Kandyse McClure calls the accompanying photo spread, “The most revealing and sensual shoot that I’ve ever done. But I felt really comfortable.” Except for the swarming, voracious mosquitoes that descended in droves upon the shapely, exposed, horseback-riding actress.

Fortunately, McClure escaped with her sense of humour intact. The idea of setting her atop a horse came from photographer Darryl Humphrey, but McClure, tongue firmly planted in cheek, claims to have played the role of muse. “There was an unconscious suggestion on my part, because when Darryl and I first met I was wearing high, flat boots and a short jacket, so I sort of looked the part.”

See Kandyse´s full photo gallery

She has expertly managed to look like a diverse assortment of characters in a wide range of genres, including horror (in remakes of Carrie and Children of the Corn), sci-fi (playing series regular Anastasia Dualla in Battlestar Galactica) and drama. That dramatic career began in earnest when William B. Davis (“cancer man” from The X-Files) called his agent on McClure’s behalf. Davis had met her while she was rehearsing a play at the William B. Davis Centre for Actors in Vancouver. The agent agreed to take her on and she quickly booked her first and third auditions, securing a year-and-a-half of work in the blink of an eye. Even still, she had doubts about a profession that never quite seemed real.

“For a long time, acting was just something to do. It was just a hobby and then I was going to do something more serious and sort of be a real person. And then a few years later I realized, this is actually your job. This is your career.”

Recent projects in her now tangible career include Cole, an independent feature film shot last summer. It’s expected to be a part of Canadian Perspectives at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival. There’s also a new series, Persons Unknown, featuring a pilot script by series creator Christopher McQuarrie, Oscar-winning screenwriter of the feature film The Usual Suspects. “McQuarrie created an interesting world that in some way resembles the show Lost," McClure explains of the series. "There are people from all walks of life that find themselves in an unusual shared situation and then have to find a way out – and the adventures and drama ensues.”

McClure plays a character who kills the man that murdered her lover – a woman who, moments before waking up in the world of the program, was being executed by lethal injection. And while it’s a fanciful premise, her character is grounded in the grimmest of realities – the very thing that drew her to the role. “I wear cornrows, no makeup, tattoos – she’s a very animalistic, violent, angry, manipulative person. I know it sounds sort of harsh, but it was a lot of fun for me to play. It’s just not something that I’m allowed to do very often.”

McClure laughs, her animated face brightens, and it’s like an angel delighting to tell of the devil costume it once wore.

Kandyse McClure met with photographer Darryl Humphrey for an exclusive TORO Woman shoot and revealed insights into her personality in the following Q&A.

Q: What is your present state of mind?
A: Joy. You know what it is? In love! [laughs]

Q: What is your idea of perfect happiness?
A: Warmth, food, water. Being naked outside [laughs]. Feeling needed. And having a sense of accomplishment, in some small way.

Q: What is the quality that you like most in a man?
A: Manliness! [laughs]. You be a guy. I’ll be a girl. We’ll go from there.

Q: The quality that you like most in a woman?
A: Intelligence. Someone who’s secure enough in themselves that they allow me to be their friend. A lot of times, a guard goes up – for various reasons. And also curiosity is a great quality in any human.

Q: Is there a historical figure that you most identify with?
A: I remember being fascinated by Amelia Earhart when I was a young woman. I was captivated by the fact that she was a woman who wore pants and didn’t give a crap about what anybody thought about her, and that she had a spirit of adventure, and that she was really great at what she did. And decided to just go off and do this thing. Plus, I really liked saying the word “aviatrix” [laughs]

Q: What living person do you most admire?
A: I know it’s corny to say my mom, but totally my mom, because she’s intelligent and brave and hilarious. Of course there are actresses in this industry that I’d give my left arm for a portion of ... [laughs]. But at heart I’m nerdy. I’d like to meet Muhammad Yunus, a former professor of economic who developed the concept of microcredit, for which he (and the Grameen Bank, which he founded) were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Q: What’s your greatest extravagance or indulgence?
A: Shoes. I would pay $1,700 for shoes. I paid my rent one month for a pair – and this was when I had no job. Totally unemployed! Manolo Blahniks. I have many theories why. Firstly, I’m a woman. Secondly, according to my Vedic astrology I fall into Pisces-Taurus. And Piscean woman have a very strong attachment to their feet, and whatever is touching the ground; however you walk on the earth. I also really like feet. All kinds. And when my mother and I immigrated to Canada we were quite broke. I was a thrift shopper, and had a second-hand pair of shoes that I wore until the soles came off. And so now it’s amazing to have new, beautiful, expensive shoes. Holt Renfrew loves me! [laughs]

Q: What talent, other than the ones that you’ve already been blessed with, would you like to have?
A: I would like to be really great at math. I’d love to be able to see patterns in things – though I realize that’s a little idiot-savantish. A little Rain Man [laughs]. And what I find in my friends who are very mathematical is that they’re very good in music. And that’s appealing to me as well.

Q: Other than your present occupation, what other occupation would you like to try?
A: Journalism. Photojournalism. Writer. Travel writer. I did want to be a chef, and I do cook quite a bit. And that’s about it.

Q: If you were to die and come back as a person and/or thing, what do you think it would be? And why?
A: See, the crazy part of me does believe that I’m coming back, the feeling that it’s incomplete – that I’ve been here before and I’m still trying to figure it out, and that hopefully the next one will be the one! [laughs] But I don’t know. I mean, would I want to come back as a more enlightened being? Certainly, but with the knowledge that I could be useful and have a greater purpose. Or something simpler and more beautiful, like a caterpillar or flower [laughs]. A really nice orchid!

Q: What’s your greatest fear?
A: I don’t know how smart it is for me to admit it, but I think as actors and performers we all suffer from that double Harlequin head of success and failure. And there’s something that my mother calls the “impostor syndrome.” The idea that eventually somebody will figure out that I don’t actually know what the hell I’m doing [laughs].

Q: What trait do you deplore most in other people?
A: Inconsideration. People who are just completely oblivious to other human beings drives me wild [laughs].

Q: What trait do you deplore most in yourself?
A: Where do I start? How much tape do you have in this machine? [laughs] Well, I can be overbearing at times. I can get very excited very quickly about things and get very close to people quite instantly – sort of on a level of high intimacy, but then it’s all pretty momentary [laughs]. But a little overbearing sometimes, yeah.

Q: What is your most defining characteristic?
A: I know that my friends come to me for a sense of perspective, and I think I have unconventional ways of seeing or speaking about things. I’m nonjudgmental, but with strong opinions.

Q: What is your motto?
A: I have three things that dance around in my head, and one of them is super cheesy! Here it is: Travel light. Live light. Be the light. Spread the light [laughs]. And that’s a quote from a famous yoga master, whose name escapes me.

Watch for Kandyse McClure in the feature film Cole at the 2009 TIFF and in the new series Persons Unknown, currently being shopped to major networks for a mid-2009 debut.

William Morassutti is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of TORO. Prior to joining TORO, he worked in Canadian broadcasting as a writer, producer, director, reporter and host.