The CW’s latest hit drama, Nikita is one of my favorite new shows of the season. One character in particular stood out to me in the Pilot, so I went right to the source to get all of the lowdown on Jaden. Actress, Tiffany Hines had a lot to say about her character, a love interest, and much more. Keep reading for all of the scoop!

Photo Credit: Annette Navarro

Can you elaborate on Jaden’s conflict with Alex?
Alex is kind of stepping on Jaden’s turf. Jaden’s been there two months already and she’s really taken with Thom. She sees the connection that Alex is having with Thom and she she’s getting a little territorial.

How do you hope to see this relationship evolve?
There’s a lot of twists and turns on our show so I don’t know. It can go a lot of different ways. I think it will be interesting to see where that relationship will go…whether they become allies of some sort or they bud heads even more.

You mentioned Thom and although I didn’t catch a romantic vibe or love triangle amongst you recruits, what can you tell me?
From the beginning, there’s not a lot that is touched on but as the season progresses, we’ll see a little bit there. Jaden does have some feelings for Thom and there’s definitely a triangle that will develop. Thom is one of the first people that Jaden met when she came to Division. She’s had a really rough upbringing and nobody’s really shown her that compassion before Thom. He can be the kind of person that is your savior, especially at the Division where at any moment you can be canceled and if you’re not successful at what you do, they can kill you. Jaden is very hard on the outside but underneath, she’s just like everyone else. She really wants love. So when Thom shows her that side, she has that tendency to kind of fall for him. So as the season progresses, it becomes interesting, the dynamic between these three characters.

So then is Jaden so dead set on being an assassin because she is so vulnerable?
I think so. The hard exterior is really her hiding what’s underneath. She wants to be the best at everything at Division, she wants to be liked, she wants to be loved… Even though she comes across hard, it stems from the fact that she wants to be accepted. When she talks about Nikita she talks down about her because she wants to be Nikita. When Alex comes in and is more of a natural at things, she becomes threatened and territorial about it. She feels like Alex is stealing her thunder. As the show progresses, we’ll get to see a lot of different sides to her which is why I am so excited to play her. At first she seems like just the mean girl, but anybody that you meet is a lot more complicated than that. Jaden is more complicated than that.

What is your training schedule like and what do you find most challenging?
It depends on what we are scheduled to shoot that week. If it’s a physical, action heavy week, we do a lot of training. Episodes 2 and 3 were heavy episodes in regards to Jaden vs. Alex. So besides our regular work out routines, we had rehearsals with our stunt coordinators and fight coordinators. There’s a lot that goes into it. I have a dance background and learning a fight sequence is almost like learning a dance. Everything is choreographed and it’s really, really intricately thought out. It’s dangerous to do, so they make sure you know all of the moves inside and out. We also work with our stunt doubles who know the moves as well. It’s pretty intense. There are times when I’d wake up and every muscle in my body would ache the morning after rehearsal. We do take after take after take when shooting, so it can be physically demanding but it’s also a lot of fun. When you see the final product, you realize that it was worth it.

It sure is! In last week’s episode, the recruits were training in taking apart and re assembling guns! How long did that take to learn?
Oh my goodness! We have really great people behind the scene working with us. The day before we shot that scene, we had just finished a scene when they took us into a room to do gun training. The trainer really broke it down step by step. It was a repetition thing, so we had to do it over and over again. I think we worked on taking guns apart for an hour, hour and a half. The next day we did it but what was really challenging about the scene is that we were blindfolded. When I was taking the gun apart, I was fine. But once the blindfolds were put on, that was such a challenge. I didn’t want to peak because I wanted it to be authentic, but there were a couple of times where I would sneak a peek when it was too hard. That was a fun scene to shoot.

How familiar were you with the Nikita franchise before you were brought into the show?
Well actually when I was in high school, I started the Critics Club. During lunch time, we watched a film. Our second film that we critiqued was La Femme Nikita. I remember when I first saw the film how blown away I was by this woman who gets in trouble with the law and she seems so fragile but she’s so hard. I loved the dynamic of the character. It’s crazy since fast forward years later and now I’m doing a series based upon the film. Once I had gotten the role, as part of my research, I did go back and look at other versions. Even though our version is very unique, we pulled bits and pieces from the other versions. So I wanted to be familiar with it. They were all brilliant in their own way, so I am thrilled to be part of a franchise that has been so successful over time.

The show has been compared to the Bourne films and Alias. Do you think those are fair comparisons?
I think in the beginning, you haven’t made your own mark yet and everyone’s going to compare you. So I’m not surprised. Alias was an amazing show. The Bourne movies are some of my favorite movies. I am flattered that we are being compared to shows and films that have really proven themselves and are successful. As we continue, I think we’ll make our own mark and won’t be compared as much. But if we’re going to be compared to anything, those are awesome shows and films, so that is great.

Lastly…the creative team behind the show is fantastic, sharing credits such as Bones, Chuck, and Supernatural. From all of their shows, which actor would you like to see guest star on Nikita?
Wow. Of all of their shows…hmm. Well just because I’m biased, as I recurred on Bones, I would love for David Boreanaz to guest star. I think that would be really cool. He’s a great actor and really fun to work with and I don’t think I’d be wrong to say that the Angel fans would probably love to see him come guest star. So yeah, he would be my favorite guest star.

Nikita airs Thursday at 9/8c on The CW.