Maggie Q on the wardrobe perils of ‘Nikita’

Maggie Q wants you to know that she’s not That Girl -- you know, the sultry siren action figure (emphasis on figure) who ends up kicking ass in stripper heels and cheesy lingerie. In fact, she advocated for a more discreet outfit for her first big action scene in the new CW show “Nikita.”

“Girls look sexy in bikinis, it’s fine, but I was fighting for a one-piece.” she says. “I was like, let’s be classy, let’s have something cool and La Perla-like.”

It was a nice thought....but that one piece looks distinctly bikini-esque. Does that mean we should expect Nikita to trade more in cheesecake than in legitimate action chops? Maggie says no -- and she’s got a good reason.

“The thing I loved about that sequence -- me running around in a bikini and shooting people -- is that it was all a bad dream.” Wide-awake Nikita sometimes dons fancy frocks, but she’s more often seen in functional butt-kicking gear.

That’s by design, Maggie says, and it’s much more in keeping with her own character.

“I’ve gotten to that point where I’m so used to being sweaty and wearing pants and sitting like a guy in boots that when I’m dressed up and people are touching me up, I’m less comfortable. I like to wear less makeup and be tougher.”

Besides, Maggie says, playing dress-up is hardly the point: “It’s about the acting. It’s about the story. It’s not really about blush.”

And, as the show is filming in the Great White North, Maggie says we can expect the clothing to get even more functional. “In the winter in Toronto, screw you all, I’m wearing a balaclava. I don’t care if they can’t tell who I am.”