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Kat Stewart is Dr Rachel Mann
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Ice princess Rachel Mann is the girl of Paul's dreams. And only in his dreams.
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An expert in supernovas, she interviews him for the position at the Royal Australian Observatory, and is staggered when faced by the breadth of his research.
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After a farcical interview, it's the only thing that gets him the job.
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Rachel is cool, collected and stylish, and ambitious to a fault. She has the knockout combination all girls dream of – beauty and brains. She's used to being adored by fans like Paul. In fact, she expects it.
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In Rachel's world, she's queen bee. And as a result, the only person she truly respects at the observatory is her boss, Professor Pip Cartwright.
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Rachel is black and white, and blunt to the point of rudeness. It isn't that she doesn't have a heart – she does, but there isn't an uncertain bone in her.
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She sees what she wants, and she goes for it. Mostly, that works for her. But occasionally, it's her downfall, and never more so than with men.
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There's a side to Rachel that likes to get down and dirty with a real man. She has a dysfunctional relationship with Chad, a pathologically jealous astronaut, with whom she likes to engage in suggestive chat over the observatory's satellite radio.
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And she's been known to have the odd brief dalliance at astronomy conferences.
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Paul lusts after Rachel. She respects him, admires him, and likes him. But it's never going to happen with a polite guy like Paul.
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Kat Stewart describes Rachel as "someone who life has come easy to".
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"Rachel is brilliant, and she knows it. She wants to be a superstar. She's very ambitious and she wants the spotlight – you see that really clearly when there's a chance she'll get her own television series, and will do almost anything to keep the focus on her.
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"I'm notorious for trying to keep people happy, but Rachel is much more black and white. She's scientific, blunt and brutal. But she's also drawn by a sexual pulse that's pretty strong sometimes. There's definitely a dirty side to her."
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The character of Rachel marks something of a departure from Kat's usual roles, which have often been defined by the way she looks.
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"I'm often misread as surly – I've played prostitutes, I've done cocaine, I've killed people. But the upside is at least those characters are the sort of people who drive their own bus – they aren't all dewy-eyed and doing nothing.
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"Surliness works for Rachel, and Paul is oblivious to it anyway! Even though her behaviour borders on rude, she understands Paul has a crush on her.
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"And she thaws over the six episodes as she begins to see he has some strength of character – he defends her honour, even though he does it clumsily – and she likes having him around. Without being too serious, he makes her a nicer person." Ìý
How did Kat feel about playing the pin-up of Supernova?
"There's a pressure in playing someone who's set up as a beauty," she says. "But I think Rachel's beauty is more about how Paul sees her. If she was a supermodel, I couldn't do it!"
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Kat has worked consistently in Australian film, stage and television since graduating from the National Theatre Drama School in 1998. Her stage credits include roles in Lysistrata and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the National Theatre, and The Three Musketeers for the Australian Shakespeare Company.
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She is a member of the Red Stitch Actors Theatre, and in 2004 received a Green Room Award Nomination for Best Actress in a Fringe Production for its production of Dirty Butterfly.
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The same year, she was the Green Room Award Winner for Actress With An Emerging Career, taking home the Gerda Nicholson Award.
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Her television credits include Blue Heelers, Crashburn and The Secret Life of Us.
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She will be seen in 2005 in the film The Extra. Ìý
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