IGN
Battlestar's Grace Park Reflects on The End

Eric Goldman
03-25-2009
 

The actress looks back at Boomer, Athena, and what it was like filming the final episodes - and hints at what's to come in The Plan.

It was truly the end of a television era this past week, as Battlestar Galactica came to an end. On a show filled with great actors giving stellar performances, Grace Park faced some unique challenges and delivered some amazing work in the process. Originally introduced to us as the Raptor pilot Boomer, Park would go on to also play the seemingly villainous other version of Number Eight, AKA Sharon, who we'd come to know as Athena. Of course things are never simple on Galactica and eventually we'd see Boomer and Athena almost completely switch positions, while following them through some incredible situations.

With the final episodes behind us, I had the opportunity to speak to Park to discuss her time on Galactica. During a break from filming the second season of her A&E series The Cleaner, Park talked about the hectic final days of filming Galactica, her thoughts on the ultimate fates of Boomer and Athena, and hinted at what's to come in the upcoming TV movie Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, which takes a look back at earlier events from the series, from the point of view of the Cylons.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

IGN TV: The show coming to an end must have been a strange process for you. There was all of these big goodbyes this past week, but you guys shot the finale months ago. Has it been odd having to essentially say your goodbyes a few times?

Grace Park: Yeah, it really has been. We knew that the fourth season was going to be our last and often you don't know that until you finish shooting. So it was a unique situation where we knew from the get go that there was an ending, so we had a long time and a chance to mourn it already. It was unique to shoot while you knew this could possibly be the last time you were on the hangar deck or the last time you were in the CIC. And then as you were wrapping it up, there was the finality of everything coming to a close and of course the last little piece when we were waiting for the finale to air. So it seemed like many opportunities to let go of the show. To be honest, it was wonderful but at the same time I was wondering how long this was going to drag on. [Laughs] Not the ending, but just my own feelings. I thought, "Am I still sad about this? This is impossible! Shouldn't I have been over this a long time ago?" Even last week, I caught a cold and I was like, "Why would I catch a cold? I don't know one person around me with a cold. Is that my own particular way to suffer about the final ending?" Because I can't think of any other reason I would have caught a cold. Last year I was hauling ass filming three series in seven months and I never caught one then. I think that somehow my body was like, okay, you're really done.

IGN: You were filming The Cleaner and Battlestar at the same time, in two different countries no less. Was that just an absolutely insane time?

Park: Yeah, that was pretty insane. And after that would have been a nice rest, but I went to Toronto to do a different show, which was even faster paced than The Cleaner and much more dialogue than I've said on Battlestar. Yeah, it kept me on my toes.

IGN: On Battlestar, you played many, many characters, sometimes in the background, while also maintaining these two major characters, Boomer and Athena. Especially at the end, when you're rushing to finish Battlestar and filming The Cleaner, was it hard for you to process, as an actress, "Okay, I've got to get in the mindset of Boomer now vs. the mindset of Athena"?

Park: I think a little bit. I'd already had practice doing that for four years. I found what was easy between The Cleaner and Battlestar was that as soon as I got in the plane, as I was flying I would just sort of switch shows in my head. I would just do that every time, automatically. I think there was one time when I finished shooting "Someone to Watch Over Me", which was a big episode for Boomer… I didn't let it go in the air. I didn't switch over until I got to LA, I got on the set of The Cleaner. It was sunny LA, everyone was happy. They didn't know why I was feeling down and here I was just kind of still in this slump, because I'd come from this big goodbye with Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, who wrote that episode, and Michael Nankin, who directed. And it was an emotional scene and everyone was all happy, and I'm kind of glaring at them, like, "What are you so happy about? Don't you understand? This is difficult!" [Laughs] I didn't actually say anything to anybody. This is my own internal world. It took maybe a day or something to let it go finally, and I thought, "Whoa, that didn't feel good." It just kept on lingering longer than you want it to. It's funny, sometimes it just happens that way. You let things go when they want to let go.

IGN: "Someone to Watch Over Me" was a great episode, and as you said, a big one for Boomer. We hadn't had the spotlight on that character for awhile, as Athena took the forefront. Was it interesting for you to really get back into that character and where she was at after all this time?

Park: It was beautiful. I really enjoyed doing that. Boomer has really taken a back seat, because she'd sort of been shuttled off to the Cylon Baseship and had this strange relationship with Cavil. Things that were unexpected, yet not explained as much. So we were kind of looking at her from the outside, wondering what's going on with that girl. It was so nice to have this episode that explained some of the missing elements and the memories for her and what she went through and especially to tie it back up with Chief again. Not to go back and forward their romance any, but really, it's a bizarre situation that's like seeing your ex. Because he knew that she was going to die, they took that small opportunity to try and connect, but of course, in total Boomer style, in the end she pulls this trick on him. And it's like, did she mean any of that? Was it all a lie? Was it partly true? Hopefully, what comes across is you'll find that it was true. She did use it to deceive him, but at the same time she had to pay for it. When she went back on the ship, she didn't expect all those feelings to kind of trigger her again and she was in a totally different place. I think it actually eventually motivated her to do what she did at the end. So it all was meant to be.

IGN: That episode takes such a cool turn, because it seems like Boomer is going to be executed, and we're saying goodbye to this character along with Tyrol, only for her true plan to be revealed. She does some nasty stuff in that episode…

Park: [Laughs] Oh, I know. She's so wrong. The love scene with Boomer and Helo wasn't in and then it was put back in. Now you think, "How could it have even been the same without having that there?" Because it completely pushes Athena and Helo to the wall and then they start to break up. It's the end of the show, and you're going, "Oh no, not now…" So it really elevates the stakes to a whole other level. It was really fun to do those things. And fun to play the trickery for the audience and for ourselves. While we were shooting it, we thought, "How can we push this so it's more uncomfortable or more entertaining or to have another plot twist in there?" It was really fun, and for a bunch of reasons.

Love scenes, I'm sure you've heard, can be very tedious. But for whatever reason, this time, we knew it was our last one, we hadn't done one for ages, and it was for a director we trusted. He also managed it so we did a rehearsal at the end of the previous day, because we knew it was a big day, with Grace on Grace fighting and the love scene – it was all in one day. So we rehearsed it and found really interesting ways to be able to show what we wanted and not what we didn't and had a lot of embarrassing laughs along the way. A lot of dailies that I wish never were printed. I just found out that Eddie Olmos has a set. I'm like, "If that ever gets on the Internet, I will come and hunt you down!" [Laughs]

IGN: [Laughs] Dare I ask what happened in those dailies?

Park: Oh, it was nothing to that degree. It's more just the nature of a love scene, where I'm not wearing biking shorts and sports bra and he's not wearing boxer shorts. You have coverage, but it's not pretty, you know? At one point, Tahmoh [Penikett] just looked at the camera guys, while wearing his flesh colored sock and is like, "Okay, everyone, just have a look now. Let's get the laughs over with." And then we weren't going to use this particular shot, but the camera guys were essentially at our feet, so we were like, "Let's just stay off the nether regions, okay?" Some things are extremely uncomfortable. It's a good thing we all knew each other so well, we'd been working together, we all had a good sense of humor and we all love each other, because it could have been bad. Later, some of the people said, "Yeah, we could see everything." "But I was wearing something!" "Yeah, but, you know…" I go, "You know, I don't need to know that kind of stuff. I'd just rather not know!" [Laughs] You just kind of block it out of your mind and laugh. Two nights ago, Eddie said, "Oh, I have the dailies." I'm like, "What are you doing with those dailies?" I'm sure he has a bookcase full of all the dailies of the show – not in a perverted way!

IGN: Scenes like that one or the scene where Athena kills Boomer are such big emotional moments, but you have the added element of playing two key characters. What kind of turnaround would they give you to prepare to play the other character? Do you have to immediately go from doing the love scene with Tahmoh to, "Okay, we're going to tie you up and you're watching them and this is the worst thing that's ever happened to you"?

Park: Pretty much. Ideally, you finish the scene as one character and then you turn to the other character. But at the end, it was getting pretty nuts. I'd be flipping characters back and forth, shot to shot. Because the last few days we were shooting on two different stages. Usually we just have one main unit, but our second unit had turned into another full unit, because the finale was longer than anyone had really realized, so this was the only way to not shoot two extra weeks of coverage. They started being like, "Alright, you've got to go back and change to Boomer." "I'm not done with the scene yet." "Doesn't matter. They're lit." "What? Okay…" I'd leave right in the middle of a scene, go get my hair changed, wardrobe, get your blood or whatever on and go play the other scene. And then, "Okay, you've got to go change back." "But I'm not done." "Doesn't matter, they're lit on the other stage." So I'd have to go change characters again. And I wasn't just sauntering over and having a break, visiting craft services. I'd be hoofing it back. I'd change. Go through the works. Boom. And then run back and shoot it. And then I'd go back, and it was back and forth, back and forth, all day.

I've got to say that was probably one of the fullest days, but it was fun though, because I knew it was the end and I was having a great time. Meanwhile, Katee [Sackhoff] was kind of glowering at me, like, "You know, the happier you get, the more pissed off I am" or something. I'm like, "I'm loving it!" And then the last day came, and we were shooting the scene where Athena leaves Helo, and you think he's going to bleed out and die. So we were going to shoot that and essentially, Athena believes that this might be the very last time [she sees him]. We wanted people to maybe make that leap in their heads. So man, was I unhappy that last day. That was the very last day and I was having a horrible time. They said, "That's a wrap on Grace!" and I was trying not to break down. People asked, "Are you okay?" I finally was like, "That's not what I wanted!" But we were just going so fast, and we only had one take, two takes. We were just flying, because as the day was going, we could not shoot everything we had. As the day was proceeding, the bottom of the day was getting hacked. The day was being shot from the top down and cut from the bottom up. And so you didn't know at what point it was going to be the last scene and at which point it was going to be the last take. Eddie was at home at one in the morning, still waiting to be called to set.

IGN: Wow.

Park: Yeah. And [Michael] Hogan was there. And they finally called and were like, "They're not doing that scene." So they called Eddie to wrap him. Number one on the call sheet! Edward James Olmos, at home… "You're wrapped." Alone in the dark, or whatever. Meanwhile, we're all there bloody and sweaty, gunpowder all over us, all with each other, so it was kind of nice in that way. But, you know, everyone had their own unique way of finishing the show.

IGN: What did you think of where the characters ended up?

Park: I thought it was beautiful. I loved going through the major characters and not having all of them survive. Laura died. Kara had been dead for awhile. It wasn't planned from the beginning to make it that way, but it wasn't at all that the heroes all made it to the end. They might have made it in spirit, but they weren't there to keep living on after the show was done. I thought it was really beautiful. It felt like the audience got to sort of participate in this experience of paying the price of what life is and how little time we have and to contemplate our choices and the meaning of life and what we should do with the little time we have left. That's why I love that Laura and Adama's love just blossomed so late at the end. I remember thinking about that, wondering, "Why don't you just get together!?" But they never were meant to get together – the writer/producers didn't plan for them to get together. So it was nice how they wrote to them, blossoming their friendship and their love. And then they had it at the end, for a precious, small time.

It almost makes you turn back to your own life and go, "What am I waiting in my own life for? What am I stalling on?" And for the last day, I keep thinking in my head, "Checkers red, all systems go." But I'm like, "It should be Checkers green, all systems go!" I know, it's super geeky sounding. But I feel like for me personally, I'm hesitating in my life doing certain things and I want it to be "Checkers green, all systems go." I'm thinking this is the year that's gonna happen. Other than that, I thought the endings were quite beautiful. One of my favorite moments is when Lee is saying goodbye to his father. It was beautiful, it was poignant and sad, but kind of right how they all split up. The Chief goes off to some country by himself, alone. Certain pairs though come together, so somehow, through all this tragedy and darkness, love still does prevail. You have Ellen and Tigh, and Caprica Six and Baltar, and Helo, Athena and Hera. Through the tragedy, there still was some light. I think it was very appropriate. But it wasn't just a happy ending. Everyone had to shed a tear, or you got your heart ripped out or you saw your favorite character die along the way. And you still have a few questions unanswered, and that's life.

IGN: Ron Moore said in a recent interview that he originally was going to kill both Helo and Athena in the finale.

Park: Ooooh, yeah.

IGN: Were you happy to hear that got turned around?

Park: Yes, but at the same time, I've got to say, I wouldn't have been surprised if that happened. Because the show is so tragic. There are many clashing factors to it. I totally thought, for awhile, "When does Helo die? Does Athena make it?" I didn't even know what they were going to do with Boomer and Athena. Are they going to come together? Are they going to be completely separate? Because it's not how you come in, it's how you leave. It's not your debut or how you arrive, it's really how you go out. And Boomer could have gone a different way. Athena could have spared her life. It wouldn't have been the same, and I feel like what was written was the best, but I still could never guess what they were going to do with Boomer until the end. Are they going to make them sisters? Not necessarily arm in arm, but is Boomer going to realize all these things and finally get her s**t together and at least go the right direction? And I think she did, just for a moment, but she only realized it at the very end. She made her last, best decision and she died.

I remember when I read the part with Athena leaving Helo, I remember going, "Oh, he's gone!" My brain did the automatic thing. We're so savvy as audience members now. They don't have to tell you. You start thinking these things ahead of time. You go, "Oh no, that's it. That's probably it." And we didn't try to make it overly obvious, but that was the fear in the back of Athena's mind. So I was actually surprised that they made it. I didn't expect those three to make it. And I think, in that way, once again, Ron did something that we wouldn't have expected. I don't think people expected those three to live. How do you make that little family that should have died so long ago… The child's been abducted so many times, they've been beaten up, split up, raped… too many ugly things. And Helo was supposed to die a couple of times! He already did die and they somehow brought him back! So I thought that was unexpected to actually have those three live. And it actually follows along with the whole premise of the show, which is there is a plan and those things are meant to be. And that's the only way they could have lived, because they shouldn't have lived. It was against all odds.

Also, one of my favorite parts [in the finale] was when the dream started coming true in reality.

IGN: That was really cool.

Park: Oh man… Because way back when, when Six and Baltar shot the opera house with the crib, I asked, "What were you guys looking at?" They're like, "Nothing. We asked and nobody knew, so we just had to look in it." And that was way earlier than the dream with Hera, Athena and the President. And then there was that dream, which again used the opera house and I remember talking to one of the writer/producers. I don't remember the exact words, but he said something like, "We're killing ourselves trying to make it work," because they had to pay it off. They'd built it up for so long – with the five faces and all that stuff. I'm like, "That is just brilliant how it came together!" When I realized the opera house was the CIC, I went, "Of course it is!" I never saw it coming.

IGN: Yeah, it's a great moment for the character and the audience, because we're all realizing at the same time how this is coming to fruition.

Park: Yeah, the audience too is going, "Oh wow, that matches up to that!" Oh, it was cool. So many great pieces.

IGN: I wanted to ask you about Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, the upcoming TV-Movie. You filmed that a few months after the finale, right?

Park: We did. I think we finished the series in July, and then I think we did the movie in September.

IGN: We know it's about the Cylon perspective on the events of the Cylon attack on the colonies and the early days of the series. Can you say a bit more?

Park: I think my favorite part initially was the title, because for so long we heard the Cylons have a plan… and as soon as I had the script in my hand and it said The Plan, I was so happy. I just had that moment… even if the movie wasn't going to get made! What can I tell you about The Plan… It does offer the Cylon perspective. We go back in time and get to revisit some of the same scenarios that we've already experienced, but with added information. We'll have a newer understanding.

I don't know how to broach this part of it… I guess something is different about when we're airing it or how we're playing it, because all of the sudden, there's a lot more nudity! I think someone coined it Battlestar Pornographer or something like that. Just hearing some stories swapped on set… It was interesting filming it. It actually confused me, because with the added perspective of the Cylons, we're realizing some things and getting new information we didn't have before. And part of that, because I'm playing a Cylon, there was some stuff that certainly threw me and kind of still throws me off. Because a lot of times things weren't explained and you'd make it up and then you'd get an explanation four years later and you're like, "That doesn't match what I was doing…" But you sort of make it work in your head. There's a recount of some of the major things that have happened, with this new information about the plan and really following the Cylons, but also the humans as well. We're going to be enmeshed with a lot of the same incidents and catastrophes and administrative decision making. This is the right time to watch it, at the end.

IGN: Regarding the nudity, the Number Eight models always seemed to be the ones most prone to forgoing clothes.

Park: Oh, I know. Just the random… "What are you going to be doing next? Naked kung fu? How are you going to hide anything there?" [Laughs] Yeah, I was never a fan of that stuff. I thought the first time was kind of cute. The second time, I was like, "This is it. I'm not doing another frakkin' thing unless a Simon or a Doral starts taking his clothes off… in a love scene… together!" We were all throwing all the guy Cylons in a big orgy scene together in our heads.

IGN: I'm sure some fans have written such a scene online.

Park: Yeah, probably! You know what was cool though, was the webisodes. Did you watch those?

IGN: The Face of the Enemy?

Park: Right. So you know that Gaeta and Hoshi had a love scene together, right?

IGN: Yeah.

Park: Just yesterday night, I finished watching the last of the episodes I hadn't watched yet. And some of these were before any of us even conceived of the whole Hoshi/Gaeta thing. Watching it, it's already cut together. Nothing was changed for this love scene. But watching it again, because they were both working in the CIC, and they shared looks and all of that, it all worked! It worked out so great. I loved it. Because actually, it wasn't supposed to be Hoshi. It was supposed to be somebody else, but for scheduling it didn't happen. It was so much better this way, I feel.

IGN: Is there a storyline or scene you did that stands out as a favorite?

Park: Oh, absolutely. I think I have about one favorite per season, roughly. I would say the highlights for me… The miniseries, the lottery scene. Shooting that with Tahmoh. I think because of the way we shot it and what was going on with us, it actually got him to come back. Because, if we didn't have any of that friendship or chemistry, or anything at all, I don't think Hera would exist, and there wouldn't be more Helo, and Athena wouldn't exist either. So that for me is a really important moment. Boomer shooting Adama… The interrogation/rape scene. The first time Boomer and Athena have a face to face. I really dug that one. And when Helo shoots Athena, to go get her baby back. And finally, I'd say the whole "Someone to Watch Over Me" episode is one of my favorites. And there's actually one other part that was in the episode after that one ["Islanded in a Stream of Stars"], but because of time they had to cut it. So it wasn't as powerful… In the DVD, I know there's going to be as longer version. Hopefully that will make it into there. I'd say those were my favorite scenes, going across the whole arc of the show.

IGN: Well Grace, thanks so much for your time.

Park: My pleasure. Thank you for helping me have closure here!