IGN

Battlestar Galactica Cylons Speak
A Q&A with Tricia Helfer and Grace Park.
Eric Goldman
5-9-206
 

Yesterday I put up my one on one interview with Grace Park , which took place at the recent NBC Universal Summer Press Day. Here, we'll give you a look at the Q&A Park and her Battlestar Galactica costar Tricia Helfer did together at the same event.

On Galactica, Park and Helfer play Sharon "Boomer" Valerii and Number Six respectively; two members of the robotic Cylon race, who have decimated nearly all of humanity. Both roles require each actresses to play numerous characters, as we meet different versions of their particular Cylon models and series creator Ron Moore continues to investigate different aspects of the Cylon psyche.

Presented below is the question and answer panel the actresses took part in, as they fielded questions from the assembled press, including IGN TV. Park and Helfer discussed their thoughts on the show and gave their reaction to the critical acclaim and success that has come with it. As with the Park interview, viewers wary of any spoilers should be aware that the actresses discuss some initial story points of the coming season 3, though nothing that seemed like a major twist or revelation.

Question: What can you tell us about Season 3?

Grace Park: We get to find out a little bit more about the Cylon life actually. You get to go inside of Base Star. You find there's another model. Besides just humanoids, Centurion, the Raider, and the Base Star, there's another being.

Tricia Helfer: A hybrid sort of.

Park: Yeah, a hybrid. We don't know what it looks like.

Helfer: Yeah, we don't know too much about it yet, but that is coming in the season. And definitely a lot more of the interaction of how the Cylons react with each other, not just with humans.

Park: Stuff is going to go down amongst the Cylons.

Helfer: And I'm sure the humans are going to be doing stuff and they're going to be, you know…

Park: That doesn't really matter!

Helfer: It's the Cylons that are important. No, I'm kidding.

Q: So are did they bring you two here today because there's more than one of you?

Helfer: Yeah. Our other clones are filming, actually, in Vancouver right now.

Park: It's great. I've got mine doing laundry.

Q: Why do you think this series has been so long-lived and so popular? Why do people keep coming back to it?

Park: It's a theme. I mean, it's apocalyptic in a way, but it's also the themes that have been longstanding throughout history that keeps repeating itself. No matter how much more developed we get technologically, whether we develop new philosophies or we get further along, faith into religion, it just seems that it keeps coming back to this. It's like a constant struggle of good and evil and actually playing itself out physically and emotionally and mentally among people, races, cultures. But it's a metaphor for so many things. Whatever you want to see or whatever you're struggling with in life, you can see there, whether it be politics or terrorism or war, hope, faith, struggle, love. It's all in there. Or if you just want plain action and neck-snapping plot twists, you've got that too.

Helfer: I think that's one of the reasons that people come back to it is simply that it does hit people to the core because of its social relevance. But at the same time, it's still entertainment. It doesn't feel like you're watching the evening news, even though, when you are watching it, it does correlate to things that you've heard. And it sticks with you.

Q: How has the show changed your lives?

Helfer: For me in particular, I was very new to acting. So I'd only been acting for a year prior to getting the miniseries. So for me, it's really entered me into a world that I was looking at from the outside and am now really able to work with and develop my craft and work with people like Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell; just some really phenomenal actors that really kick-started everything into gear for me. And it luckily had people take me seriously getting into it and not just an ex-model trying to get in. So it's been a huge difference for me.

Q: So you've been more accepted?

Helfer: You know, it might have taken me longer another route. Definitely, having a show that people take seriously and give credibility to, that bleeds out into the actors as well.

Park: For me, besides the simple things, like financial stability, it was actually a huge boot camp in terms of the craft. I ended up having two characters, and on top of that, I felt like I just went through the washer-dryer. There were so many things that happened. And on top of that, having a lot of, let's say, success, in terms of my career, because the show is so successful, there were a lot of things that were taken care of. And I didn't need to struggle so much for that and there was a fear in my success and a revenge that I didn't really need to be there anymore. So it kind of provided a level where you can either have more clarity or vision or be able to find the next step for your purpose.

Q: And what is the next step?

Park: That's what I've been stuck with right now! It's funny because I was on the plane with Ron Moore on the way here, and I was like "What do you see for my character?" And he was kind of lost, and I was like, "It's kind of funny because I'm sort of lost. I was sort of looking at my character to maybe give me some ideas." And he's like, "So the responsibility lies on me to help shape your life?" I'm like, "Yeah, pretty much!" Then he's like, "Well, I was drawing on the actress." And I'm like, "Oh, so you're looking to me to provide you with a storyline." Yeah, I'm not sure what the next step is exactly. I think that's one of the exciting things about it.

Q: Grace, did you know going in that you'd be playing multiple characters?

Park: No, I didn't.

Q: So how did you react to that and handle it when you first found out?

Park: There was a lot of pressure that I felt, especially since the second episode was very heavy on the two characters right away. And I remember the director was reiterating some of the points of the show. And I was sitting there thinking, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, but why are you saying these things?" Because they're obvious points. Then I realized in that moment she was making sure that she had the points right, and then I knew the safety net was gone. And then I thought that was very scary at that point.

Helfer: It does get very difficult now. What we've been shooting so far this season… There was four of me in one scene, two of her [points to Park], two Simon's, two Deanna's, two Cavil's, two Gral's. And technically they're insane to shoot because it's a motion-control camera; a lock-off. So we're playing each character, but there's costume changes and once I've been one Number Six, then I have to be in the next chair to be the next Number Six. But then in this one [points to an imaginary chair where her character would be seated], there can't be a stand-in. Like in the first passage, there's a stand-in. For the second passage, there can't be a stand-in for this. So you're talking to yourself, but you're talking to an empty chair. At one point I'm supposed to look around --one of my characters gets shot and is dead on the floor, and another of my characters is supposed to look around another of my characters to look at the floor. And I'm kind of going, "How far is she leaning out? Where is she?" You're all the same character. And everybody, not only the actors, but the directors… Everybody is so confused. And probably once an hour you have to sit down and everybody goes, "Okay, so that's Six number one, that's Six number two, that's Sharon, that's Boomer," and just kind of reevaluate and catch up because it get really, really, really confusing.

Q: Does it energize you guys on-set to see all the constant praise and the great reviews you get all the time?

Helfer: I mean, it energizes you. It also is kind of daunting too because you want to make sure you keep the level up, and everybody wants to just keep doing well and keep growing and keep challenging and keep, you know... everything! So in one respect it's awesome. It's incredible. But in another respect everybody is going, "Okay, is this script…"

Park: "…I don't know guys. What do we got on the line?" It's like, "You have to send it back. We need better scripts." But it definitely is always like "Oh, you're flying where for what award?" "Oh, great." You're finding these new little tidbits coming in all the time. It's very exciting.

Q: Do you ever read any of the online fandom to see what they're saying about it?

Park: A little bit.

Helfer: Sometimes.

Park: It's kind of like an abyss. Once you get in, it's like you can't get out. You're swimming in it, right? Then you could type and be in there forever.

Helfer: Yeah. I go on every once in a while. I check it out. And I never knew it was there until my husband told me it was, because I'm practically computer illiterate. I can e-mail, and that's about it. I just learned how to file things the other day. It was a big day for me. [laughs] But anyway, my husband told me it was there, so I started looking in. And then I started getting upset because I'm like, "They're saying bad things about her hair, but I don't make my hair that color!" [laughs] "Why is she dressing [like that]?" I'm like, "I don't do that!" He goes, "Okay, just stop. Stop going on there." But he finds me every once in a while after, like, three hours logging on.

Q: Do you ever read the fan fiction on the Internet? And if you do, what's some of your favorite storylines?

Park: Fan fiction? Oh, when they make a storyline and they send it in?

Q: Yeah, or they write a fantasy about the storyline back story.

Park: I get really confused. I didn't know what that really was. I was like, "I don't remember reading this script anywhere!" I said, "Why are they writing this?" It kind of seemed a little more soap-opery. I think I only read one. I'd be curious to see a little bit more what's happening. But sometimes you read that to know what not to do. Like what Ron would say is he'd notice Katee [Sackhoff] said something about her lover, Anders. She's like "Oh, I married a moron." And as soon as he heard that, he thought, "Can't kill him." Because the first thing is everyone's like, "He's dead. He's dead. He's dead." So purposely, you don't kill him. Like "Pegasus." When it was written, it was, like, it's gone in one episode or two. Everyone knew what was going to happen! [pauses] It's still around. It's like, "When are we killing Pegasus?" So sometimes you read it to find out what not to do, I suppose.

Helfer: I think a lot of times the fans, it seems, almost know more about the show than we do. Many times I go to the odd convention, and it's amazing. I love the Q&A session with the fans because they're such detailed questions, and half the time I feel like I'm letting them down because I go, "That's definitely a question for the writer," because we're actually kept in the dark quite a bit. Ron just sent us "Life as a Cylon," a big ten-page document about Cylons. And it answered so many questions for us.

PARK: We were just making it up!

Helfer: We were! It was like gold. Dean Stockwell, who plays Cavil… I'm like, "Have you heard that yet? Have you seen this?" He's like, "No." "Okay, I'll print it out!" It was like this whole thing between the Cylons, this paper of gold, getting into his mind a little bit and ideas of how he sees each character and where they're going to move forward and stuff. So I think unlike a film --where you have beginning, middle, and end and you know in the beginning the story arc-- with a series, you don't. A series just fluctuates and moves, and the way one scene is played will affect a storyline or change a storyline. And sometimes you'll hear a storyline is coming down the pike, and then it will change because of something else that happened, so they'll change it.

Park: It's very organic.

Helfer: Yeah, it's very organic. And I've just found that you can't get too attached to one way of thinking about it because it can change on you, and you don't want that to throw you for a loop.

Park: Yeah. If you still insist on doing it, they'll just edit it right out. And you get mad, and it just never gets any better. But actually, one of the things that you said about the story, how they [the fans] write in the story… I just saw a montage that they put together to music, and it was the whole Tyrol and Boomer storyline. And it was all these clips that they put together, and someone sent it to me for my interest. And I watched the thing, and by the end, I was all moved. I was like, "I want them to be together!" [laughs] "They're so great!" Then I was like, "But if I think about it, that was doomed." Plus he has Cally, and it's all moving on.

Q: So are you won over to the Cylon cause after reading "Life as a Cylon"?

Park: I think we had to be won over to the Cylon cause right at day one; otherwise it was going to be very difficult to play it. At least for me it was anyway. I thought it was very difficult to play always knowing that she was the enemy, because I wasn't actually in her shoes. It was always the enemy. I would actually get very active on the miniseries when people -- because of the whole reveal at the end of her being a Cylon -- were like "Oh, Cylon, bad, bad, bad!" I would, like, snap and come down on crew people. I would be like, "Do not say that!" I didn't want it to be out, and I totally made it something bad. And then finally when I realized, oh, this is like, an oppressed race. And then I got into that… But then it's like, "Oh, yeah… everyone else is dead!"

Helfer: I always liked Number Six from the get-go. And I would actually sort of take a little offense when people just said she was evil and all this. I'm like, "But she's really good! She's doing what she believes in," and all this stuff. Again, my husband pointed out that, "You are the bad character. It's okay. It's good if people don't like you, you know? You're doing your job then." But I don't think, as an actor, you can look at your character as evil because then you're your character as a character. You're not playing it trying to get into thinking as that character. If Tricia thinks Number Six is evil, then I'm going to play it different than if I think she's doing right for a cause and see it through her eyes, so to speak. So I've always liked Number Six, and I think that people don't see her good qualities enough.

Park: I see them! Don't worry.

Q: Was there a moment for you where you sort of knew the show was a hit? Where people's perception changed and being recognized more... that kind of thing?

Helfer: I think, for me, getting recognized more made it obvious to me that it was getting out there, more and more people were seeing it, because I don't look like my character. In the beginning, you know, the first season, even half the second season, I never got recognized. And now people are starting to recognize me when I look like this, you know, without the white hair and the makeup and everything. And then you're kind of going, "Okay, people are seeing it enough that they're recognizing me." Most of the time, I can dye my hair, and my best friend walks by me. I change a lot with hair and makeup. So, I think for me, it was a real kind of wake up call that, you know, it is getting out there a lot more, and a lot more people are seeing it if I'm getting recognized in my yoga pants and tank top at the pharmacy.

Park: For me, I think it was definitely the external things, in terms of having a picture in Time magazine. Later it became the number one spot, but even before that when it was one of the top ten dramas maybe... And that, to me, was like… I told everybody, "We're in Time!" To me, it was like "We got the stamp. We're set. I can go die." [laughs] And then more and more stuff kept coming. It was like, "Well, why? We got this one! We don't need any more." I still find it kind of surprising. I know it's a good show… I mean, shoot, I'm, like, playing down the show! But I'm still actually really surprised at how many kudos and how much critical acclaim we're getting.

Helfer: I think because we've been in the same studio the whole time and it's the same crew, it's the family, and we all treat each other like friends and family. It's not that sort of "Oh, you're on this show!" And, you know, maybe it's because it's filmed in Vancouver, where there's tons of things filmed and it's really laid back.

Park: We go to Jamie's [Bamber's] little twins' birthday parties. I invited them all to my wedding as soon as we wrapped Season 1. I didn't even know if we were going to get picked up again. I could have pictures of strangers. I'm like, "Let's take that risk."

Helfer: We're all on the beach in Mexico.

Park: Yeah. Bikinis… You name it. As soon as you get down there, it's like martinis; you're in the pool. We all just bonded pretty fast.

Helfer: But there's not a lot of hoopla around the set and that sort of thing, which I think is great.

Park: Not too much ego.

Helfer: There's no egos on-set. [Park begins pointing at Helfer] And really good communication from… [Helfer notices Park and laughs]

Park: Fight ensues!

Helfer: Remember, I can beat you up.

Park: Cylons take each other out. That's all acting… She can beat me up, actually.