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Tales
from STEFANIE
BUXTON Fly Girl is the first female bush pilot of Fantasia. What's more, she's a feminist and only 15 years old! "Fly Girl has been fending for herself since she became an orphan," says Stefanie Buxton, who plays the independent-minded young woman. "She is strong, self-assured and often sassy. "What I like best about her is her strong conviction. She really cares about the state of the world and her mission is to reclaim it for the greater good of all." Buxton's Fly Girl is a redhead with a cute turned-up nose. Her hair protrudes in pigtails out of her leather flying helmet. She is perky and playful - and wise beyond her years. Capable, inventive and persevering, Fly Girl is, like Atreyu, on a quest in Fantasia. Her quest is to rename lost places gobbled up by The Nothing. By consulting old maps, she gives names back to mountains, rivers and villages that have vanished under The Nothing's force. To find them, she flies all over Fantasia in her wonderful home-built Flying Machine. The Flying Machine is a metal, nuts and bolts imitation of Falkor, the Luckdragon, that once flew freely over Fantasia but was imprisoned by the evil Xayide and her Dark Knights. She inherited the Flying Machine from her grandfather who had built it to resemble the Luckdragon. When her machine is high in the air, inhabitants of Fantasia believe they are seeing the real Falkor. Fly Girl has many abilities: she is an ace pilot, an explorer, a geographer and a nomenclator. As The Neverending Story series unfolds, Fly Girl also becomes Atreyu's friend, helper and fellow traveller. Eventually, they even fall in love. When they first meet, they don't trust each other. He is lost and really needs her help, but he won't admit it. In turn, she is sassy with him and standoffish. But after some misadventures, they learn that they actually complement each other. "They become compadres; friends who need one another," says Buxton. "Atreyu needs to get from place to place and she has the Flying Machine. But she needs a friend because she is alone in the world. "They have a neat relationship because they need each other but there's a rivalry between them and they're often bickering." Fly Girl is pleasant and good-natured and "she sees the light in serious things," says Buxton. Fly Girl also has a great sense of humour, while Atreyu is born down by his heavy responsibilities and fear that he won't succeed. Both Fly Girl and Atreyu are on parallel heroes' journeys across the Fantasian landscape. Buxton is thrilled to be in the role of Fly Girl and in her first television series. She says that she has some of the same qualities as her Fantasian character. "We are both only children and therefore independent and self assured. I also look for the humour in everything." Buxton got her start as an actor in theatre and has had roles in Claudius, Fall for Me and girls! girls!girls! among many other productions. In film and television, she has played in Big Wolf on Campus and Wilder. Buxton sings, plays the flute, has mastered stage combat and is also an accomplished Scottish Highlands dancer. |
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