IGN

We talk one-on-one with Battlestar Galactica's Sharon "Boomer" Valerii.
Eric Goldman

3-10-2006
 

Grace Park got her first big break on the Canadian teen soap Edgemont, where she starred for five seasons. Guest parts and recurring characters on shows like Dark Angel and Jake 2.0 followed, but she has now gained widespread recognition for her performance on the critically acclaimed Sci Fi Channel series Battlestar Galactica.

As Sharon "Boomer" Valerii, Park's character was central to one of Galactica's first big sucker punches, as we learned that the apparently loyal, beloved Colonial Fleet Raptor pilot was actually a robotic Cylon sleeper agent. For much of the series, Park has in fact played two distinctly different versions of the same Cylon model, complete with different love interests, motivations and agendas. Both of her characters have gone through an astounding amount of plot turns, from pregnancy to death to resurrection, and the question of where both Sharon's loyalties truly lie is a constant one. Recently I conducted an exclusive interview with Park for IGN FilmForce, after she had just taken part in the event honoring Battlestar Galactica at the Museum of Television and Radio's William S. Paley Television Festival in front of a crowd of adoring fans. We discussed what it's like playing multiple characters; the role of gender in Galactica and the tremendous critical response the show has received, among other topics.

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IGN FILMFORCE: So during the panel you mentioned you first read for the part of Dee, and then for Starbuck, before you were cast as Sharon.

GRACE PARK: That's right, I read for Dualla. And I remember I went in and it was a really smart scene that we did and I had so much fun with it. Because in Galactica, they have a unisex "head"; a unisex bathroom. And so there was a bit of play with words, because when a civilian like Billy comes in, he doesn't know what's going on. He's like, "Head?" It was really tongue in cheek and slightly sexual and I just had a lot of fun with that. And after that the director said to come back for Starbuck, and if all goes well, I'd be in LA the next week… and I was!

IGNFF: Did it feel chaotic coming back to read for all the different parts on the same show?

PARK: Well I only had to read for two; Dualla and Starbuck. It wasn't so chaotic. But after I read for Dualla… Well, I usually don't get coaching for auditions, but I felt like for this one, like I said earlier during the panel, I felt like, "Oooh, recurring! I want to try to get this one!" And then, when I got the switch in the scripts, I was like okay, I'll see the coach again. And I remember doing the whole thing and I felt really stilted and weird and the coach is like, "What are you doing?' And I said, 'I don't know!" And she asked me to tell her the story, because I was still being all stilted and strange. She asked, "What is this?" And I said, "I don't know! Is this a lead?" She said, "I think it is!" So we had to pull it out of me within a half an hour and figure out how to get back on track, because obviously they saw something that they liked, and I had to get back into that. But it wasn't too confusing. Once we redid that, it was fine.

IGNFF: Did you share some of the rest of the casts preconceived notions of what the show would be based on the title?

PARK: I did know the title, but I didn't remember the show. I'm sure I watched it at some point, but I don't actually have any recollection of it. So for me, with the title, I was probably thinking of a different show anyway!

IGNFF: When you were reading for it did you know that Edward James Olmos or Mary McDonnell were involved in it yet?

PARK: When I was first reading for it, no. It wasn't until I got it and I heard that they were on it. It was like, "Cool! …who are they?" [laughs] Because I totally knew their names, but I knew their faces separately and couldn't place it.

IGNFF: When did [series creator] Ron Moore tell you that you were going to be essentially playing two characters in the first season?

PARK: I found out in the first episode, after the miniseries, but he didn't tell me anything before that.

IGNFF: The first season, did it feel odd playing the two characters all the time?

PARK: Actually, the first season, it was a lot easier playing the two characters, because one was always on the planet and one was always on Galactica, and as simple as that sounds, it made it so radically different. Everyone had it straight in their heads. But once the one Sharon came back and the one died, it just got really messy. Even when it was just Sharon back on Galactica and Boomer had died, everyone was so confused. Because they're like, "Well how come you're not this way towards Baltar?!" But think… because she's never met him! People are like, "What?" and can't figure that out.

IGNFF: Do you think of them as two different characters when you're playing the different scenes?

PARK: Oh yeah. They are two totally different characters. There's a lot of similarities obviously… well, obviously. [grins]. But the different histories that they've both experienced for the last two years or so, that they don't share, that's what sets them apart.

IGNFF: Is it fun having two different love interests on the show?

PARK: Hell yeah! It's like, "Oh, who am I making out with today?!" Tahmoh [Tahmoh Penikett, "Helo"] calls me the Cylon hussy. And Aaron [Aaron Douglas, "Chief Tyrol"] just calls me the Cylon slut.

IGNFF: Well, you're not really a Cylon slut. You're two different people!

PARK: I know! It sounds so nerdy when I do that, but I'm like, "Aaron! Two f***ing different people! Get it!" But I'm like, "I sound ridiculous right now. Just walk away from him! Walk away." But a part of me is like, "They're two different people!" My friend makes fun of me, because when I get adamant about it, she says, "You're crazy, you know that?"

IGNFF: So is it nice job security knowing your character can die, and yet you can continue on the show?

PARK: Exactly! Yeah, that adds so much more flavor to it.

IGNFF: When you found out the first Sharon on Galactica was dying, was it sad to say goodbye to that character? Did you know she was coming back?

PARK: Oh, I had no idea she was going to come back! I thought it was totally sad. I was actually so much more sad when I watched how they edited it and it seemed like you didn't get much of Aaron's reaction. You didn't get much of Tyrol's reaction, so it seemed quite short. And because you didn't get to see much of his grieving process, it was sort of an abrupt death. And then the next thing you know, she's in the morgue and people kind of forget to grieve for her. You know, somewhere in your mind you sort of make the connection that she is dead, without grieving for her.

IGNFF: What's it like playing so many intense emotions? You're pregnant, then you think your baby is dead…

PARK: It's so heavy. I got freaked out in the second season, in the middle of it, because they were throwing so many fastballs at me. They were whipping by me. And I was having a tough time with the stamina, because it was just one thing after another. Plus, I think it was the method I was using for acting. It was pretty excruciating and finally I was like, "That's it! I've got no more left. I'm not going to do anything else. I don't know how they're going to get this scene, because I'm not going to give anything. I'm not going to do what I usually do." And then I found a whole other level to play, and I thought, "Oh man, this is so much better then what I was doing before!"

IGNFF: How do you work yourself up for big explosive scenes, like when you smashed your head into the window of your jail cell?

PARK: That was the one that I was resisting. I was thinking, I don't know what they're going to do, because I'm not going to do that. With that, luckily we had a great stunt double that stepped in for me for the hit itself. But what was different with that scene was that I had put the more heavy substitution, the more method stuff, sort of on the shelf. And that one I was doing a bit more improv with Tahmoh. And it came really improvisationally. And thank goodness Tahmoh was really into it, because the scene started and I refused to get heavy at first. I was looking at him and making goofy faces through the glass. And he just kept staring at me, and his eyes were watery, and it got me right away, every time.

IGNFF: For a while there in season two, your scenes were mainly in the jail cell. Is it nice to have finally have Sharon out of there?

PARK: Am I outside the cell? I guess so! She's so broken down, you know? She doesn't even realize it. It's like the learned helplessness. She's been like an elephant with a chain around her neck for her whole life now. It is good for her to come out now. And the thing is, it's maybe my own self-rebellious streak, but I always knew that she was going to get back in a Raptor. And it's just a matter of time before she's flying again.

IGNFF: Was it nice for you to be able to revisit the original Sharon, now that we've discovered she's been reborn on Caprica?

PARK: Initially it wasn't. I didn't want to bring her back. Because I was really happy that she'd passed away and was gone and I could kind of close that chapter. But there was a little bit of, "Oh, I just get to play one character now!" And I sort of missed playing both. And having to bring her back, it was fun. Because I had a few days, maybe a couple of weeks, where I had to recreate her whole back story again for those three months that she'd been living down on Caprica. So that was a good challenge for them to throw out, and that's what always makes it fun.

IGNFF: I don't recall you having many scenes with Tricia Helfer, or any scenes with Lucy Lawless until the episode on Caprica focusing on your characters ["Downloaded," which aired February 24, 2006]. Was it fun to do an episode where it was pretty much just the three of you together for most of it?

PARK: It was so great! I mean what the show was really needing at that point… Well, it seemed like the show was really yearning for female/female interaction that was not competitive, in a negative way. And when it came, it seemed like such a breath of fresh air. I'm not sure if the viewers really notice it, but as women on the show, we definitely noticed that when we play a scene with another woman, it's usually going downhill. It's negative, where they're attacking each other somewhat. And to be able to have a glimpse of that other side, it was really refreshing and I think that it actually added another level. People really rejoiced in that episode. The thing is, it wasn't just humans, it was Cylons doing it with each other. That was different and unusual for people to grasp. "Oh, they're communicating, and they're not killing each other!" There's hope and love, direction, vision. That was good.

IGNFF: Is it gratifying to be on a show that exists in a society that seems pretty blind to gender and race and that seems to not have any bias as far as positions of power?

PARK: I think it really is gratifying, especially because in society right now there are still some people who are fighting the gender differences. It's really suffocating for some people. So having that be lifted on our show, it's really nice. But at the same time, I guess one of the dangers is that if you make everybody the same, not equal and individual, then you're actually taking away a lot of depth and color and flexibility of both genders actually. Because if you strip a male of all his femininity, he's really hard and brittle. And similarly, with a woman… A woman can never be as manly as a man. But they both have masculine and feminine qualities. So the balance is really important. And I think that one of the things with the show, is because it's a wartime situation, you'll see the masculine aspect played very strong. So it's equal, but then you have Tyrol smacking Cally, you've got Tigh smacking Sharon… it gets to be a bit brutal and cunning, and there isn't that tenderness as much anymore. It gets kind of violent towards women, you know? And they're not the same as men, so that's one thing you've got to look at. And I don't know if people notice that as much, but there seems to be a lot more violence in American media towards women. And it's like, "Oh, they can kick ass! Look at Charlie's Angels!" But it's disturbing on a gut level. You can feel it.

IGNFF: So do you ever find yourself empathizing with the Cylon point of view on the show?

PARK: Oh, I am all about the Cylon point of view! I do not care about the humans! The whole Sharon's trying to help out the humans thing… It's all a ploy! I don't know. If I can't stand it, I don't know if she can. [laughs] If it wasn't for Helo, nothing would happen.

IGNFF: So what's it been like seeing the critical reaction to the show?

PARK: Jaw dropping. Time and The New York Times and The New Yorker. It just keeps escalating… Who's paying these people? And keep doing it! It's phenomenal that they do that, and to me it's a huge surprise. Even being part of the William S. Paley Television Festival. I've heard it's so prestigious and I'm just amazed that we're being held like that, in that light.

IGNFF: And what's it like on a night like tonight to see the fan reaction?

PARK: Oh, it's beautiful. It's really nice to be in an environment where everyone's cherishing the same thing together. I think it's really more heartening to me, in a situation where everyone can look at a project or a piece and all feel like they are connected to it, whether they're a viewer or partly creating it. And I think that when something like this happens, everyone knows that this is something quite special. And to be able to be a part of it, whether you're just witnessing it or not, is really important and it gives an energy to the project because it wouldn't survive without that. We create it and it's good for us, but it's much more when it's seen by other people. And that's the purpose of why we're in this medium.