By now, Morena Baccarin must be a firm believer in second chances. After attending The Big Apple’s prestigious Juilliard School and appearing in numerous regional theatre productions, the actress turned down auditioning for the role of Inara Serra on the Joss Whedon space Western series, Firefly.
    “I never did read a script,” recalls Baccarin. “I got a treatment a long time before I ever auditioned for it. I passed on it because there wasn’t a script and I was in New York at the time and I didn’t want to go on tape. I just don’t do my best work that way and I thought,   ‘What’s the point? If it is meant to be, it is meant to be.”
    Another actress snagged the part instead, but then fate intervened, “I came to Los Angeles a little bit later and they had cast the role and then fired the person,” explains Baccarin. “They were looking for that part again and my agent said,  ‘You have to go in today for it!’ And I thought, ‘I don’t know. Do I really want to play that part?’ And they said, ‘Look, just go in there and meet them and see how you feel. You can read the script and make your decision.’ Of course, I met Joss and within 30 seconds, I thought ‘This is gonna be great!’”
    And she was right. After all, Inara isn’t your stereotypical call-girl. Elegant, gorgeous, and sophisticated, she is a top class Companion. With prostitution legalised across most planets, Inara is highly regarded and probably the most respected person onboard Serenity.
    Yet much to the chagrin of Jayne’s sexual urges, she is extremely picky about her clientele, has a code of ethics, and has vowed never to ‘service’ any of her teammates. “Any situation Inara finds herself in that is potentially harmful or shady…” explains Baccarin. “In one episode, Joss created this thing called the Client Database which is like a screening for people she’s with, so she knows exactly who she is dealing with. As soon as somebody violates some of those codes, she is out of there. I don’t think she puts up with very much.”
    “They made Inara interesting and were taking her into such a different direction than people would normally take, so I immediately trusted them and knew it would be amazing,” she says.
    To better understand Inara, Baccarin also hit the books. “I read a lot on Geishas on my own,” states Baccarin. “Joss didn’t really ask for any of that. It is just to get a sense of the tradition that comes from what part. I wanted to add some of that to what was already there. I didn’t have to do anything physically though.”
    On television, Inara’s high status frequently saved the crew’s collective butts and then her Firefly adventures suddenly ended. Despite the cast’s obvious chemistry together and the show’s cult following, FOX axed Firefly due to low ratings. “It was really hard when the show got cancelled.” admits Baccarin. “I think a lot of us got our heart broken, although Joss was really positive about it. He was like, ‘This is not over. We’re going to do all I can.’ At a certain point, I had to let it go because it was going to take a while and may never happen and I didn’t want my heart broken again.”
    Baccarin had given up hope when lightning struck twice. “I was extremely surprise when I got a phone call from my agent saying, ‘Do you want to do this Serenity movie?” she recalls. “It was a dream come true. It was like coming back to summer camp.”
    In spite of over a year lapse between Firefly and Serenity, Baccarin had no trouble slipping back into her character’s mindset. “I thought being Inara again would be so strange, but the minute we were all in that room again and we did the first read-through it was like we never left,” she proclaims. “It was just like a long break.”
    In the movie Serenity, the Alliance and their agent The Operative are in hot pursuit of their human guinea pig, River Tam. “The movie focuses a lot on the worlds outside of Serenity and the government and makes a lot of statements about that,” reveals Baccarin. “We get to see the Reavers, which is really exciting. And The Operative is really evil. I would get goosebumps whenever I’d watch Chiwetel Ejiofor in this part. He basically wants River, but I won’t tell you why or how it happens.”
    Inara, who rents the shuttle on Captain Malcolm Reynolds’ ship Serenity, is on a leave of absence before the mayhem sucks her in. “In the series, she had a very specific place on the ship and it was changing toward the end, but in the movie, we really get into that side of Inara,” offers Baccarin. “In the series, she was really established as a Companion, and now that we’ve done that, the movie is a little more emotional and more about her internal life.”
    Those revelations also meant exploring Inara’s connections to her new family. “Kaylee and I have a special relationship,” offers Baccarin. “She sees Inara as a very nurturing figure. I don’t think anybody has a problem with her and the term ambassador serves her well. She knows her place and how to stay out of things with the exception of Mal. With him, she’s a complete idiot. He’s her weakness.”
    That Achilles’ heel is definitely something The Operative is counting on exploiting. Using Inara as bait, Mal and his crew are lured into a trap. However, the resourceful Inara is anything but a damsel-in-distress and proves she is not only a lover but a fighter as well. “Basically, I have a scene with Mal and The Operative in which… I can’t say much about it, but I get hurt,” hints Baccarin.
    Back on Serenity, it is business as usual between Inara and Mal as they return to verbally sparring. The two have always shared a mutual love-hate relationship with enough sexual tension to kick the ship’s thrusters into overdrive. Now with the pair reunited, will they finally act on that passion and at least lock lips? “I’m not telling you that!” exclaims Baccarin. “You’ll have to come and see!” Mal and Inara are definitely there for each other.
    “You can tell the way Joss wrote the film, she’s at a very different place in her life,” adds Baccarin “Although they don’t have the time to go into all of that, you definitely see the change in her and her relationship with Mal. They try to maintain a friendship.”
    Reflecting on the immense popularity of the Firefly/Serenity universe, Baccarin notes, “Joss did a really good job with not only picking people who were right for the role, but people who were really interested with the work and people with integrity. I really admire everyone in the cast and if there was a weak link, he would have gotten rid of it. It was really important for him to have a positive experience because this was his baby.”
    And Baccarin gave special kudos to co-star and leading man, Nathan Fillion. “I have to say, Nathan really sets the standards. In the movie and the series, he was there almost every day and he was exhausted half the time. He was in such good spirits and I never ever saw him cranky or get upset.”
    Apparently that good humour rubbed off. The Firefly DVD set contains a blooper reel of the cast frequently goofing off and Baccarin acknowledges that the movie set was no different. “There were so many bloopers it is hard to remember,” laugh Baccarin. “Jewel and I would get the giggles sometimes and we were shooting this scene at a ranch and it was so hot. It was 105 degrees and everybody was sweating their asses off and Jewel and I got a case of the giggles and we couldn’t even get through one take without cracking up for no apparent reason. And even Sean was like ‘You guys need to pull it together. We’ve got to get out of here.’ And then he started to get the giggles.”
    Despite Inara’s physically charged scrap against The Operative or her time opposite Mal, Baccarin cites a more tear-jerking moment as her favourite sequence. “There is a scene at the end of the movie but I can’t tell you who it is with because it will give it away,” she says. “But it is so beautifully shot and so touching, it makes me cry every time I see it.”
    In the meantime, Baccarin is fully aware that Serenity fans are already demanding a sequel, so she has a suggestion or two concerning the next instalment.
    “I’m really curious about her past,” muses Baccarin. “I know some of it, but it would be interesting to have some flashbacks and see what happened to her. It is rare to see Inara show anything and that would be fascinating to do.”