy add to her showcase. Cara has graced the pages of Heavy Metal Magazine, Kotaku, Forbes, Bleeding Cool, and many more.

Alfred Trujillo

Artist Guest

Alfred Trujillo is a comic book artist and photographer. Alfred has had the privilege to be published by Coffin Comics, Zenescope, Big Dog Ink, Aspen Comics, and many more. He has worked on a variety of covers for independent books and has successful original comic book projects through his studio. Alfred travels nationally and internationally to promote comic book art with panels and workshops, and has gained notoriety with the fans. You can see Alfred's photography work on comic book covers and in cosplay prints.