Dark Angel by Tara Dilullo
She came, she Slayed, she chopped Spike’s hands off – mad Slayer Dana certainly made a memorable debut in Season Five! Actress Navi Rawat discusses her shocking role in ‘Damage’!

When Buffy shared her Slayer powers with the Potential Slayers of the world in the Buffy season finale, the audience was given a glimpse of the lasting, positive images of the changed women on the receiving end of that remarkable decision. It might have been easy to just leave us imagining a world only benefitting from the good of that choice, but Angel recently explored the bleaker ramifications. In this season’s ‘Damage’, former Buffy writers Drew Goddard and Steven S. DeKnight presented the polar opposite of a Potential prepared to use and control the powers foisted on her – and she came in the form of the deeply troubled young woman known as Dana. A victim of intense mental and physical abuse as a small child, Dana was eventually found and institutionalised for years. Having gained her full Slayer powers, Dana breaks free from the hospital on a murderous rampage, crossing paths with Angel and Spike…
    The real woman behind the bloody face and limb-hacking is, thankfully, nothing like her psychotic counterpart. Actress Navi Rawat is perfectly stable and successfully forging a career in Hollywood, but she was more than happy to delve into the dark side for her gig on Angel. “Honestly, Dana was difficult because the character was so angry,” Navi shares, “A lot of the people I’ve played before were the victims, fighting back, but Dana was lashing out and it emotionally came from a really different place than I’ve played previously.”
    A Malibu, California native, Navi went to the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU to hone her acting craft. “I liked the school and the idea of being in the city. I got a partial scholarship to go there and I graduated in three years with a double major in British and American Literature.” After graduation, she made the tough decision whether to stay in New York or return to the West Coast. “I was trained classically, but I was concerned that because of my ethnicity, I may have a harder time getting cast in theatre in New York and I also knew television and film were a lot more profitable,” she laughs.
    So she returned to Los Angeles and immediately got involved in the auditioning cycle. “I think mainly it was a matter of finding the right representation and once I got that lined up, after a year of being here, things started to move along rapidly. My first job was an episode of Roswell.”
    About a year later she was cast as a character called Melanie on 24. “It was the only show I watched before I was cast in it. I was really excited when I got it. I learned a lot and it was great to be with that cast during their first year. 24 was the first big thing that I got. I had a recurring arc and I think people started to notice me. I’ve done a lot of action-thriller type stuff and I like the physical aspects of those kinds of jobs. They are really challenging, but really fun. It’s not something everyone can do and it makes acting easier when you don’t have to think about it, you just do it.”
    Navi’s experience would end up serving her well when she decided to take the role of Dana on Angel. “The casting directors at Angel had cast me before on Fastlane. They had this part for Dana and they called me in and I met the director, Jefferson Kibbee, and I got the part.” While the darkness of the part may have been a deterrent for some actors, Navi was actually well prepared to take on the role.. “When my agents presented this part to me, they said it was similar to what I did for a USA movie-of-the-week called Thought Crimes. I played another character who was institutionalised so I was able to draw on that.”
    “I’ve actually played quite a few characters that were pretty troubled,” she continues. “I can connect with that part of myself fairly easily at this point, because I’ve done some roles where I’ve had to stay like that over a couple of months. I never really worry about connecting to that kind of stuff and when I’m not working, I remain focussed and try not to get distracted by being on the set. In order to do the people justice, you need to stay within yourself as much as possible.”
    But that’s not to say she didn’t have a great time with the Angel cast. “Everyone was great,” she enthuses. “I had one scene with David and he was very funny and charming, making me laugh a lot. James Marsters was so supportive and I worked with him the most. He was great and I was really excited when I heard I was going to be working with him because I think he is a really talented actor.” She also confesses that she turned to James for help in catching up on her Slayer history. “The show has been going on for so long and I’m not really familiar with it, so I actually did the Cliff Notes and just consulted James. I was like, ‘James, Help me!’ and he filled me in,” she chuckles.
    On the more serious side, they also shared a number of brutally intense scenes with Dana imagining Spike as her childhood torturer, which in turn, spurs her into hacking his arms off. Navi reveals the duo took time to rehearse and prepare for those scenes as best they could. “We ran through lines a lot and talked a lot to get into it as easily as we could. We have a similar style of working so I felt like our technique was compatible.”
    Navi adds that the dramatic look they gave her as Dana helped complete her transformation. “Joss Whedon had a very distinct look that he wanted. I was concerned about how it would look with all the blood and how it would come off, but I’m not fussy. I’d rather look like that than be dressed up. It was fun and I’m not squeamish. I love horror films. As long as they were happy with it, I was fine. Plus I try not to think about what I want and more about what the producers want.”
    As Slayer-powered Dana, Navi also got to kick some butt with weapons and super human strength. “I have to be honest, Angel was more physical than anything I’ve ever done before. They do a lot on the show and I was fighting two people at the same time, which was tough especially because the guys were so big, but I was good with it. The fight choreographer is one of the best I’ve ever worked with and he was great. He just led me into it and I did some stuff and my stunt double did some stuff.”
    At the end of the episode, Dana is taken into the fold by Andrew, and Navi reveals Dana might have made another appearance if Angel had continued into Season Six. “One of the writers mentioned to me when we were on set. He said this is someone with a lot of back story in the show and we hope to see her again.” If Angel ever gets another life and she is asked back, Navi is on board. “I would absolutely come back because I had such a great time.”
    As for her own critical review of her performance on the show, Navi can’t really comment – yet. “I haven’t seen the whole thing as I was working on The OC when it aired,” she sighs. “I’ve only seen parts of it. I liked the stuff where I am fighting Spike in the dungeon. When I was reading it those were the moments that stuck in my mind too.”
    Right now, Navi’s gig as Theresa on The OC is turning into a longer job than she initially expected. “I had done an episode of The OC and they kept asking me back for more episodes. I had no idea it was going to turn into what it has turned into . I just finished my fourth episode and we are negotiating how many more I’m going to do so we’ll see what happens.”
    Navi has recently been cast in North Shore, an upcoming series from Fox, and she is still considering scripts for more film work. Last December, she appeared as Sir Ben Kingsley’s daughter in The House of Sand and Fog, of which she says, “I feel really proud to have been a small part of such an amazing movie.” She continues, “I think ultimately, I’d like to do more film. I like the idea of working on something for a few months and then moving onto something else, which is what film offers more than television. Everything moves a little slower and it gives me more time to connect with the character, but I like working and the more I work, the happier I am.”