IGN

William S. Paley TV Fest: Battlestar Galactica
The cast and crew of the Sci Fi remake discuss the series.
Eric Goldman
3-9-2006
 

In this entry in IGN's look at the 2006 William S. Paley Television Festival held by the Museum of Television and Radio, we take a look at their night devoted to The Sci Fi Channel's Battlestar Galactica. Of all the great shows being honored this year, this was definitely the entry I was most excited about attending, as there is simply no better show on right now then Battlestar, a brilliant remake of the 1970's space adventure. With one exception, the entire main cast attended the event honoring the show, including Edward James Olmos ("William Adama"), Mary McDonnell ("Laura Roslin"), Katee Sackhoff ("Kara 'Starbuck' Thrace"), Jamie Bamber ("Lee 'Apollo' Adama), James Callis ("Gaius Baltar") and Grace Park ("Sharon 'Boomer' Valerii"). They were joined by Executive Producer David Eick and Executive Producer/Writer Ron Moore. Unfortunately cast member Tricia Helfer ("Number Six") couldn't make it, but left an amusing video greeting that played on the screen above the panelists heads before they spoke, in which she asked the audience to "be nice to these guys up here!"

Much has been made of the show's rather grim tone and analogies to September 11th, with its look at a human society suddenly and brutally attacked and forced to run for their lives. Eick remarked that when the project was first offered to him, his response was, "'Well why would anyone want to remake Battlestar Galactica?' And it really didn't seem to me to be the kind of opportunity that it became until Ron and I sat down and talked about it in terms of how it would resonate with an audience today differently then it did then, based on the time that we were in. There were a series of very dark conversations at first, because it's difficult to talk about the annihilation of a people in a fantastical or escapist way given the time we were in. And it continued to color a lot of our earliest conversations and obviously continues to impact the show now."

Moore said he also had some initial hesitation. "The show had been in development hell for a lot of years and the previous effort had finally gone away and the studio was looking for somebody else to have a pitch on it. And I said, 'I'm not sure.' I wasn't sure if frankly I wanted to do it. I had done ten years at Star Trek, so I had done a lot of time in space. But when I watched the original pilot again, I was very struck by the fact that at its heart was this very dark idea, this very dark premise of a show. That in the opening moments, an entire civilization is lost. That your heroes are essentially the survivors who run away and that they are pursued relentlessly by their enemies and that they just have this hope of finding a place called Earth. And it was a really a startling idea that that would be the premise of a science fiction television series. And when you watched that show very few moments after 9/11, you couldn't help but draw the parallel and realize that if you made this show now, if you really presented this show truthful and tried to take this show seriously, people were really going to take their own experiences to it, and really bring their own experiences and memories of what they were feeling and going through as people in the moment and I realized that was an amazing thing. That's a gift. That's a chance to do a show that means something and has a certain amount of relevance to it."

Moore explained that the show is meant to reflect, "How we deal with issues of liberty vs. security. And what it means to be in a society that is very afraid that they'll be attacked again and how they balance that in terms of a democracy. And then on an unconscious level, there's little touches and grace notes within the show. Things like the memorial wall where people put up pictures of all the family members that they've lost. That's something that I just wrote and then realized I was really lifting it directly from things that you had seen." Eick elaborated on the moments on the show that resonate in our modern world saying, "It's not a conscious thing like in Law and Order where they'll literally sit with the headlines and go through them and decide what they're going to adapt. It's much more subtle then that. And again, I think because of the universe that we're in and the context that we've set, it's really difficult to come up with stories that don't somehow intersect with what's going on in the world today. We have a president, we have an election, we have prisoners of war. We have things that are going to intersect or resonate with what is going on on CNN, whether we're consciously aiming for that or not. And it's sort of nice to find ourselves writing to that or sometimes even being done with an episode and realizing things about it that have an impact or have some sort of ironic touch that we didn't even intend going into it."

As far as casting the show, Moore said he rarely thinks of specific actors while writing roles, but that, "In all honesty, the only role I had a specific actor in mind for on the show was Mary McDonnell for Laura Roslin." As for Olmos, Eick explained, "We used Eddie as our archetype for reasons that are pretty clear to anyone that has seen Blade Runner. We were really strongly influenced by a lot of the elements of that film, as well as the Philip K. Dick story. And we just kept talking about how sinister Eddie's character was in that and so that persona started taking route. It's very unusual, because you never get these people when you start using them as archetype's and so it still strikes me now, I'll think, 'Oh my god, I can't believe we actually got those two!'" As Eick was relating this story, Olmos, sitting right next to him, slowly removed a piece of paper from his pocket and looked menacingly at Eick as he began to fold it, to the great delight of the many Blade Runner fans in the audience who applauded the reference. Olmos explained how wary he was of joining the project, noting, " I had no intention of ever being in a sci-fi anything!" He said that what really got him hooked was a two-page introduction attached to the script. "Ron had written a mission statement and then placed it in front of the script that we all read. And it was so beautifully written and it just described the world so well and I knew that they were taking a lot of stuff from a lot of different things that they'd experienced."

Moore added that ironically, "Nobody was supposed to read the mission statement! It was a complete accident that any of the cast ever saw it. The mission statement was a complete sales document. We were getting ready to send the script up to the network and the studio. David said, 'We need to write like a cover letter. A memo. Tell them what you're trying to do!' And I was like, 'We have pitched this, we have talked about this! How many times do I have to tell them what the show is?' And he said, "No, no, no. I've done this before. I'm a suit! I know how these things work, so write up this mission statement.' I said, 'Okay; This is what the show is; I wrote off these two pages in like an afternoon. It was supposed to go up the line just to the studio and the network. They liked it. The show got greenlit and we moved on. And then unbeknownst to me, somebody started to just staple the mission statement to this script. David, you're looking guilty!"

Eick acknowledged that leaving the mission statement attached to all the scripts was a calculated move. "I was always aware that the title would be both a blessing and a curse. Because if you'd seen the title page and nothing else, you might not have turned to Page 2." Olmos also noted that socially, the show struck a cord with him. "I liked the idea of putting a Latino into outer space. We'd never been there. We had Robert Beltran who was in Star Trek and we had The Wrath of Khan and that's it." Olmos then related a sweet story about a friend of his calling him because her young nephew told her, "I saw us in the future! I saw Battlestar Galactica and we're in the future!" Commenting on the fact that while the show has had tremendous critical acclaim, it still remains under the radar for many, Olmos said, "We just had a meeting about the whole understanding of bringing commercialization to this piece. How do we get people to be aware for it and vote for us and do things. And I said, 'Are you kidding? It's just, do great shows! Continue to do great shows and that's it!"

Asked what drew her to the role of Laura Roslin, who suddenly finds herself President of the surviving humans in the wake of the robotic Cylon attack, McDonnell joked, "Well, I wanted to be a Latino in space!" She then remarked, 'I read the script and I immediately felt that it had absolutely had nothing to do with my pre-conceived notions. And I was immediately taken by that. Because I felt that the world of Battlestar is the world that we are in. I need as an artist to be connected to things that are speaking to people and to our lives as they are. And if I was going to commit to a TV series, I needed to be able to commit to something that made me feel connected to the people, as opposed to something that separated me because of the elusory quality of the show. I also was very inspired by the idea of being able to play a middle-aged woman who discovers power. Who was not prepared for the situation, because I think that's quite often the case with women of my age. Even though we grew up during feminist years, we weren't necessarily raised from the day we were born to be prepared for the situations and I loved the idea of me discovering it within the show."

The rest of the cast were asked to relate how they came to be on the show and Sackoff laughed, saying, "I have to be honest. I needed a job and I wanted to shoot a gun! I got the script and I read it and I was like, 'Oh my god! This is so my part!' I continued to just love it the more I thought about it. I was having dreams about it, about this character.

"I thought it was my part from the second I read the script. I was like, 'They don't even want to send these other girls!'" Sackhoff then explained that she wasn't familiar with the fact that the original series Starbuck was in fact a man. "I called my dad. He was like, 'Battlestar Galactica, huh? What role? …Right. Um. Maybe you should see the original, Katee.' I sat down with my best friend and a bottle of wine and within the first two minutes, we were like, 'Dude, we must be really drunk. Because they're talking about Starbuck. Where's Starbuck?! …Oh my god!" Elaborating on what excited her about the character, Sackhoff said, "She was such a strong female. Such a strong female in her 20's, which is such an interesting thing to play. And I'd never had the opportunity to play someone that was so driven and so sure of who they were. And that I found very exciting. I found it also extremely interesting that one of the most flawed people on the show was one of the most outwardly strong. You know, the people with the biggest bravado are usually the people that are the most insecure and have the most to hide. And I liked that about her. She just kept going. Like every time she gets beat down, she just gets back up. And she's like, "Alright, I screwed up again. Let's keep going.'"

Bamber, whose real life British accent is a surprise to those familiar with him from the show, related his own initial reaction to the project. "My manager handed me the script and I read the title and I had a sphincter tightening, butt clenching, 'remake-itus' moment. And I handed it straight back to him. And I had a mission statement moment, actually. When I finally opened up and read this mission statement, I was actually blown away by the elegance with which Ron and David had presented the show. I had watched the show as a kid and had these blurry memories, seeing Vipers shoot out of tunnels. All very phallic!" Bamber said that once he read the script, he was captivated. "The story was absolutely engaging. The premise was riveting. The whole idea of a world in which the military has become obsolete and is being downsized was so pertinent to the debates that certainly go on in the UK. We think of ourselves as living in peaceful times and yet we're not. And this cataclysm suddenly blindsides them from nowhere. And there are images, like the museum on Galactica: The weapons arsenal or something has been turned into a gift shop up on the ship, which is so British in a sense. The Tower of London is a scary, god-fearing building where people died grisly deaths, but now Beefeaters lead you along so you can have candyfloss along the way! And I loved the character. I loved that everyone in the show is really screwed up. I liked the fact that you expected him to be kind of heroic, and he was chippy and adolescent and not sorted. And the beauty of that is it gives you a place to go."

"It was a grisly auditioning process," noted Bamber. "About five different auditions. You went to this thing that was a bit like Survivor, where you went into a big tall building and there's six guys that looked like me, except better looking and bigger." As Bamber related this story, Sackhoff was laughing hysterically and nodding in agreement. He then pointed at her saying, "There were about twelve of her! And Grace was there. And we all sort of played scenes together until there were four of us left." Bamber humorously noted how intense the whole process was, "Walking into a room of suits who just sort of make you feel completely inadequate. And I remember going home shaking in the car thinking, 'I've just been eviscerated by what should be nice people!' And I got home and later that night I got the job, and I got obliterated, and it was great."

Callis agreed with Bamber, remarking, "I have to say that the selection process for getting the job is more rigorous then the US presidential election. They absolutely do have to be very sure of who they want." The night had begun with a screening of a clip from the original Battlestar Galactica, featuring that show's campy, over the top Baltar. So the audience knew exactly what Callis was talking about and laughed loudly as he said, "I received the script from my manager. And he was like, 'This is a brilliant part James! Absolutely brilliant part!' I had seen the original, and I said, 'Oh, fantastic! Who is it?" And he went, 'Baltar.' And I said, 'Baltar!? What are you talking about? I don't want to be some kooky guy in a cape!'" Callis' Baltar is an antsy, constantly on the edge, possibly insane man, and Callis joked that his own behavior might have helped him get the role. "The thing was, I actually rolled up for my first audition on the wrong day. So I walked through the door, and I was very bold in that way I suppose, because I was slightly scared and nervous. And they're all like, '…yeah?' And I called my manager's office and said, 'They don't know what they're doing. They're totally unprepared!' He's like, 'No James, you're actually there on the wrong day. And you look like you don't know what you're doing.' And I got the part!"

Some of the show's funnier moments come from Callis, and he explained that this humorous side really began in the audition process. "One of the things I thought when I initially read it, was the huge curve that my character was going to go on. And the scene that I auditioned over and over again was the scene where Tricia finds me in bed with another woman, which I thought was hysterical. And I remember [director] Michael Rymer, after my first audition, looked at me and he's like, 'There's like an element of humor going on. And I think it's dangerous.' And I really didn't know what the hell he was talking about! I was like wracking my head. It was like, why is humor dangerous? Then I met him at the next audition, and I went, 'When you say it's dangerous, you mean like, it's dangerous… for the show?' He went, 'Yes.' I then went into one of these auditions and basically did the same thing that I did before and he came out went, 'Well, forget what I said before. Because I seem to like it.' Callis also singled out the visual style of the show as playing a vital part in what makes it work. "I'm always amazed about how the show looks. The script and dialogue are absolutely brilliant, but there's the cinematography, and the way that this thing works. And I'm really just like being gob smacked at just how brilliant this thing was and that I was lucky enough to be involved in it."

The moderator noted that Park had initially read for Starbuck, and she explained that her auditioning process began even earlier with another supporting character. "Before that I auditioned for Dualla. And then after that, Starbuck." The Asian Park remarked, "Then me, and Katee and I think a Latino girl were all there at first. And it was like, 'What are you here for?' 'Starbuck.' 'What are you here for?' 'Starbuck.' And I'm thinking, 'They really have no fraking idea what they want!' I feel so superficial now after listening to everybody else, because I remember on the audition it said 'recurring' and I was like, 'oh, yesss!' And then I didn't get Starbuck and I was pissed. I definitely did not want to play Sharon, because she seemed like the nice girl." This led to the funniest exchange of the evening, with Sackhoff exclaiming, "But I wanted to play Sharon!" Park responded, "I know, and I wanted to play Starbuck," to which Callis deadpanned, "I'd love to play with both of you!"

Park explained that she never actually read for the role she was eventually cast in. "I just got the role of Sharon. I auditioned for Starbuck. And then they gave it to me and of course now I'm ecstatic that I get her." The mini-series that launched the series ended with the revelation that Sharon is actually an enemy Cylon in human form, which was news to Park when she got the part. "I remember reading the script again, because I originally read it for Starbuck, and then when I read it again as Sharon, I saw the ending; 'By your command!' And I was like, 'When did they change this? My God, she's a Cylon!' Ron said 'No, it's always been like that!' It just goes to show, when you really read only wanting to see one thing that's all you see." I had been amused to note that Park had used the show's all-purpose curse word "frak" while telling her story and McDonnell said she finds herself using it too all the time, explaining, "It really works out as a mom, because you don't have to cop to saying the F word."

A female audience member noted that she was a military veteran and had high praise for Sackhoff's portrayal of a solider. She asked how Sackhoff, with no military experience herself, is so convincing, and the actress was clearly touched. "Thank you so much for the compliment. Coming from you that's amazing. I appreciate that. My dad was in the military and one of my best friends was in Afghanistan for a couple of years. And he called me all the time from Afghanistan. He's like, 'We're watching the show! You're holding the gun like a girl!' So, I really can't draw from real knowledge of those experiences, but I can draw off of moments where I was terrified or scared or insecure or something. And I asked my dad a lot, but for the most part, I fly by the seat of my pants until these guys over there tell me that I was horrible."

As the night drew to a close, Moore recalled pitching the show to the Sci Fi Channel's president Bonnie Hammer, and how it was a somewhat awkward videoconference situation. "I'm trying to pitch to her, and I keep looking down at me on the screen. 'Am I in frame?' But the thing that struck me the most was how engaged she was at the pitch. I was telling her the story of Galactica: 'Here's this place, and there's a ship and it's going to be a museum.' And she was intrigued. And the moment I knew I had her, I said, "Oh, and then there's Starbuck. Who in our version is a woman.' And Bonnie went, 'Yes!' And I was like, "We're making this show!'"