British thespian Michelle Ryan first achieved success in the United Kingdom for her portrayal of Zoë Slater in the popular BBC series EastEnders. Earlier this year, Ryan was seen in Sean Ellis’ debut feature film Cashback, based on his Oscar-nominated short film. The film recently screened at the Aspen comedy festival. In addition, Ryan recently starred alongside Jimmy Carr and Carmen Electra in the Stephen Surjik-directed comedy, I Want Candy. She has also appeared in the ITV production of Mansfield Park, and can soon be seen in the BBC production of Jekyll, opposite James Nesbitt and Gina Bellman.

Ryan’s other television credits include The Worst Witch, Burnside and Miss Marple: By the Pricking of My Thumbs, in which she played the vampish Rose Waters. Her theater work includes roles at the London Palladium, Her Majesty’s Theatre and Millfield Theatre. Last summer, Ryan appeared on stage in the Toby Young and Lloyd Evans stage production Who’s The Daddy? She played Tiffany the Mole, one of the lead female roles, in an outrageous portrayal of life at Britain’s foremost political and literary magazine (The Spectator) during the Blunkett Sex’n’Visa scandal. Ryan is set to break Hollywood this fall after landing the lead in a “re-imagination” remake of 1970s TV show The Bionic Woman. The 23-year-old apparently beat a host of Hollywood names to the coveted role of Jamie Sommers - originally played by U.S. actress Lindsay Wagner. In The Bionic Woman, which was a spin-off from The Six Million Dollar Man featuring Lee Majors, Michelle will play a tennis pro who gains superhuman abilities after her body is rebuilt with high-tech electronic parts following a near-fatal accident.

Delaware County Magazine: Were you a fan of the original Bionic Woman series when it aired in England?

Michelle Ryan: I did watch some of them in reruns in the late ‘80s. I wasn’t a big fan of it, but I liked it enough to watch it. I think the cheesy special effects threw it off. Plus, it seemed to be dated to me. There are a lot of shows that don’t hold up well over time, especially ones that deal with technology or have a lot of computer stuff in them. Even technology created today is outdated in six months since everything improves all the time so it’s nice to do something that’s fresh and current.

DCM: Did you have any doubts about doing this series at all? If it’s a success I guess they have you singed up for a few years?

Ryan: I had doubts before committing to this new series, but I knew I couldn’t miss the opportunity either. I’ll be spending eight months of the year filming in Vancouver for as long as the series runs. I was unsure about it at first because of the commitment - it’s a seven-year deal, if it takes off. But I really do think this is an opportunity of a lifetime.

DCM: Is this the hardest acting job you’ve ever had to date? Especially with all the stunts and fight scenes that are involved...

Ryan: I’m a real tomboy at heart, so I love the fact that I get to jump off things and throw myself around and be one of the guys. I think it’s so fantastic that it’s such a young, strong female lead. I’m trekking up mountains. I’m working with a personal trainer, dialect coach, and acting coach every day to stay in shape and be prepared. So I’m sort of being put through it.

DCM: How did you find out about the role? Were you offered it? I wasn’t sure if the producers saw you on BBC TV and wanted to get you to do a screen test.

Ryan: I was filming a horror film with Faye Dunaway, a very low-budget British film, and I got the call saying would you like to audition? So I drove down, wrapped at 2:00 in the morning, drove down back to London, and put myself on tape. I didn’t think anything of it, and then I got a call saying they’d love to fly you out to do a screen test. And I thought, oh, OK, great. I can go to L.A., hopefully sign with a good agent, and you know, it would be good experience to go in a few meetings. As an actor you’re always looking for new work. I went in and met David Eick and all the other producers. And I got so excited because they were so enthusiastic about the project, and I just thought, ‘Actually, I really want this now!’ When you see Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider and you see her sort of kicking ass, you’re like, yeah, I want to be like that. I want to be strong, and I want to be confident and empowered. And I think that’s a really great message that Bionic Woman will hopefully bring out. I did beat out a lot of other actresses who wanted the part as well. So the part didn’t fall into my lap like they wanted me from the beginning.

DCM: Were there ever any thoughts in your head at any time that they, ‘They’ meaning Hollywood, was just trying to cash in on another old TV Show to update it and make a quick buck off of it? There are so many remakes today that it seems Hollywood wants to cash in, once more, off of the nostalgia crowd who loved the original show...

Ryan: I think what’s interesting about the old show is that it came about at a time when there was a great deal of discussion in the popular culture about equal rights for women, equal pay for equal work, and women's lib. I think The Bionic Woman was the first television show where the female in the superhero show, or in the action show, was not the wife of, or the girlfriend of, or the mother of, the guy who normally is the hero lead. And the statement was very simple: ‘Women can do what men do.’ And I don’t think we’re talking about that anymore, certainly not as much. I don’t think there’s much question about that. A lot of people in the US are going to vote for a woman to be President of the United States. Certainly, as the producers sit in the rooms trying to get permission to do the stories that they want to do, the people they’re asking about storylines are, in fact, women.

DCM: So this version of Jamie Sommers is more unique than the ‘70s version?

Ryan: In this show, Jaime is faced with a choice about whether to embrace the thing that she’s become, that which makes her super and other than human, it makes her unique. She wants to embrace the things that make her a human being, that make her a family girl, that make her a big sister. And it seemed like those concepts were very prevalent and very rich and they resonant right now like all those concepts that were touched on in the old show. And so that’s really the reason for the attempted remake and the title. It just felt timely now as it did then.

DCM: I’ve only seen parts of the show so far, but it looks like the old special effects of slow motion are gone and replaced with an updated look and sound.

Ryan: There’s no slow-motion and the iconic sound effect that was played over Jaime’s super-human acts isn’t used. The look and approach to the show is just a modern one. There are a lot of tools that you can use now to create the illusion of a super human being that, in those days in the ‘70s, you couldn’t do very easily. I suppose if the tone of the show was cheesy or retro or somehow more of a comedy, it would make sense to do that. But it's really not. It's a drama first. They're [the producers] really playing it straight.

DCM: So would you describe this new series as a ‘darker’ series in tone and approach?

Ryan: This is a story about a woman coming of age, a young girl, actually, realizing her potential as a human being while she’s realizing her potential as a hero as this new thing that she’s become, which is part-machine. The stories are about the parallels between those two and how sometimes one wins over the other, or there's a cost from one over the other. Now, that can be a dark story occasionally if the wrong choice is made, but by and large, I think it’s an uplifting story about how you can use the combination of the new thing that you’ve become, the thing you’ve had imposed on you, the thing you didn’t ask for, and make it work. It’s like the hero learning to be a hero while he learns to be a human being. Or something like that! [Laughter]

DCM: So Jamie Sommers has a lot of appeal for you to keep playing her over the next couple of years if the seires takes off?

Ryan: I guess I feel I identify with Jaime on so many levels. And with Jaime, I feel like there are so many challenges. There is leading the show. There are all the stunts. There is learning the American accent which is hard at times. There’s the actual character. There’s so much to keep me busy that I wouldn’t mind if we got the time to explore every aspect of the character over a good long run. I think, hopefully, it will run and people will like it, and we’ll all be happy in the end. The people who are involved in the show really want this to succeed and make it work and for it to be special. Otherwise why do it? It’s an expensive show to do as well with the whole action part of it, so I think a lot of people are taking great pride in being a part of this show.

DCM: If it’s a success, do you think they would then do a spin-off of The Six Million Dollar Man as well?

Ryan: Anything is possible, but let’s make this series great first!