Rain Pierson's Queen of Swords Reviews

TESSIE SANTIAGO

You know her as: You don’t, since Tessie won the starring role on her syndicated series from her first professional audition. “I was a restaurant hostess; then my life changed overnight. I had a big check on the way but didn’t have 25˘ for a phone call.”

Her series: Queen of Swords, a Xena-meets-Zorro action-adventure.

She plays: A seemingly shallow daughter of wealth who fights for the oppressed as the Queen of Swords, a 19th-century masked avenger.

Cruel whip: The Miami-born beauty immersed herself in sword and whip training: “The whip is tricky. You think you have it; then it snaps back and bites you at 750 miles per hour. A sound guy got in the way, and I whipped him. By accident, of course.”

Leather and lace: “My first scene was fighting on a cliff while wearing high-heeled boots and a corset. I’ll never get used to corsets. They’re beautiful and sexy—and terribly uncomfortable to wear for 12 hours.”