SciFiAndTvTalk

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea's David Hedison

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, the late (and still much missed) David Hedison talks about playing Sci-Fi TV iconic character Captain Lee Crane in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Enjoy!

Handsome, debonair, engaging, congenial – just a few of the words that describe veteran stage, television and feature film actor David Hedison as well as some of the many characters he has played over the years. Perhaps the role for which he is most fondly remembered by his fans is that of Captain Lee Crane in the Irwin Allen 1960’s Sci-Fi/underwater adventure series Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. Based on the 1961 movie of the same name (which Allen executive produced, directed and co-wrote), the TV show was set in the 70’s (and later the 80’s) onboard the futuristic nuclear submarine S.S.R.N. Seaview, whose crew, led by Crane and Admiral Harriman Nelson, risked life and limb to protect Earth from threats terrestrial and extraterrestrial in nature. Before the cameras began rolling, Allen had made his mind up about who was going to command the Seaview on a weekly basis, and was sticking to his guns.

“Irwin had always wanted me for the part of Lee Crane and tried to get me to do it for the 1961 movie, but I’d already committed to another film and was unable to,” notes the actor. “When Voyage went to series, he pursued me again, this time all the way to London, where I was shooting an episode of The Saint – Luella – with Roger Moore. Irwin told me he had [booked] Richard Basehart [Admiral Harriman Nelson] for the series, who is someone I wanted to work with, so I said, ‘Yes.’ There was no audition; I finished filming The Saint, flew back home to the U.S., was given my wardrobe and began filming the Voyage pilot, Eleven Days to Zero, the next day.

“We were filming in late November 1963, and Henry Kulky [Chief “Curly” Jones] came back from lunch to tell us that President Kennedy had been shot. Filming was stopped for the day and everyone went home. I’ll never forget that.”

The-then Commander Lee Crane became the Seaview’s new captain after its original commanding officer was murdered in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea’s pilot episode. As dedicated as he was to the successful completion of each mission, Crane also never took lightly his responsibility to protect the lives of his crew. The captain would sometimes butt heads with Admiral Nelson if he felt the situation was spiraling out of control, and would not hesitate to put himself in the line of fire to get the job done. Crane was an exceedingly competent as well as capable officer, and Hedison did his best to imbue his performance with that commanding presence.

“Irwin wasn’t at all interested in any of my ideas about the character of Lee Crane,” says the actor. “I did the [acting] exercise and wrote up what I thought was a good biography for Crane, but Irwin didn’t use any of it, and my character didn’t really grow. Irwin wanted a man of action, so I gave him one. I was fit and had had training, so I could do most of my fighting as well as the less-dangerous stunts. My stunt double George started doubling for me at Fox Studios in 1959, and he was with me on the show to do anything else when needed. They were very careful with me, so there would be no shooting delays.  

“I like to think I gave Lee Crane a conscience along with the ability to do the right thing in any circumstance, but you can’t play that. You have to know what that is and do it honestly, or the audience can tell. Good scripts were easy to do, while bad scripts required us to work harder. We managed, though, no matter what they wrote for us.”

Sci-Fi and Fantasy themes are peppered throughout a number of first season Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea episodes, but many of the first season’s stories are more grounded, Cold War-type dramas with various foreign powers as the main adversaries. Seasons two, three and four have more genre-based storytelling, and some of Hedison’s most memorable episodes are serious as well as fantastical.

“I liked The Human Computer because it was the first episode they let me carry, and it was only me and the bad guy,” he recalls. “I also liked The Phantom Strikes as well as The Phantom Returns because I had to match Alfred Ryder’s [Krueger] accent exactly so that the audience would believe my character was possessed. It wasn’t easy, but I pulled it off. I liked Man-Beast as well because I got to run amuck and destroy set pieces. They were always telling me to be careful and not break anything. Well, I broke a lot of things in that episode and it was very liberating,” jokes the actor.

Despite the dire straits onscreen and the occasional outbursts of temper, the Seaview crew’s camaraderie was unbreakable. That was also true behind the scenes with Hedison and his fellow castmates. “I loved working with Richard Basehart,” he says. “He was so good and made me better. Richard taught me a great deal about concentration and intensity. When the cameras rolled, he was always prepared. Bob Dowdell [Lt. Commander Chip Morton] was my neighbor when the show began. I got him the job, mostly because he was a good actor, and Bob always supported me. I liked Del Monroe [Kowalski] as well. He was a very hard worker and would do most anything for Irwin.”

Perry Mason, Love, American Style, BBC Play of the Month, Medical Center, Wonder Woman, Charlie’s Angels, The Love Boat and The Colby’s are among Hedison’s other TV credits, while his feature film appearances include The Fly, Ffolkes, License to Kill and The Reality Trap. He was 11 years old when setting his sights on an acting career, and 10 years later enrolled in a New York City acting school to pursue that dream. “It was another seven years of theater and television work all over the country before I was finally signed to a movie contract with 20th Century Fox in 1957,” says Hedison.

“I’ve made so many good friends out here in Los Angeles, too many to name. Sadly, most of them are gone now. I did good work all these years, and always entertained my audiences on the stage, big screen and television. I love what I do and am grateful I was able to make a good living at it. You have to be passionate about wanting to be an actor to make it. You have to feel it, want it and work for it.

“I still keep busy working with young actors at the Actors Studio West. I was in a documentary last year about the late Susan Oliver that won some film festival awards, and a book about my first television series, Five Fingers, was published in September 2015 and I signed books – with the author – in October 2015. I also have a small part in a film directed by Eric Stoltz that will be released in 2017 called Confessions of a Teenage Jesus Jerk.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Heroes' Jack Coleman

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, stage and screen actor Jack Coleman talks about playing his bespectacled TV alter ego Mr. Bennet a.k.a. HRG in Heroes. Enjoy!

Some people say that the clothes make the man, but as far as Heroes’ mysterious Mr. Bennet, or HRG (Horn-Rimmed Glasses), it’s the glasses that have definitely helped define who he is. “The glasses are a very big part of how my character was first conceived,” notes Jack Coleman, the actor behind HRGs specs. “He’s kind of a 50s throwback to the movie studio’s image of a guy who’s plotting a revolution in some South American country. The glasses are like a curtain or wall between him and those around him.

"We probably went through 100 or so pairs of glasses trying to choose just the right ones. And when I say we, I mean the executive producers, including Tim Kring [series creator], Dennis Hammer and Dave Semel as well as the props people and myself. Everybody had an opinion. As soon as I put the glasses on it was HRG. Actually, when I first saw myself in the mirror I had an epiphany that I looked exactly like my dad when he was my age, which was shocking,” jokes the actor. “Beyond that, it’s amazing how much something like glasses can to a certain extent become the character for you.”

Living in Odessa, Texas with his wife and two children, Mr. Bennet is a paper salesman who works for the Primatech Paper Company, or is he? In fact, it’s all a front. The company and its employees have spent the past 15 years investigating, capturing and experimenting on people with superhuman powers. Bennet claims he only wants help them learn to control their abilities, but his bosses have other plans. The character is first seen in the Heroes season one opener Genesis, where he meets Mohinder Suresh (Sendhil Ramamurthy), who is investigating the murder of his father Chandra (Erick Avari) and his connection to these superheroes. As debuts go it was a modest one, but nonetheless attractive for Coleman.

“I first became aware of Heroes through a friend of mine who’s a writer on another series,” he recalls. “He told me, ‘There’s this wonderful pilot script called Heroes that I’ve heard great things about.’ Then I discovered that it was being produced by Tim Kring as well as Dennis Hammer and Dave Semel, who directed the pilot, both of whom I know. I subsequently went in to read for the role knowing it was a very small one. It was basically a one-page audition from the pilot where Bennet is sitting in the backseat of the cab and is being rather threatening towards Mohinder. That was the extent of it.

“Then, however, I found out at the very end of the episode that Bennet is Claire’s father. I thought to myself, ‘This [character] definitely has the potential to grow.’ Of course, back then I had no idea that the role would become what it has, or that the show would become the juggernaut that it has.”

Claire (Hayden Panettiere) is the Bennets’ adopted daughter. She is also an extraordinary teenage girl with the ability to self-regenerate from injuries that would be fatal to other humans, and even most of her fellow superhumans. As a baby, she was given into the care of Mr. Bennet and his unsuspecting wife by Primatech with the understanding that Claire would one day be returned to them for further study. What began as just another assignment, though, has become something more for Bennet. Much to his surprise, he has developed real feelings for Claire, and as the first season of Heroes continues to unfold, the bond shared by father and daughter is further complicated when Claire begins to discover who Bennet really is.

“Things between HRG and Claire are without question strained, and there’s a crisis situation in a later episode that brings it to a head. There’s a resolution as well, albeit a temporary one,” explains Coleman. “I suspect that the relationship between Claire and HRG is one of the core values so to speak of this show, as twisted as that relationship may or may not be.

“As we know, they’ve both lied to one another on more than one occasion. Ultimately, though, I feel they really do love each other and there’s a tremendous bond there. Towards the end of the season you’ll see without a doubt that HRG’s and Claire’s feelings are truly genuine, but they’re also feelings that my character has often tried to sublimate. After all, in his line of work you don’t want to be beholden to your emotions or your loved ones. At the same time, as a human being, it’s hard not to do that.”

Despite all the morally questionable things he’s done, HRG is still very much human, which makes the character believable, and that’s how Coleman wants to keep him. “If you’re just walking around twirling your mustache and cackling like a villain then it’s really not that interesting, and audiences will soon tire of it, and you,” says the actor.

“Like anyone else, my character justifies himself,” continues Coleman. “I think HRG sees himself working for the greater good and taking on a job which is dirty but has to be done. He’s certainly been set up as the bad guy for the first two-thirds of this season, but there are going to be revelations regarding both his motivation and his loyalty. That will broaden everyone’s understanding of who HRG is, where he came from and what he’s been trying to do.

“I have to say that I love the ambiguity of my character. The question I’m asked most often by people is if HRG is good or bad. They’re perplexed and they want to be able to figure him out and know exactly who he is. The fact, though, that my character is both good and bad is what makes him so fascinating. Suddenly you realize that people can do horrible things and still come home and love their family. It’s a perfectly human way to behave in the world, both real and fictional, because I think most of us have a grey area or two in our lives, and that’s what makes HRG interesting and fun for me to play.”

Heroes producers have been so pleased with Coleman’s work that they made him a series regular starting with episode 11, Fallout. “I honestly don’t believe that was originally their intention, but rather something that came about gradually,” muses the actor. “A lot of it probably had to do with the fact that HRG serves so many different stories. Here are a group of people who in a lot of ways are struggling to get a handle on these abilities that they one day found themselves with, and you need an antagonist who’s driving them into crisis.

“I think, too, that they like the onscreen chemistry between me and Hayden. It has a nice emotional resonance, which adds to the creepiness of what HRG does at his day job.”

Coleman takes center stage in episode 17, Company Man, which sheds a great deal of light on his bespectacled alter ego. “This story is very much set in the present, but we also flashback to see how my character got his start at Primatech as well as how he came to be in possession of Claire and how a lot of other things happened,” he says. “HRG finally reaches a point in the present where he has to take a stand and it results in an extremely dramatic conclusion.

“I had a great time working with Greg Grunberg in this episode. His character of Matt Parkman and HRG form an alliance out of necessity, and one of the things I really like about Company Man is that just when you’re sure you know who’s on whose side and who knows what, the land shifts beneath you and all of a sudden things are decidedly different.”

As season one of Heroes moves towards its conclusion, Coleman, like the show’s audience, remains in the dark as to what the future holds for HRG and the other characters. “I’m not trying to be a killjoy when I say I have absolutely no idea what’s going to happen next year,” says Coleman. “I do think that there are some relatively profound changes in store for HRG and I’m sure my character will be on a very different kind of mission from the one he’s on this year. The question, however, is for how long and at what cost.”

Although he performed onstage throughout high school, it wasn’t until his freshman year at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, that Jack Coleman decided to pursue an acting career. “I was a jock and I love playing sports,” says the actor, “but I don’t think I was under the allusion that I would ever make it as a pro athlete. Also, I’m the youngest of seven children and all the other professions were taken by the time I came of age,” he chuckles, “so I chose acting.”

A graduate of Duke as well as the National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Center in Connecticut and the Writers’ Boot Camp in Santa Monica, California, Coleman has performed on Broadway, off-Broadway, in feature films and on TV. Long before Heroes, the actor was a household name thanks to his role as Steven Carrington in the ABC nighttime soap opera Dynasty. Besides Heroes, his other recent TV work includes Nip/Tuck, Without a Trace and CSI: Miami. At times it (acting) has been a hard road, but also one that Coleman has never given up on.

“You have to believe in yourself and believe that you’re good at what you do,” says the actor. “Heroes is the second really big TV hit I’ve been on. It’s like lightning in a bottle, meaning that it’s very hard to come by, and I’m extremely grateful for this opportunity.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - Eureka's Colin Ferguson

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, actor Colin Ferguson chats with me on the Vancouver set of Eureka about playing Sheriff Jack Carter. Enjoy!

Feeling tired? Well, then, why not join the folks from Eureka and catch a few zz’s. This afternoon, most of the show’s cast is gathered on the Café Diem set to film scenes for an upcoming second season episode, Noche de Suenos (Night of Dreams). In it, several of the townspeople, including Sheriff Jack Carter are having bizarre, really bizarre, dreams, so they’ve decided to hold a sleepover at the café in the hopes of determining the cause. Sometime during the night, Carter, and the actor who plays him, Colin Ferguson, will unintentionally reveal a bit more of himself than he would like.

“When the show’s producers first told me that my character would end up naked at one point in this episode, I was like, ‘Again? This is the third story, now. What’s up with you guys?’” recalls Ferguson. “I said, ‘No way,’ and they told me, ‘Just read it [the script].’ So I did, and they were right, it’s a very amusing scene and perfectly fits the mood of the story. Believe me, being naked for a joke is far easier than being naked and having to be sexy,” chuckles the actor.

“Seriously, this is a neat episode. It was written by Jaime Paglia [Eureka co-creator/executive producer] and will likely air halfway through this season. He also wrote this year’s opener [Phoenix Rising] and will probably write the last one, too, which gives us our ‘mooring points’ at the beginning, middle and end of the season. Working on Jaime’s stuff is always great just from a concept standpoint, and with this script even more so because it’s amusing. The last couple of episodes have been slightly procedural and sort of one step after the other. So it’s a treat to occasionally break out and do a really lighthearted story.

“Noche de Suenos is about dreams and technology and where the two intersect. What makes it fun is that you’re getting a look into everyone’s heads, and I think Carter finds it embarrassing insofar as what others see inside his head. It’s not so much scary as it is sort of humiliating.”

It’s been a year since former U.S. Marshal Jack Carter and his daughter Zoe (Jordan Hinson) accidentally wound up in Eureka. Back then, they had no idea that the town was home to some of the world’s greatest scientific minds, as well as plenty of weird goings-on. Luckily, Jack was around to help save the day when, once again, science ran amok, and in doing so he became the town’s new sheriff. He’s since dealt with all types of strange situations, especially in Eureka’s first season finale Once in a Lifetime. In it, an accident sends the town into 2010, and to set things right, Jack is forced to travel back in time. Naturally, there were consequences to that, some of which are still being felt this season.

“My biggest fear at the end of last year, which I was vocal about and the show’s producers also shared, is that we’d take what happened in the season finale and just sweep it under the rug,” says Ferguson. “Carter goes into the not-too-distant future, comes back to the present, then bam, we start this year off with no mention of it. On the contrary, we deal with that, and right off the bat as well, which leads to a really wonderful serial element in season two.

“In the first year of any TV show, you don’t know who if anyone will be watching, and that means you have to make your episodes ‘bulletproof’ and able to stand on their own, especially for the causal viewer. That subsequently gets in the way of doing any serial stuff. This year, however, because we know we have a regular audience, who we hope will stay with us, hopefully we’ll be able to bring more of a serialized element to our stories. There are tons of very subtle things in each episode, most of which aren’t even meant to ripple, but a regular viewer will spot these little things in subsequent stories and think, ‘Hey, that’s cool.’ So I like this idea of not necessarily wiping the slate clean each week.”

With Carter and his daughter Zoe having been residents of Eureka for a year now, Ferguson wants to make sure that comes across in season two of the show. “My character didn’t want to be here last year,” notes the actor, “but I didn’t want to do another season of him hating the town because at a certain point he’d become a whiner. Jack either had to fish or cut bait, do you know what I mean? He’s in this now for the long haul and is trying to make a go of it.

“I’ve never done a second season of a show, so it’s a rather interesting place for me to be in as an actor,” he continues. “A big thing for me this year is Carter’s relationships with other characters and seeing them further evolve. For example, he and Deputy Lupo [Erica Cerra] can’t be as irritated with each other; we have to replace that with something new. So now Lupo is starting to learn a lot of different job-related skills from Carter. With Zoe, she was problematic last year, but in season two she’s turning out not to be such a bad teenager. Zoe is, however, growing up, and that opens up assorted other father/daughter issues with her and Carter.

“As for Nathan Stark [Ed Quinn], he and Carter may not ‘hate’ one another as much this year, but there are some things going on in season two with Nathan and his wife Allison Blake [Salli Richardson], whom he’s separated from. As a result, my character may be backing off a bit where his and Allison’s relationship is concerned. Then, of course, Abby arrives in town.”

Yes, viewers finally get to meet Carter’s ex-wife this year on Eureka. “Abby [Olivia d’Abo] comes in at the beginning of one of the episodes and does just what you’d expect; she throws a monkey wrench into the works,” says Ferguson. “Abby and Carter have a shared custody agreement when it comes to Zoe, so what are they going to do? What does this mean to the town and Carter, who has all these abandonment, intimacy and entitlement issues. I appreciate that the writers didn’t shy away from the reality of the situation. My character has to deal with this. He has to pony up and say, ‘I want my daughter to stay with me. I love and need her.’ It makes for some wonderful emotional scenes.”

“I think I enjoy connecting the most, you know, and doing scenes where you drop the artifice and are left with characters who are trying to just talk about where they’re at in their lives. Erica and I shot a scene like that only this morning, and Salli and Ed did a few yesterday, which were terrific. As for how it looks after everything is cut together, well, that’s anyone’s guess,” smiles the actor, “but the actual work always remains the true reward.”

At that moment there’s a knock on the actor’s trailer door. Director Eric Laneuville [of St. Elsewhere fame] needs him at Café Diem. “Eric is a great guy and a wonderful director,” praises Ferguson as he walks to set. “Nothing seems to be a problem with him. He comes with all sorts of awards and acclaim, so it’s like, ‘Wow, it really is easy to work with someone who’s this talented and lauded for his skills.’ Again, we’ll see how it all cuts together,” jokes the actor, “but so far so good.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Flash Gordon's Karen Cliche

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, the lovely and talented Karen Cliche chats about her work in the Sci-Fi TV series Flash Gordon. Enjoy!

Karen Cliche was just six years old when she wrote her Oscar speech. Standing in front of a mirror and holding a Barbie doll, she accepted her “award.” Even at such a young age, the budding thespian already knew what she wanted to be when she grew up, but years later, having just enrolled in university, the actress took a slight detour.

“While I was at university, I also began modeling,” says Cliche. “It wasn’t long, though, before I realized something didn’t feel right. I’d forgotten about my acting dream. Around the same time, the modeling agency opened up an acting division and they asked me, ‘Can you act?’ and I was like, ‘I don’t know, you tell me.’ They began sending me out on auditions and things just took off from there. One day I thought, ‘Yes, this [acting] is what I’m here for.’ Thank God I had that opportunity. If not, I would have gone through life wondering what was missing, so I’m truly grateful to everyone who gave me the chance to pursue my dream.”

After making her professional debut playing a secretary in the 1999 TV movie The Collector, Cliche went on to appear in various guest-spots on TV as well as in a handful of feature films. Over the past six years, the actress has had regular roles in five TV series: Vampire High, Adventure Inc, Mutant X, Young Blades and The Business. Currently, she is enjoying another steady gig playing a sexy alien bounty hunter named Baylin in the Sci Fi Channel’s updated version of Flash Gordon. It was, in fact, a longtime friend of Cliche’s, executive producer James Thorpe, who she worked with on Adventure Inc, Young Blades and now Flash Gordon, that mentioned to a mutual friend of theirs that she would be perfect for the role.

“I was in Toronto when my agent got a phone call about a part on Flash Gordon,” recalls the actress. “So I taped my audition, which was actually for the role of Dale [Flash’s old flame, played by Gina Holden] and sent it to the producers in Vancouver. Apparently, they were like, ‘We love her, she’s terrific, but not for the part of Dale. She’s Baylin.’

“At that point I didn’t know anything about Baylin except that she was a new character created for this series, which meant there was nothing I could do in terms of researching the part. I said to my agent, ‘Well, if that’s what they see, great. Have them send me the new [audition] sides,’ which they did. I put myself on tape again, and I guess it went really well because I got the job. A short time later we began filming in Vancouver. Rick Rosenthal directed the Flash Gordon pilot, and he’d previously directed me in one of my very first projects, an Aaron Spelling show called All Souls. That was six years ago and we’d kept in touch ever since. So I was happy to see him again when I arrived out here.”

In the Flash Gordon pilot, Steven “Flash” Gordon (Eric Johnson) and TV reporter Dale Arden are reunited when Flash discovers an alien device that could be connected to the “death” of his father, scientist Dr. Gordon. Flash’s dad is, in fact, alive, and has spent the past several years on the planet Mongo, a prisoner of its leader, Ming (John Ralston), who rules Mongo and its citizens by controlling the planet’s only source of drinkable water. Using the same trans-dimensional rift technology that trapped his father on Mongo, Flash and Dale arrive on the planet, only to end up in Ming’s clutches. With the help of Ming’s daughter, Aura (Anna Van Hooft), they escape back to Earth, but Aura has her own reasons for coming along, so Ming sends Baylin to bring his daughter home.

“My character is introduced in the last 10 or 15 minutes of the pilot,” explains Cliche. “Baylin doesn’t want to be anyone’s friend and she doesn’t care about Earth. She just wants to do her job and get back to Mongo. So I really had to make sure that’s what came across with her. Yes, I knew that she was going to be introduced to audiences in an almost stern way, but that was OK because I also knew we’d have other episodes to explore her personality a bit more.

“The scenes I shot for the pilot included Baylin coming to Earth, a bit of an action sequence, and a little showdown with Flash,” continues the actress. “Then, of course, my character ends up stuck on Earth and she decides to stay and help Flash. I remember putting on my costume for the first time. Baylin is a member of the Verden tribe on Mongo, and they’re a very organic, earthy people, so the colours of her outfit are browns and greens and the textures are very leafy and bark-like. So there I was in my Baylin costume, her IP gun in one holster and a 12-inch knife in the other, and at the end of the episode I got to drive away in a big monster truck,” she laughs.

“The cast and crew on Flash are awesome, and filming the pilot was fun. It was just a few days work, so I got to ease into the series as opposed to being thrown into the hurricane that a TV show can sometimes be.”

Like all new roles, Cliche’s Flash Gordon persona has taken her a bit of getting used to. “When I started working on Mutant X, I asked myself, ‘How do I portray this character and everything that I along with the writers, producers, etc. want to her to be, keeping in mind she’s a mutant. There’s no way I can relate to that, right? After all, I’m human.’ It’s kind of the same situation with Baylin,” notes the actress. “How do I relate to her as an alien? I don’t know what that feels like, and there’s certainly no one I can ask,” jokes Cliche.

“So I’ve more or less had to use my instincts, and what I’ve done is make sure that she has some human characteristics as well as emotions so that viewers can relate to her. Along with that, I’ve thrown in some twists and turns to make her somewhat unique as an alien compared to human beings, but there are no huge differences. Baylin studies the behavior of humans and really tries to be like them in order to interact properly on Earth. However, there have been some rather amusing moments that we’ve played in each episode where she’s basically a fish out of water on another planet, and I’ve loved doing those.”

As Cliche previously pointed out, Baylin is rather aloof and single-minded when we first meet her, but at the time of this interview (mid-July) the actress and the rest of the Flash Gordon cast and crew were shooting a first season episode that reveals another side of her character.

“Up to now Baylin has been quite secretive about her past, but in this particular story we discover exactly what made her somewhat fearful as well as mistrustful of people and kind of tough,” says Cliche. “As a result, there’s a nice connection that’s made between her and Flash where my character becomes vulnerable. She shows him that she can be afraid, and I think from this moment on it really changes their relationship.

“I’m quite pleased with the way this episode is turning out, and those moments I just described are probably my favourite so far in the series because they’re rare. When you play tough girls, which I tend to do, you don’t often get to go to those ‘softer’ places. So for me to be able to do that was very important, and I hope viewers will enjoy seeing that side of Baylin as well.”

Although her Flash Gordon character may feel a bit out of place on Earth, Cliche is right at home playing Baylin and is curious to see what the future holds for the bounty hunter. “Because she’s an alien, there are endless possibilities for her story arc,” enthuses the actress. “Whether they’re comedic moments, touching moments, or butt-kicking moments, it’s a fantastic opportunity to bring a character like this to life. Again, you’re thinking, ‘My God, I’m playing an alien. How do I do this?’ Those are the types of [creative] challenges you long for as an actor.”

In season three of Mutant X, Cliche played Lexa Piece, a mutant who could manipulate light and use it not only as a weapon but also to make herself and anyone she touched appear invisible. Like Flash Gordon, her experiences on this show were fulfilling both personally and professionally for the actress. “Vicki Pratt [Shalimar Fox] and I had the best time on Mutant X,” says Cliche. “We laughed so much, and she’s just the most amazing person to work with, as is Forbes March [Jesse Kilmartin] and Victor Webster [Brennan Mulwray]. So purely on a cast level and being so happy to come to work every day, that’s one of my favourite memories from my time on that show.

“With Lexa, again, I think there’s a theme insofar as the characters I play and I’m really drawn to, and she’s a good example of that. It’s that whole, ‘I’m tough, I’m invincible,’ phony act, and then unraveling of the character. Instead of the building up and becoming strong, I like to start off strong and then chip away at my character and say, ‘OK, this is the real me. I’m scared, I’m terrified, and that’s why I put up a front.’ Maybe I’m a little like that in real life, so I enjoy exploring that in the characters I portray.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From the Past - The Almighty Johnsons' Emmett Skilton

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, the awesome Emmett Skilton, whose recent credits include James Patterson's Murder is Forever, Legends, Millennial Jenny, Shortland Street and the upcoming TV series The Wilds, chats about playing Axl Johnson in The Almighty JohnsonsEnjoy!

The birth of a child, school graduations, weddings, anniversaries – these are among the life events most of us experience and that remain forever in our hearts as well as minds. Some people might also consider the first day of a new job to be one such event. Actor Emmett Skilton chuckles when asked about his first day of filming on the New Zealand fantasy dramedy TV series The Almighty Johnsons, which, funnily enough, was the ideal icebreaker for what was to follow.

“The very first scene I shot for The Almighty Johnsons was actually for the second episode [This is Where Duty Starts], and it’s where my character of Axl is encouraged by one of his three older brothers, Anders [Dean O’Gorman], to go out, score a chick and have sex with her,” recalls Skilton. “Anders has chosen this young woman named Karla [Rachel Blampied] for him, and because she could be the one who Axl is destined to be with, he should just go for it.

“Anders and Karla both encourage my character to take her into the bedroom, and the first scene I shot is where a completely naked Axl runs out of his bedroom and into the living room where he tells his three brothers and their grandfather that he thinks he’s killed this girl by having sex with her. On the day we filmed this, I had only met half of the show’s cast and only just met the crew. Then on days two and three, we shot scenes where the brothers along with their grandfather are naked in a forest and getting struck by thunderbolts. Let’s be honest, from then on, we all quickly became very good friends.”

Coincidentally, when we first meet Axl Johnson in The Almighty Johnsons’ series opener It’s a Kind of a Birthday Present, he, too, is preparing to celebrate an important life event – his 21st birthday. After a pre-birthday bash, during which a beautiful young woman tries to stab Axl to death, his brothers and grandfather take him into the forest where they reveal a family secret. They are, in fact, all human reincarnations of Norse gods, with Axl being the most powerful of all gods, Odin. While his homeland is no stranger to making television shows, Skilton immediately recognized this one as being something special.

“In New Zealand we don’t often make a lot of shows with a fantasy or science fiction element, especially not in this way, but The Almighty Johnsons is grounded in reality,” explains the actor. “It’s grounded in what we live and breathe every single day in New Zealand, and they [the show’s creators] just decided to put in the fantasy aspect and heighten different [storytelling] elements as well as situations that happened. So when I read the first script, it was something very new to me and that I hadn’t encountered before in New Zealand. I think that’s what gave our story a great deal of heart right off the bat when we started shooting the first season.

 “Something else that stood out for me while we were making this show – and I think the audience can see it onscreen as well – is that there’s a genuine brotherhood with this family. That was something really important for all of us to convey. Through thick and thin and the good and the bad, family is still family, and the strongest part about this show is that no matter what, these are brothers and they will stand by one another. The Almighty Johnsons was originally designed to be pitched to a male audience between the ages of 18 and 36. It subsequently found a much wider audience, but in terms of it being relatable to New Zealand males who don’t often watch TV, this was a unique show. The cast was so focused on making sure that the onscreen family was solid, and not only did that make our work all the more fun, but we ended up becoming a behind-the-scenes family as well.”

Although initially dubious of his family’s claim that they are all gods, Axl is convinced that his siblings Anders, Mike (Tim Balme) and Ty (Jared Turner) and their grandfather Olaf (Ben Barrington) are telling the truth after he undergoes an initiation ceremony complete with lightning strikes from the sky. However, rather than immediately gaining godlike powers, Axl discovers that he has now inherited a quest to find the human incarnation of Odin’s true love, the Goddess Frigg. If he dies before doing this, then his entire family dies along with him, and there are a group of earthbound goddesses scheming to achieve the latter. In between all the godlike action, adventure and hijinks, Axl is just trying to live his life and do what he believes is right.

“The importance of the story we’re telling is that there is a choice to be made as each of us grows [up] of whether to turn left or right with the decisions we make,” says Skilton. “Axl starts out getting different influences from so many people around him to make decisions leading him to the left or the right, which would completely change his future. I think the best way to describe my character’s journey is that he ultimately took the bull by the horns and made his own choices.

“So Axl’s growth in the show comes as a result of him listening to himself rather than allowing others to tell him what to do, which is part of what we call in New Zealand ‘manning up,’ and looking at your own future and deciding what is best for you. In the process of him doing that, some people came and went in Axl’s life over the show’s three seasons, but his journey, which I think each of us experiences in our life, is a personal one that you’ve got to do for yourself if you want to learn anything out of it. You’ll see in our final episode that Axl has taken responsibility and he makes it to that unwritten goal to grasp the leadership role and guide his family in the right direction.”

Like his The Almighty Johnsons alter ego, the talented and affable Skilton has held tight onto the proverbial reins as well as to his own convictions in pursuit of his acting career, and such passion and dedication is certainly paying off.

“For me so far, I think what has made this job rewarding is that everything I’ve gotten, I’ve really, really wanted,” he says. “I’ve made goals for myself, whether written or unwritten, and slowly I’m achieving every single one of them. Not only am I, I guess, ‘making it’ in the film industry, as most people would say, but I’m also really succeeding in what I’ve always wanted to do and living up to that desire I’ve got in me. So I’m winning for myself as well as others,” enthuses the actor.

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Brian Krause (Charmed)

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, one of my favorite Charmed interviewees, Brian Krause, looks back on his eight years working on the show and playing Leo Wyatt. Enjoy!

It was back in April that filming on the hit supernatural series Charmed came to its natural conclusion after eight years, but for actor Brian Krause, who played Leo Wyatt, his involvement in the series isn’t quite over yet. He spent this Monday morning in late August in a studio recording commentary for the eighth season Charmed DVD release, in particular his character’s penultimate episode, Vaya Con Leos.

“Me, Brad Kern [executive producer] and Cameron Litvak, the writer of that episode, have provided background commentary for the 45 minutes of that story,” explains Krause. “It’s basically the three of us recapping the show’s eight years on the air as well as talking about Vaya Con Leos, the birth of the episode, what it was about, the emotions that went along with making it, and how it could have been the last time we saw Leo. It was wonderful to see Brad and Cameron again and be able to share our thoughts about the whole experience.”

Charmed made its TV debut in the autumn of 1998 and introduced audiences to the Halliwell sisters, Prue (Shannen Doherty), Piper (Holly Marie Combs) and Phoebe (Alyssa Milano), who also happened to be witches, but the good variety. Their destiny was to vanquish demons and protect innocents, but even the powerful Charmed Ones needed a little help every so often. Enter Leo Wyatt. Initially masquerading as a handyman, he was really a Whitelighter sent by the Elders to watch over the sisters. Leo first knocked on the Halliwell Manor’s front door in the season one episode Thank You For Not Morphing.

“What probably sticks out most in my mind about my first time stepping onto the Charmed set was the nervous energy I had of being around Shannen, Alyssa and Holly in a professional venue,” recalls Krause. “I’d known them for a couple of years, but we had never worked together. So I just remember being very nervous because they knew me as their friend Brian, but had never seen me act in person. There I was now having to kind of step up to the plate and wanting to impress them and yet get the job done and not have to worry so much about what the girls might think.

“I’ll never forget that day, though, and the look in Shannen’s eyes of, ‘Now don’t mess up.’ That’s what I remember most; how professional she was about it all and how good she wanted the series to be. She put the ‘pressure’ on to make it a success because she took a great deal of pride in Charmed and the work. Shannen just had a different way of going about things than Alyssa and Holly. It was a positive one, though, and it stuck with me for the whole run of the series, so I give kudos to Shannen for her professionalism.

“When it came to playing Leo in those early episodes, I guess one of the first things I had to get used to was working in the Sci-Fi realm. I mean, I’d done [the feature film] Sleepwalkers a few years before, but that was the extent of my experience in that genre. Also, I had the challenge of playing a real guy who was not quite a real guy. On top of that there was the great unknown. Was Leo going to stick around, or was he just a fleeting love interest for one of the girls? So the trick was to try to be likable enough for the audience to want me to stay and also be a good enough actor for the show’s leads to want to keep me around.

“The dynamic that I especially liked early on was that my character had this secret that no one really knew about. As the story went on, Leo was magical and then he wasn’t for a while. At one point, I wasn’t even sure if he was good or bad. If you were bad on Charmed you got killed, but if you were good that was a good sign. In the beginning, though, no one really knew what Leo was, so for me the question was do I play him as dark, light or slightly ambivalent? In the end we went for ambivalent, and that seemed to work,” he chuckles.

After three years of Charmed, Shannen Doherty decided to leave the series. Her character of Prue was killed off, and in season four, the Halliwell’s half-sister/half-Whitelighter Paige Matthews (Rose McGowan) was welcomed into the Charmed One’s fold. “The show’s dynamic changed quite a bit in year four,” says Krause. “I’ve talked with a lot of fans about it, some of whom stopped watching, while others started watching for the first time.

“Shannen’s character was a straightforward, demon butt-kicker and she and her sisters were hardcore witches in the first three seasons. When Rose joined the show, everything kind of lightened up a bit. The Paige character was very quirky and fun-loving, and I think by virtue of bringing her in to replace Prue, it did change Holly’s and Alyssa’s characters and dialed up their emotional levels on the show. So we went from being this purely demon butt-kicking show to one where it allowed us to show a more personal side of these girls’ lives.

“As far as Leo was concerned, he didn’t interact much with Prue, but he did with Paige, especially at the beginning. Being that she was part Whitelighter, my character sort of showed her the ropes. I was pleased about that because it involved me more in the storyline as well as brought out more of Leo’s big brother attitude with the girls.”

Piper and Phoebe both had a bit of a crush on Leo when they first met him, but it was the eldest sister that eventually captured the Whitelighter’s heart. Leo’s romance with Piper was forbidden by the Elders, but the couple eventually earned the right to marry and raise a family.

“Overall I was happy with how the Leo/Piper relationship was written, but I also think it developed somewhat quickly,” says Krause. “They were dating and then all of a sudden they were married and before you knew it they had two kids. In real life I suppose that eight years is long enough for all that to happen, but in the TV world it seemed like there was some stuff we missed. Events happened off-screen and not in front of the audience, and we would have to explain what people missed in the way of dialogue in the episodes.

“As an actor I always wanted to show more of Leo and Piper together with their family, but after all it was a series about the girls. I was just pleased to have the part I had in the program.”

At the end of season five of Charmed, Leo made the difficult choice to sacrifice his life with Piper and their son Wyatt and became an Elder in order to better help humankind. A couple of years later another omnipotent group called the Avatars showed Leo that they had a better way to change the world into the ultimate utopia, so he joined their ranks. Unfortunately, their plan had one major flaw and it took the The Charmed Ones to set things right. For a while, Leo was able to hide his association with the Avatars, but the Elders eventually found out and he was stripped of his magical powers. How did Krause have to alter his performance to keep up with all these changes in his character’s life?

“There were different emotions I had to play based on Leo’s situation,” notes the actor. “As an Elder, he was like, ‘OK, I’m a pure being. Everything is great. I love life and am in control.’ When Leo went to the other side as an Avatar, it was out of the same core belief, which was his desire for wanting the best for his family and the world. Then when he was made mortal, Leo was bitter at first, but then felt he had finally been set free. So the through-line for my character never changed, but how he reacted was based on his been wronged or righted by the Elders, Avatars, demons, witches, etc.”

When the eighth and final year of Charmed finally rolled around, the WB Network cut back on the show’s budget, which meant that Krause’s work on the series would be limited to half the season. “That was a big shock and it changed my attitude a little bit as well as my passion for the series,” he admits. “However, when I began work on season eight I realized that negativity wasn’t good for me, the audience or the show. So I quickly got over that and decided, ‘Hey, I need to do my best work, whether I’m here for one episode or 22.’

“Season eight was a very emotional one for Leo. There was the ongoing adjustment to being mortal, dealing with his new role as Mr. Mom, and not being able to help out Piper and her sisters as much. Leo felt all those things and perhaps I felt them, too, based on my reduced involvement in the making of the show. So it was all right there and easy for me to play. That was all due to Brad Kern, who was very in-tune with me and the rest of the cast and wrote for our personal emotional levels and how they fit into the show.

“Brad always kept a close eye on all of us and was a big brother or father figure. He never asked us to do anything on the show if he didn’t feel we couldn’t emotionally handle it at certain periods in our lives. Brad made the right call each time and I thank him for every opportunity he afforded me in season eight to be as natural and believable as possible when playing Leo.”

Thanks to some clever cost-cutting moves on Brad Kern’s part, he was able to bring the Leo character back for the Charmed finale Forever Charmed. “Eight years of a series is a long time and there was a lot of reflection going on and plenty of emotions, especially on the final day of shooting when the Halliwell Manor was blown up,” says Krause. “I think everyone took a moment to stare at the burnt rubble and just couldn’t believe it. It was hard to swallow. The cast and crew really banded together and supported one another in order to get the work done without totally breaking down.”

Krause has no idea what the future holds for him either personally or professionally, but wherever life takes him next, he’ll be bringing with him a part of Charmed. “There are so many things that I learnt from many different people on that show,” he says. “I grew both as a person and an actor and I’ll always be grateful for that. We’ll see where I’m at eight years from now. Hopefully I’ll take away some positive elements from that span of time, too.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Stargate Atlantis' David Hewlett

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, my pal David Hewlett chats about season four of Stargate Atlantis. Enjoy!

It’s said that a good offense is the best defense, but not too long ago our heroes on Stargate Atlantis discovered that is not always the case. In the third season cliffhanger finale First Strike, a decision was made to attack the human-form Replicator world before its “people” could make a second attempt to invade the city. The robots subsequently sent an immensely powerful energy weapon to destroy Atlantis, resulting in several injuries and heavy damage to the city, especially the control room, which took a direct hit from the Replicator weapon. David Hewlett, who plays Dr. Rodney McKay, was present for the filming of that particular scene.

“That was the biggest explosion we’ve ever had on this show,” says Hewlett. “There was glass everywhere, and it was the sugary, rubbery fake glass that disintegrates as soon as you stand on it. When that happens it becomes very slippery and you fall all over the place, which is exactly what I did, because, of course, it’s all about me,” jokes the actor. “Seriously, this is a great cliffhanger episode as it throws a bunch of balls up in the air and you’re thinking, ‘Something is going to drop.’

“These guys [the Atlantis writers/producers] are really good at doing the unexpected, you know? They’ve been working on Stargate for 10 years and they know how to make an impact. I think last season’s ender is a perfect example of how they can sort of shake you up and make you want to come back and find out what’s going on. It definitely spins the program off in a different direction for year four.”

At the end of First Strike, Colonel John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) decides the only way to save Atlantis is to fly it into hyperspace. Although they eventually manage to elude the Replicator weapon, the city inadvertently ends up lost when it returns to normal space. As a result, the Atlantis expedition spends the fourth season opener Adrift and the following episode Lifeline not only looking for a new home, but also dealing with a deadly new enemy as well as the “loss” of their leader, Dr. Elizabeth Weir (Torri Higginson).

“This was another of those weird saying goodbye moments like we had [last season] with Sunday and Carson Beckett (Paul McGillion),” notes Hewlett. “We’re essentially saying goodbye to Torri and the Weir character as we know it. Again, it’s always rather uncomfortable, like dealing with death in life, if you know what I mean. It’s this strange sense of what do you say, what don’t you say, how much of this discomfort I’m feeling is my character’s and how much of it is me as a person in this circumstance. So it was sort of bittersweet because as actors we know what’s going to happen, but it’s important not to play what you know. That’s one of the challenges when you film things out of order like we do, so you’ve got to remember that stuff.

“As episodes go, I have to say these [Adrift and Lifeline] are some pretty neat ones. Again, visual effects-wise they’re huge, and they also set the tone for the rest of the year. This is very much like a season of change, and they’re dramatic changes. We’ve got some new faces on the show as well as some old ones, and we see them interacting, but on new levels. It’s a really neat approach for year four because the writers have come in, sort of deconstructed what we’ve already done and are saying, for example, ‘Wait a second, we haven’t seen Rodney have a chat with Ronon [Jason Momoa]. There’s interaction, but we haven’t seen much of the day-to-day chat stuff.’ So we’ve begun exploring more of those moments. These first two stories set that up by throwing our characters out of whack, and then having them struggle to sort of pull things back together again.”

Following Dr. Weir’s unexpected departure, Stargate SG-1’s Colonel Samantha Carter (Amanda Tapping) arrives on Atlantis to take over the running of the base, much to McKay’s chagrin. “I think it really complicates everything for my character,” says Hewlett. “I sound so serious about it, but it’s his concern that makes it so funny and fun to watch. McKay honestly believed he was going to be in charge. The chain of command went Weir, Sheppard and then McKay. He had an argument about this with the Caldwell character [Mitch Pileggi] in a season two story [The Long Goodbye]. In it, McKay was like, ‘This is a science base and I’m in charge when Weir and Sheppard are out of commission.’

“So this time, as sad as McKay is to lose Weir, he sort of assumes that he’s the one who’s taking her place,” continues the actor, “and when Carter shows up it’s a huge shock to him. He’s like, ‘This is my base. I’m the pro here who answers the questions, not you.’ To top if off, all of a sudden this old life of McKay’s from his experiences with Sam and the SG-1 team has come up again, and it’s like hitting a window. He’s going along just fine and then, bang, Carter is in control. Out of the blue, McKay’s insecurities start coming back along with those concerns I spoke of earlier. With Atlantis isolated from Earth at the start of season four, McKay felt like he was the go-to guy. Now he’s working with someone who he knows is a challenge to him, both intellectually and just from a position of power.

“Of course, all that on-going tension between McKay and Carter is so much fun to play, and Amanda is great at that. We look for moments where our two characters hate what each other is saying, or hate someone’s reaction to it, or smile inappropriately, or whatever, and just run with it. One of my favorite moments so far from this season – and I don’t even know if it’s going to make it into the show – is when Sheppard is eyeing this sexy alien friend who has come to help us battle the Replicators, and McKay has this look of, ‘Hey, all right, get a look at her.’ Then he glances over at Carter and is embarrassed, so he gives her one of these, ‘It’s OK, you’re hot, too,’ looks. It’s those types of neat little double-takes that we get to do, and Amanda is so amazing at picking up on them. There’s this instant history that comes with McKay and Carter and we’ve been having such a good time playing with that.”

As if having Sam Carter around isn’t enough to unsettle McKay, he also has to deal with another visit from his sister Jeanie (played my Hewlett’s real-life sibling, actress Kate Hewlett). She first appeared last year in the episode McKay and Mrs. Miller and now this season she returns in Miller’s Crossing. “We’ve got Kate back, which I know is going to make a lot of fans happy,” enthuses Hewlett. “She had a terrific repartee with Steven Culp, who’s done a million things, but is probably best known for playing one of the husbands on Desperate Housewives. In this Atlantis episode he plays a wonderful villain who really isn’t a villain, but more of a guy who does all the wrong things for the right reasons.

“So Steven and Kate got on like a house on fire, and we all had a great time working on this episode. I think the hardest part was keeping a straight face. Kate, Stephen and I just lost it on numerous occasions, and we were doing really serious stuff, too,” he chuckles. “Jeanie is just a constant source of frustration for Rodney. There are some hysterical scenes where the two of them are trying to escape from a building, and it’s like watching a British comedy because they’re snapping back and forth at each other, arguing about the wrong things at the wrong time. Kate really is a pleasure to work with and I hope the writers decide to bring Jeanie back again because she’s such a fun character.”

Listening to the energy in Hewlett’s voice, he obviously thinks highly of Atlantis’ fourth season and hopes fans respond in kind. “For Joe Mallozzi and Paul Mullie [writers/executive producers and the new show runners for Atlantis this year] this is kind of like their season one,” says the actor. “This is when they get to really spread their wings and they’re being very smart about it. Joe and Paul are eager to make their mark, but they also are very respectful of what’s been established.  I think the first half of this season rocks and I can’t wait to see what they do with the second half.”

Steve Eramo

Sci-Fi Blast From The Past - Battlestar Galactica's Jamie Bamber

I finally have a bit of a breather and some time to get back to posting Sci-Fi Blasts From The Past. Again, these are interviews that previously appeared in print only and never on-line. Today, the wonderfully talented and all-around nice guy Jamie Bamber chats about seasons three and four of Battlestar Galactica as well as the 2007 made-for-TV movie Battlestar Galactica: Razor. Enjoy!

Son, brother, husband, ace pilot, fighter, unrequited lover, best friend, sworn enemy – Major Lee “Apollo” Adama has worn many hats during the time that audiences have known him on Battlestar Galactica. At one point he even captained his own ship, the Pegasus, but most of the subsequent struggles that he faced while in that position were left to viewers’ imaginations when the series jumped ahead in time a year at the end of season two. However, in the recently aired two-hour TV film Battlestar Galactica: Razor, the actor behind the officer, Jamie Bamber, relished the opportunity to explore the challenges of Apollo’s first mission as the new commander of the Pegasus.

“It’s funny, I remember one of the more pivotal moments for me in playing Lee is when the character puts on his father’s [Admiral William Adama, played by Edward James Olmos] ‘work clothes’ so to speak and takes the helm of the Pegasus during the episode Captain’s Hand, which we shot back in season two,” says Bamber. “It was one of those crazy moments where I really did feel like the Lee character, who’s experiencing that goose bumps all over type of thing where he’s becoming like his dad. As we know, Lee’s father has always been this rather difficult figure in his life who he’s kind of envied, looked up to, admired, worshipped, and also had a great many problems with. Here’s a man who Lee didn’t really understand and who he felt was disconnected from his own upbringing and life.

“To then get the chance during Razor to flesh out that process of Lee gradually assuming command was fun as well as very interesting for me. It was such a quick thing when we shot it as part of the [second] season, so it was nice to take a bit of time to really look at just how different Pegasus was from the Galactica and what that meant for Lee, especially with him trying to get that crew onboard insofar as how he wants to run things. To that end, in Razor there’s this very significant new character called Kendra Shaw [Stephanie Jacobsen] who represents the old Pegasus and who has to be won over. That’s largely what the story is about for Lee, the gaining the respect if you will of a crew that’s had its own leaders fall and get questioned by those aboard the Galactica.”

Recently released on DVD, Razor is considered a prequel to Galactica’s fourth season, which is currently scheduled to begin in Spring 2008. The movie’s extended two-hour format was one Bamber appreciated when it came to telling a story. “All of us in the Galactica family have always nurtured a not-so-secret passion to try to make a movie out of this series,” reveals the actor. “It’s just that there are so many things with a week-in, week-out one-hour drama that you have to compromise on not only budget-wise, but also terms of storyline and how much you can fit into 44 minutes of a narrative.

“With Razor it was great to be able to tell a longer story and have a bit more money to do it with as well. It was a huge script in its ambition, and to go back before the [Galactica] miniseries, before the very shot we ever did for the show, and then right the way through to the back end of season two was a terrific idea. I just thought it was a very worthy endeavor and a good way to bring in new audience members to Battlestar before a fourth season aired. As for me, when I read the script I got really excited and to a great extent it invigorated me once again to start another year of the show,” he enthuses.

In the third season Galactica episode The Son Also Rises, Apollo goes against his father’s wishes and announces his plans to help defend Gaius Baltar (James Callis), who is on trial for betraying the human race to the Cylons. When his legal tactics put him at odds with Admiral Adama as well as President Roslin (Mary McDonnell), he resigns his military commission and becomes a civilian. At the end of last year’s finale, Crossroads: Part 2, Apollo unofficially returns to duty and mans a Viper when the Galactica and the civilian fleet are attacked by the Cylons. However, that does not necessarily mean it is back to business as usual for our hero in season four.

“I’ve said something like this every year, and I suppose it’s something innate to my character, but he’s always looking for new challenges and wants to stretch himself and try to contribute to those around him,” notes Bamber. “I think Baltar’s trial has changed Apollo totally. Not only was there the experience of re-engaging with the figure of his [deceased] grandfather – this legal champion of human rights – but also having to examine the Baltar question and to accept that to every angle there’s an opposite one, and that justice is more than just a power shared by Roslin and Adama.

“That’s really the change that sort of fuels Lee in season four, “continues the actor. “He’s had a front row seat to all this. It was a big decision that the fleet made, and a big decision made by these two people. Baltar was hung to dry, yes, because his presidency was a failure, but also because he’s not one of these two people and isn’t in their clique as it were. Suddenly, reality dawns in Apollo that many, many people in this fleet live in fear because they are completely without knowledge of what’s [really] going on, where they’re going, or why they’re going where they’re going and how scary and nihilistic that existence must be for them.

“So all that catapults me into a new direction with Apollo in season four that I can’t really talk to you too much about except to say that, again, it fuels a new side of him. It means he butts heads with characters that he wouldn’t have previously butted heads with, and also finds himself in line with other characters that he wouldn’t have been in line with before either. There’s a new ambitious side as well to the character which I find interesting.”

One of the story arcs this year on Galactica that will surely impact all the characters, including Lee Adama, involves the four out of five remaining human-form Cylons, the identities of whom were revealed at the end of season three. “Of the four actors whose characters turned out to be Cylons, Michael Hogan [Colonel Tigh] and Aaron Douglas [Chief Tyrol], who are longstanding members of the cast, were initially shocked and angry,” says Bamber. “They felt a sense of betrayal by the writers that they’d been portraying all this stuff which in their eyes was now nothing but empty lies.

“I think Michael Trucco [Sam Anders] and Rekha Sharma [Tory Foster] were more excited because their characters had been slightly more on the margins of the show, and this was a real indication that they’d be at the core of where the series was going, which is true. And that gradually became the opinion, too, of Michael and Aaron, who have had some amazing stuff to do this season. We all love to play double agents, but how much more interesting it is when a double agent is kind of a Manchurian candidate who doesn’t know their own nature, and you [the actor] gladly finds out it’s a really heady mix."

With Galactica’s upcoming fourth season being its final one, what does Bamber feel the show’s legacy will be when future audiences come to look back on it? “I think people will regard it as groundbreaking television in every way,” he muses, “including how it’s filmed, the way we use multiple and very free-ranging cameras, and the shape of the show insofar as telling one epic story, because it is an epic. Galactica is more akin to Homer’s Odyssey that it is to Desperate Housewives or anything else on TV right now.

“It is a quest and a creation story. It’s a genesis, or Exodus, basically. It’s the book of Exodus in the bible. These are old archetypal type of stories that we are messing with, and I haven’t seen that on TV for a very long time, going back to the origins of story itself and where stories comes from and explaining the birth of societies and civilizations. That’s what’s groundbreaking; we’re doing something very old-fashioned and simple, but something that maybe television has forgotten how to do, or never knew how to do. So I would hope that Battlestar just lives on as a really good old-fashioned story that will be enjoyed by future generations because it is complete.”

Steve Eramo

Live Doctor Who Event in January 2020

Live Doctor Who event hits cinemas nationwide January 5th only, featuring two episodes of Season 12 and Q&A With Jodie Whittaker. Tickets on sale now. More info below:

WHAT: After travelling through time and space, the TARDIS is returning to movie theaters nationwide for a special one-day-only appearance. On January 5, Whovians across the nation can gather at their local cinema to see the Doctor Who Season 12 premiere episode, followed by an exclusive early unveiling of the new season’s second episode. 

After the feature content, for the first time ever, audiences will be treated to a live Q&A with Thirteenth and current Doctor Jodie Whittaker and companions Tosin Cole and Mandip Gill. This exclusive fan experience will be transmitted live from The Paley Center in New York to big screens across the country.

WHO: Fathom Events and BBC Studios

WHEN: Sunday, January 5, 2020 at 2:00 p.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. CT / 12:00 p.m. MT / 11:00 a.m. PT.

WHERE: Tickets for “Doctor Who Live Q&A and Screening” can be purchased at www.FathomEvents.com or participating theater box offices. Fans throughout the U.S. will be able to enjoy the event in more than 600 select movie theaters through Fathom’s Digital Broadcast Network (DBN). For a complete list of theater locations visit the Fathom Events website (theaters and participants are subject to change).

Color Out Of Space Coming In January

Theresa (Joely Richardson) and Nathan (Nicolas Cage) in Color Out of Space. Photo courtesy/copyright of RLJE Films.

After a meteorite lands in the front yard of their farm, Nathan Gardner (Nicolas Cage) and his family find themselves battling a mutant extraterrestrial organism as it infects their minds and bodies, transforming their quiet rural life into a technicolor nightmare. RLJE Films will release the Sci-Fi / Horror film, Color Out of Space only in theaters on January 24, 2020. Check out the trailer:

Color Out of Space is based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story and stars Nicolas Cage (Mandy, Mom and Dad), Joely Richardson (The Patriot, Nip/Tuck), Tommy Chong (Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie), Madeleine Arthur (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, The Family), Brendan Meyer (The OA, The Guest),Julian Hilliard (The Haunting of Hill House, The Conjuring 3), Elliot Knight (American Gothic, Once Upon a Time), with Q'orianka Kilcher (The New World, Dora and the Lost City of Gold). The film is directed by Richard Stanley (The Island of Dr. Moreau, Hardware) who co-wrote the screenplay with Scarlett Amaris (Replace, The Theatre Bizarre) and is produced by SpectreVision’s Daniel Noah (Mandy, Daniel Isn’t Real), Josh Waller (Mandy, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night), Lisa Whalen (Mandy, Daniel Isn’t Real) and Elijah Wood (Mandy, Daniel Isn’t Real).