Battlestar Galactica's Tahmoh Penikett. Photo copyright of SYFY.
In today's Sci-Fi Blast From the Past, I chat over breakfast with Battlestar Galactica's Tahmoh Penikett a.k.a. Captain Karl "Helo" Agathon.
It’s a sunny but chilly early autumn morning on the Vancouver set of Battlestar Galactica. Having arrived on the lot a few minutes ago, Tahmoh Penikett, who plays Captain Karl “Helo” Agathon, quickly grabs breakfast from the catering truck and heads for his trailer. The energetic – and hungry – actor still has plenty of time to eat before he’s needed in hair and make-up and then has to “suit up” as Helo prior to going to the set. Today is the first of an eight-day shoot on episode 14 of Galactica’s third season, A Day in the Life, and Penikett cannot wait to get started.
“I’ve been fortunate this year to once again work with [producer] Michael Rymer,” says Penikett. “He’s one of the principle directors on this show and one of my favorites, not to mention a very good friend. Before filming even began on season three of Galactica, he and I sat down to talk about the first few scripts along with the direction in which we wanted to take Helo. Since the miniseries and then during the past two-and-a-half years we’ve seen my character in several angst-driven situations that, of course, he often puts himself into because of his morals and choices.
“So more than anything with this episode that we’re just starting work on today, we wanted to sort of shy away from that ‘pattern’ with Helo in terms of him coming across as ‘whining’ or ‘complaining.’ In A Day in the Life he’s going against the crowd, which he did earlier this season in A Measure of Salvation. This time around, the entire Galactica crew basically believes in the integrity of this one individual, and Helo is given reason to doubt this. He’s following his intuition and he really believes something is not right, irregardless of the fact that all signs are telling him otherwise. My character even goes so far as to risk compromising his and Sharon’s [Grace Park] safety and their reintegration back into human society that they’ve fought so hard for. As a result, his wife even starts to question whether or not Helo is doing the right thing.
“This is a great episode,” enthuses the actor. “In some ways I’ve had to wait three years for it, and now that it’s finally here I’m the happiest guy around,” he says smiling.
At the end of Galactica’s second season, Helo was promoted to captain as well as the new XO (executive officer) aboard the Galactica when most of its crew chose to relocate to New Caprica. Only a year later, the Cylons invaded the colony and imposed martial law on the humans there. Outgunned, the Battlestars Galactica and Pegasus had little choice but to retreat. They returned, however, in the year three two-parter Exodus to rescue those they were forced to abandon.
“I’m a huge fan of the topics that are touched upon in the first couple of stories this [third] season,” notes Penikett, “but scene-wise you don’t see all that much of Helo. He’s present on the Galactica command deck with Admiral Adama [Edward James Olmos] and as the ship’s new XO my character has been given a great deal of responsibility. In his new position, he also has the opportunity to regain Adama’s trust and prove his worth to the admiral, considering all his past insubordination. So Helo is there as XO and plays an integral role in rescuing the colonists on New Caprica and participating in the battle. However, the story early on in year three focuses more on events on the planet with the insurgents’ battle against the Cylons and the escape plan.
“At the same time in these episodes you have Sharon being made an officer again, which is a proud moment for her and Helo. There’s a tender scene between the two of them where he tells Sharon how much the uniform and being an officer in the military means to him and how she’s been given that trust again.”
Although they come from two very different worlds, Helo, a human, and Sharon, a Cylon, have succeeded in making a life for themselves as a married couple onboard the Galactica. It took a while, but Sharon managed to gain the trust of the humans, including Admiral Adama, which resulted in him reinstating her as a Viper pilot. Unfortunately, the road ahead remains a rocky one for the star-crossed lovers.
“Helo and Sharon are still recovering from the ‘death’ of their child Hera,” says Penikett. “However, in the mid-season cliffhanger [The Eye of Jupiter] they find out that their little girl might, in fact, be alive, and naturally that rocks their entire world. Just as Sharon is starting to regain her trust in Adama and the rest of humankind, including her husband, she realizes she’s been lied to, and so has Helo.
“All this time my character has been telling her that, ‘We just have to fight to regain my peoples’ trust and in doing so they’ll prove themselves to us.’ Now all of a sudden Helo is left in some ways with his foot in his mouth when he finds out they’ve been deceived with regard to their child. The scene where he and Sharon are told this by Adama is so powerful and, I think, one of the many neat twists to the mid-year finale.”
Even after the New Caprica colonists are saved and returned to the Galactica, it’s far from smooth sailing ahead, as Penikett explains. “There’s a division amongst the crew and what’s left of the human race because everyone who was on the planet has come back with a somewhat holier than thou attitude. They’re like, ‘We had to deal with the occupation while you guys were safe and hiding for a year aboard the Galactica and the Pegasus.’ Colonel Tigh [Michael Hogan], for example, is still reeling from and dealing with the torture that he was put through. Starbuck [Katee Sackhoff] is in a similar situation, and even with her and Helo’s history as friends and being almost like brother and sister, there’s a tension between them.
“In Collaborators we see a small group of Galactica crewmembers who have taken it upon themselves to deal with those humans who collaborated with the Cylons during the occupation. The way they punish them is undeniably harsh, and there’s one character, in particular, who’s a series regular [Gaeta, played by Alessandro Juliani] and is dealt with in this way. Funnily enough, Helo can empathize and sympathize with him and others in that position because my character knows what it’s like to be on the outside and not be trusted and having to face animosity as well as prejudice from those around you."
As someone not afraid to stand up for his principles, Helo expresses his objections in the aforementioned A Measure of Salvation when Adama and President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell) consider using biological warfare to wipe out the Cylons. “As far as my character is concerned it’s absolutely hypocritical to try to do to them what they did to humanity,” says Penikett. “It’s genocide, which he doesn’t agree with, not only because his wife is a Cylon and they have a human/Cylon child, but that he’s also seen that some Cylons can be trusted. If nothing else, they were created by humanity and for us to exterminate them would be a crime against our own race.
“This is a huge episode for the series and I had a major scene where Helo is debating Adama and President Roslin on the whole genocide issue. It was an amazing opportunity for me. I’ve had a number of chances to act opposite Eddie this season, and to do it with Mary McDonnell was equally as rewarding. What an incredible learning experience for me, but that’s been true of my entire time so far on Galactica.”
Looking back at the 2003 Galactica miniseries, Penikett’s character has grown by leaps and bounds since he first gave up his place on a Raptor to Gaius Baltar (James Callis) and remained behind on the Cylon-occupied Caprica. “The program’s writers have done a fantastic job of showing how Helo has been thrust into adulthood and become a man who is set in his moral values and knows the difference between right and wrong,” says the actor. “He truly has come into his own and established himself as a very capable individual who, quite possibly, could one day become a leader.”
As his Galactica character has grown and developed over the past three years, so has Penikett as an actor. “It’s impossible not to further hone your skills when you’re working with a talented ensemble cast as well as brilliant writers and helping to tell an incredible story that explores such current and touchy social, political and religious issues,” he says.
“If anything I’ve learnt on this show to raise the bar to as high a standard as possible. Again, you can’t act with a capable group of actors like this and not be on your game. Everyone here is passionate about the quality of his or her work and we take our characters very seriously.
“During my time on this series I’ve hopefully become that much better at what I do. I’m definitely not as green as I used to be. We’re filming 20 episodes a year now, which means more time on-set and watching seasoned pros like Eddie Olmos, Mary McDonnell and Michael Hogan do their thing. Talk about an eye-opener. They’ve taught me to be more focused and present as an actor, and that allows me to enjoy the creative process even more.”
Steve Eramo
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