Gina Torres is a badass. Just so there’s no offense or confusion, I am certain anatomically speaking that she has an exquisitely good ass. But in terms of kicking butt and taking names, she is as bad an ass as they come. Everything about her screams strength, confidence, ability. That she isn’t a bigger star is a crime against the universe. That she has kicked ass in so many different universes points to a larger truth about ours. You see, as I mentioned earlier this week, Gina has popped up all over shows I’ve watched and loved: “Xena,” “Firefly,” “Angel,” “Pushing Daisies,” “The Vampire Diaries.” And looking through her long list of appearances you might detect a very noticeable theme. They’re all have a sci-fi/fantasy component. This has not been lost on Gina herself. As she famously told Venus magazine a few years ago:“I walk into a room, and for this industry, I’m impossibly tall. When they find it hard to pair you up with the opposite sex, then what’s left for a woman? Either you’re the ball-buster or the not-so-attractive girlfriend standing by the lead. I mean, traditionally not so attractive. Because you have your starlets and then you have their best friends who are these character actresses. When you fall within the cracks, you thank God for sci-fi, because they’ll give you a gun, and they’ll say, ‘Go over there and conquer that world. You kick some ass, girl!’”
As her husband, Laurence Fishburne, is fond of saying, Gina has an innate authority that will always make her more than just the stupid girl in a dress. It’s a gift, really. She has a serene power about her that is at once commanding but equally reassuring. Like, if you were in a spaceship being attacked by alien hordes and you saw Gina Torres sitting at the helm, you’d be like, “Oh, hell yeah, we’re definitely going to make it.” While it’s sad it takes alternate universes to appreciate Gina, those of us who love her just the way she is are happy to follow her into other dimensions and beyond. Happy weekend, all.
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