Christina Cox Is Out for Blood as TV's Sexy New Slayer

It's a new day for Lifetime as it journeys into uncharted territory with Blood Ties, premiering Sunday at 9 pm/ET. Based on The Blood Books by Tanya Huff, the series follows private investigator Vicki Nelson as she teams up with Henry, a sexy vampire old enough to be her great-great-great-... well, he's very old. Together, they solve supernatural crimes while battling their obvious attraction to each other. There is action, romance and Vicki's ex, who continues to tug at her heart. TVGuide.com took a few moments to chat up series lead Christina Cox.

TVGuide.com: Blood Ties is a bit of a departure for Lifetime. How do you feel about being a part of this new direction for the network?
Christina Cox: I love that it's a departure. Women's stories are valid and they need to be developed in a way that appeals to a broader audience. And what is "women's television" other than TV that women would enjoy watching? A show like Blood Ties crosses genres; it's action-packed; there's a great, sexy, unrequited-love element to it; and there are ass-kicking demons, an ass-kicking vampire and a gun-wielding chick. Really, it has all the components.

TVGuide.com: You've done a lot of sci-fi in the past (The Chronicles of Riddick, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven). Do you feel you've been prepared for this role by that?
Cox: Oh, yes, I'm well acquainted with the green screen! I have done a lot of sci-fi, not out of choice, necessarily. It's just that I'm Canadian, and it's more cost-efficient to film sci-fi up here. I also don't have a face that lends itself to period pieces because I'm ethnically diverse. You go back as little as a hundred years ago and you were Scottish, or Scottish and Irish maybe. You weren't Indo-Caribbean-Japanese-African-Latino. It's just not something that came up and if it did, it was pretty rare. Now if you're ethnically diverse, it serves you better to just be a human being. It's all moving that way, anyway.

TVGuide.com: And here you are hunting vampires!
Cox: I am, and having unrequited love affairs!

TVGuide.com: Yeah, that might get a little difficult.
Cox: It will get more difficult if we bore the heck out of everybody by hooking me up with someone. We need to keep the tension alive. Henry (played by Kyle Schmid) epitomizes everything about the bad boy. He's sexy and he's got a voracious appetite — on a number of levels — and yet Vicki knows she can't cross that line, because there's no looking back from that place.

TVGuide.com: So Vicki doesn't get to find out if Henry wears boxers or briefs?
Cox: I think she already knows! There's a strong possibility that young Henry goes commando. He's just that kind of guy.

TVGuide.com: Julian Sands (Boxing Helena, 24) is going to join the cast. Will he further complicate matters?
Cox: How unbelievably fortunate were we to have Julian Sands? It was kind of surreal because we were all so petrified. He's so still and powerful, and he was scary as crap!

TVGuide.com: How does he figure into the show?
Cox: He is Henry's archenemy, and he comes out and really messes with our heads in terms of what the true nature of the vampire really is.

TVGuide.com: Why does Vicki use a nightstick and not a gun to beat down the demons?
Cox: I do have a gun, and I quite like it! It's shiny. It's coming out later in the series because, frankly, sometimes you just have to shoot the bad guy. But whacking him with your asp — it's called an asp, and you can only imagine the asp jokes — instead of a gun is more interesting.

TVGuide.com: Do you do any of your own stunts?
Cox: Kyle and I do as many of the stunts that we can safely do. If I feel that I can do it safely, that's always going to be the default setting. I was an athlete. I know how to move, and because of my experience I can sell it.

TVGuide.com: Some might liken Vicki to a certain famous vampire slayer. Are we seeing the emergence of a new Buffy?
Cox: There are obvious parallels that are going to be drawn between us and Buffy, and if we are fortunate enough to be compared on that level then I believe we've accomplished a great feat. I would love to be the new Buffy. It would be a great privilege.

Sci-fi fans can find scoop on Lost, Smallville and J.J. Abrams' Star Trek film in the March 12 issue of TV Guide. Click here to subscribe.