NIKITA: Tiffany Hines Teases Twists Coming for Jaden

For the young actress who suddenly seems to be everywhere, Tiffany Hines is loving every minute of playing Division recruit Jaden on Nikita. Tiffany happily shared that the entire experience has been amazing and she loves being a part of a really cool action show – particularly as parts for women in action roles on television are a scarcity these days.

Tiffany Hines as Jaden on Nikita

One of the challenges that Tiffany found playing Jaden is that her character is so dark and complicated. Jaden is completely opposite from who Tiffany is and any character that she has played before. Thus, to tap into Jaden’s core angst and physical prowess has been emotionally and physically demanding. Fortunately, for Tiffany, she enjoys a challenge; and undaunted, she jumped eagerly into the role and now relishes being able to push the boundaries.

On the flip-side, what Tiffany finds appealing about Jaden is her strength. For Tiffany, it is a gift to play a young woman so empowered and determined. That combined with the layers upon layers that are slowly being revealed has made portraying Jaden a delight. However, Tiffany warned that the Nikita audience has only begun to see what depths are lurking beneath Jaden’s calm exterior. She gleefully shared that she is looking forward to the fan reactions later this season.

Tiffany also acknowledged that, while all of Jaden’s layers are fascinating, it is also tough to work through each layer and strive to make each identifiable and relatable on screen. If there were one word to describe Jaden, Tiffany said it is “complicated” — Jaden is not just your average potential assassin recruit; and from Tiffany’s perspective, it is entirely possible that Jaden has a murky and mysterious back-story that will one day shock everyone. Tiffany even speculated (because the writers have kept her in the dark) that if Jaden has a buried secret it is something along the lines like perhaps Jaden murdered someone when she was a pre-teen, which is perhaps why it is so easy for her kill now. Thus, Jaden has simply been doing it for so long that it is almost second nature for her. Scary, but perhaps true. Tiffany is the first to admit that she would love to know more about Jaden’s history, like what brought Jaden to Division. In fact, Tiffany would love to have a flashback episode and discover what makes Jaden the person she is today.

For now, Tiffany is enjoying every minute on Nikita. Her favorite moment is upcoming in episode 11 where *** SPOILER ALERT *** Jaden fights with Nikita. To finally have a confrontation between the two characters was sweet for Tiffany. She effusively shared, “I love working with Maggie! She amazes me!”

Tiffany also loves working with Lyndsy Fonseca and Shane West, who she described as, “Amazing! They are my best friends and we’re really close, and since we’re on location, they are my family. We have so much fun.”

Tiffany also has a recurring role on Bones.

As to what Tiffany plans to do on hiatus after the first season of Nikita wraps, she is not certain yet, but said she is looking at scripts and considering a film role. In the meantime, she is looking forward to the upcoming release of The Dark Party, which she worked on a couple of years ago, involving the concept of dating in the dark. Tiffany described that experience as, “interesting to see who the characters would choose without being able to see what they looked like.”

Working on this film really brought how the time old question of whether we select people we date based solely on what they look like, which was intriguing.

Then, as a nice shout-out to ABC Family’s 10 Things I Hate About You which was canceled last spring, Tiffany shared that she had a lot of fun playing Kaitlin and misses the show. Having been a cheerleader in high school, Tiffany could relate to her character in that aspect and it made it easy for her to give off the cheerleader-vibe. She also fondly recalled the friends that she made and felt blessed to have the chance to work in a comedy role.

Finally, throwing a bone to the Bones fans, Tiffany also shared her love for her rival series exclaiming, “I love working with the cast and crew of Bones!” She is hoping that as the storyline involving her character Michelle has been left open-ended that she will be invited back to play in the “Bones” world again, depending on film scheduling.

In the meantime, Tiffany is extraordinarily happy to be working on Nikita and to portray the multi-faceted Jaden. For all Jaden’s flaws, she is a joy to play.

Nikita airs Thursday nights at 9/8c on the CW.