BATTLESTAR GALACTICA NEWS
Olmos and McDonnell describe sci-fi parallels

Saturday - January 20, 2007 | by Livi Dolgin

Battlestar Galactica stars Edward James Olmos ("William Adama") and Mary McDonnell ("Laura Roslin") discuss how art imitates life after September 11, 2001, in a new interview with Backstage.com.

Although neither actor had seen the original 1970s Galactica series, they signed on when given a gritty script of intense drama and allegory. Knowing that the other had signed on made the project more appealing.

Overcoming his qualms about space opera, Olmos realized, "We went into this with a 9/11 perspective and mindset."

"There had to be somebody opposite me who allowed me to be interested in them on every level in order to have this relationship and these power plays that go on," McDonnell said of her co-star.

Olmos thinks that "the human drama is so intense that you're just sucked into the story. This one, it's even more poignant than that because the stakes are so much higher. I've never seen a show like this in my life, ever."

That admiration of the concept is echoed by McDonnell. "The apocalyptic nature of the situation got into my dreams," she told the site. "I had a very hard time. I went to therapy a little bit and just did a little bit of work on it to figure out how to let her get stronger while I got further away from her."

Battlestar Galactica moves to Sunday nights on January 21, when the network will resume Season Three. Read the rest of the interview at Backstage.com!

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