Can you tell me a little bit about your role in “Firefly?”
I play a companion. This is in a time when prostitution is legal. There are not so many taboos to it. She's very classy, more along the lines of a geisha. She's very trained in the arts, in languages and the instruments - she can swordfight and everything. It's just incredible. She's a great character. I learn things every day with her. She's very versatile in languages.

This is a Joss Whedon production so it has to be a little far-out. What's it like working with him?
He's great. He's so imaginative and it's so fun because you get to be creative with someone who is also creative. There's no stopping it.

What is the actual premise of “Firefly?”
It's years in the future and it's stylized like a space western because there's a lot of guns [including] sawed-off shotguns. There are no aliens. It's more about the relationships between the people. For example, the captain (Nathan Fillion) and I have this little moonlighting relationship…

So there aren't any aliens in this but it does take place in outer space?
Exactly. It's what you would imagine it to look like in 500 years, assuming that the Earth is going to die out and we have to push out to a new frontier.

Everyone in the series will look like regular people?
Yes.

Arlen Escarpeta at the Premiere of "The Four Feathers."
Photo ©Rebecca Murray. All Rights Reserved.

You have two projects coming up.
Yes, I do. In “Boomtown,” the season premiere will be circled around my character. There's one incident that happens, a mishap with a gun and a shooting, and a stolen car. My character is in the central story. You'll see the police trying to catch my character but they may be chasing the wrong person, or they may not be - I can't say.

And “Boomtown” is told from many different characters' points of view, correct?
Right, exactly. You'll see it from my point of view, the DA's point of view, the police officer's point of view, the school teacher's point of view… You won't see the same thing; that's the good thing about it. It's different things happening throughout the day and at the end, it all comes together and you see what really happened.

You're also starring in “American Dreams.”
Yes, I am. I play Sam Walker - both characters ran track, just like I did in high school and in college. I end up getting a track scholarship to go to this all-white school where there is only three other black kids, like myself. It's very hard for my character in “American Dreams.” He's really trying to grow. He's not a shy person but just in the environment that he gets tossed in to, it's a lot of chaos for him.

Do you think the series really reflects that time period?
It does to an extent. It also has the good side; it has the people that are trying to help Sam Walker and his family. The main family - the Pryor family - invite me over to dinner. It's an honorable thing to do but you'll see it's very different.

The show also features “American Bandstand.” Do you get involved in that?
My character hasn't gotten invited just yet. I think one of the other characters has to invite me, but you'll get to hear lots of good music. You'll get to see lots of artists from nowadays coming in and guest starring in the show and playing artists from the Bandstand era. I think we have Nick Carter coming on, along with lots of other great people.