Both actors tend to bring an onscreen intensity to their roles. Though she bristles at the suggestion, Forbes is most widely known for her roles in a couple of iconic science fiction series, playing Ensign Ro Laren in Star Trek: The Next Generation and Admiral Helena Cain in Battlestar Galactica. "It just cracks me up. I did about nine hours of Star Trek and five hours of Battlestar. That means I've done 14 hours of science fiction in 20 years. And then you do these wonderful shows like Homicide, these beautifully dramatic shows, and everyone's like, 'I don't really remember that.'"
It seems an uncomfortable fit, then, that those roles have cemented her place in the science fiction fandom when she isn't a fan of the genre herself. "I didn't have anything against it, but in fact I didn't even get science fiction until I did Battlestar. Science fiction was just of no interest to me whatsoever until then, when I finally got it, the idea of looking forward to understand who we are today. It lets us ask these questions now before it's too late, to use it as a metaphysical and political mirror to what's happening to us now. That is the beauty of that show for me, that and the absolute glory of Ron Moore's writing, which still throws me for a loop."
Though she's spent a lot of time working on American series in Canada, including Battlestar Galactica, Durham County marks her first Canadian production. Currently shooting in Montreal, Forbes has fallen in love with the city – even with the recent snow - and relishes the opportunity to work outside the Hollywood system. "I love working for the BBC, and I've had just a fantastic experience here. All of that Hollywood nonsense just disappears. It's really just about getting down to work, getting your hands dirty, and having a laugh. Which is exactly what we've done here. I've had a brilliant time here."
She doesn't see her career full of strong characters as outside the norm, and she sees the idea of strength as something of a trap in any case. "I'm always hoping to bring humanity and vulnerability to the cliché of the strong woman. I've always sort of hated that term 'strong woman' because it implies that most women aren't. Nobody ever really uses that when talking about a man."
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