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Brantford Expositor When it comes to taking on multiple roles, Grace Park is something of an expert. The L. A.-born, Vancouver-raised actress has spent the past five years playing Lieut. Sharon "Boomer" Valerii on "Battlestar Galactica," which is going into its final 10 episodes Friday, Jan. 16, on Space: The Imagination Station. Park's "Galactica" character is a Cylon, one of the humanoid robots locked in a death match with humanity. Actually, Park's character is a No. 8 Cylon, which is a little like saying a Corolla is a type of Toyota. So there can be any number of Sharons running around at any given point in the series. "The roles got easier in terms of accessibility and familiarity," Park says. "I got to know them quite well." Yet even toward the end of the series, she says, she'd occasionally slip into the wrong No. 8. "In fact, even the cameramen on 'Battlestar' would know if I wasn't playing the appropriate character. And when I'd change it to the right one, they'd go, 'Oh. There she is.' " Park grew up in Vancouver and says she never considered a career in acting until she graduated from university, where she had done commercials to help pay her tuition. Soon she was appearing in small roles in Vancouver based series, which led to "Romeo Must Die," "Edgemont" and "L. A. Law: The Movie." She joined "Battlestar Galactica" in 2003 with the miniseries that kicked off the show. Playing a role that can be any number of characters from week to week has done a lot to hone her skills, she says. "It has really allowed me to push myself and stretch. It created a big space for me to play in. I certainly wasn't confined with opportunities and challenges." She also says it was an education to work opposite veterans like Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. "It's like if you want to improve your tennis game, you play with someone better than you," she says. "I was certainly in a league where virtually all the players were better than me. I liken it to a boot camp." Park hasn't been wanting for work since leaving "Galactica." She already has two regular TV roles. In the summer, she joined the cast of the A&E Network series "The Cleaner," about addiction counselors. And last fall, she took on the role of U. S. Special Agent Liz Carver on the CBC Television series "The Border." Ratings went up after she joined the cast, and "The Border" has been renewed for a third season. "I was excited to go back to a Canadian show," she says. "And then I realized I was playing the American -and I'm a dual citizen." The last episodes of "Galactica" were shot last summer, where all the shows were done, in Vancouver, and Park says everything finished on a happy note, with cast and crew celebrating a successful series. |