Luciana Carro Interview
By: Mike Egnor
Date: January 9th, 2007
Source: Galactica.tv

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with LUCIANA CARRO where she mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

Like several other actors from Battlestar Galactica, you did work on The L-Word.

Yes. Who else worked on The L-Word?

Tahmoh Penikett…

Oh really, I didn’t know that.

and I think Aaron Douglas…

I didn’t know that

Did you know any of the cast of Battlestar Galactica before you worked on that show?

I knew Kandyse McClure, Grace Park, Nicki Clyne, Aaron Douglas, and that’s it. I knew them just from the acting scene in Vancouver.

I see. It’s a smaller city, Vancouver, and a lot of people work together and study together?

Yeah, and you see each other at auditions all the time, and at industry parties…Aaron Douglas actually used to be a reader back in the day – he’s the person who reads at the auditions, the other lines – so I actually met him when I would go in to do auditions, he’d be the reader, so that’s actually how I met Aaron.

Ryan Robbins Interview
By: Linda Craddock
Date: December 20, 2006
Source: The SciFi World

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with RYAN ROBBINS where he mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

“Battlestar Galactica” is one of the most popular sci-fi series on television. Tell us a little about the chemistry among cast/crew members.

Gladly, I’ll tell you it is such a great show to work on, its just such a great atmosphere. You know, I’ve never been on a show where the actors care so much about the show and the characters and the dynamics between everybody is really amazing. You know when we get scripts everybody is eager to read the script to find out what’s going on, not just with their own character but they want to find out what’s going on with everybody else, its really fun. Scripts come and people are reading scripts “Oh my God, can you believe this is really happening”, this is really crazy. Everybody talks about it, everybody has a lot of input and really, really cares about it, the cast and the crew. The attention to details and the caring that goes on is incredible. And it’s, you know Edward James Oleos, I unfortunately don’t get a chance to work directly with him, but I do get to know him and I see him a lot at work and he is such a great guy, he is like the father figure to everyone, he legitimately care for everybody as does Mary as does the entire cast. A lot of cast has become close friends, you know. A lot of children have been born in the last few seasons. People actually hang out. You know you got to a lot of shows where cast members don’t hang out afterwards, they’re just kinda of happy to get rid of each other.

Yes, I’ve heard.

But on Battlestar Galactica, Aaron Douglas is one of my close, close friends and has been since before the show, Jamie Bamber, our daughters are close in age so they spend time together and James Callis’ children is close the age of my child and we have all gotten to know each other quite well. I’m just happy to be a part of it even at the level of a supporting role, you know. I am just actually, I’m going to meet Michael Trucco for coffee after we finish this conversation.

Have you attended any sci-fi conventions since your work with both Atlantis and Galactica?

I haven’t, you know. I hear about them all the time, but to be honest with you I haven’t been invited to one. I’ve been to one in Las Vegas with Aaron Douglas who as I said is one of my very, very close friends. I just went because we were together in Las Vegas together for his birthday so he had an appearance for that convention so I went and checked it out and it was so much fun, but no I haven’t done them yet. I get talked to a lot about it, just having done Atlantis and “Blade” and of course “Battlestar Galactica”. No they haven’t come my way yet. I’d be interested to do one, if the opportunity arose.

Saving Grace
By: Matt Chapman
Date: June / July 2006
Source: Battlestar Galactica: The Official Magazine (#5)

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with GRACE PARK where she mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL.

TWO TO TANGO

Multiple versions of the Sharon Valerii Cylon allow Park to play out more than one inter-crew relationship. As well as her parenthood with Helo, season one viewers were used to seeing the other Sharon and Chief Tyrol (Aaron Douglas) secretly being an item. So how does she handle the two onscreen men in her life?

“They’re both quite different and they come from a different school of acting as well. I couldn’t say exactly what Aaron subscribes to but I feel that he has a lot of improv in his style. He can be joking about playing cards or beer or hockey scores right up to shooting. So that requires me to have a bit more focus. But Aaron’S just so real and he totally brings himself and absolutely embodies his character and I think he really enjoys him,” she reveals.

“Tahmoh and I went to one of the same acting schools and so we can relate to each other on different levels or use different techniques. Or if I’m totally lost or he’s lost there’s a lot less embarrassment about not really getting the scene. I’ll just put it out to him like. ‘Tahmoh I don’t know what’s happening right now.’ He just laughs at me and says ‘Oh, it’s so funny watching your process.’ He says that I always question it halfway through as we’re taping it, then finally come around and get what I was resisting the whole time. So I feel I can relate a little bit more to Tahmoh.”

“And walking into a scene with Aaron, he’ll definietly be switching some of the lines. Tahmoh and I will try to as well, but Aaron will just come right in and say, ‘I’m not going to say any of this. He would never do this.’ You know, it’s scripted that he has a breakdown. ‘No.'”

Paul Campbell Interview
By: Interview & transcript by NetRanger (Kenn) for The Scifi World & BSGTNS.com (Media Blvd)
Date: April 12, 2006
Source: The SciFi World

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with PAUL CAMPBELL where he mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

We had some questions come in from people that read the message board, and one of them was from Aaron Douglas. (Editor’s note: The question was actually from an earlier interview with TheSciFiWorld.net). He said that we should ask you about the names that Paul and Aaron made up for the race horses that Mary took her husband to see.

I was thinking about that the other day. We had this ridiculous…Did he give you any names?

No, but he said you were all laughing so hard that you ruined take after take.

Absolutely, and once you get Mary on a roll, once you get her giggling, she will not stop. So we had a field day. We were shooting Home Pt. 2, and Mary was talking about taking her husband to the horse races and just randomly picking names. And we were talking about if you were just randomly picking names having no knowledge of the horses, what names you might choose. It would be like Lighting Steed, and Farts Dust, and choosing between the two. Or Beaten by A Nose, and A Nose for silly horse names. Three legged old man, and Guaranteed to Win. But for some reason it just struck us as incredibly silly, and we must have gone on for two or three hours, and we had hundreds of names. I think Mary laugher her way thru about 50% of those takes.

So what are your best memories about working on the show?

Just silly things like the day with Douglas joking about the horses. And just being able to watch people like Mary and Eddie do their stuff…You can’t pay for classes like that. It’s just a truly unique experience. And there are also a lot of times I was really challenged as an actor and got work with some wonderful directors. Eddie in particular was just unbelievable to work with as a director. One of my favorite episodes was the one he directed. And just being able to be silly. You don’t see it a lot in what they end up using of me, but I was able to be incredibly silly. It was just such a treat to be able to go to work every single day. It was kind of a really difficult decision to leave the show in the end.

Adorably Dangerous: An Interview with Nicki Clyne
By: Michael Ricci (aka aeolus)
Date: March 17, 2006
Source: Sci-Fi Brain

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with NICKI CLYNE where she mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

At the end of season one and the beginning of season two, Cally and a group of deck technicians—including Chief Tyrol and Dr. Gauis Baltar—were trapped on the mythical home of the Human race, Kobol. In constant pursuit by Cylon centurions, the lines of life and death were never so apparent. “I think with what she had been through on Kobol [it] was really traumatizing, and I think she was still in a state of shock, because when your reality is invaded by something you thought totally [seemed] threatening to your life and to your world, it shakes you. Like the things you thought were important might change.” Nicki said believing those to be the deeper motivations behind her character’s reasoning for killing Galactica Boomer. “I think Boomer represented all the things that were wrong for her at that time, including her relationship with Tyrol. So, I think she just saw Boomer as this symbol of what was wrong for her at the time. She couldn’t see any other way to deal with it.”

What came after was just as equally perplexing. In the episode, The Farm, Tyrol distanced himself from Cally, yet still pleaded with Commander Adama to show leniency. Adama sentenced Cally to thirty days in the brig for misuse of a firearm, though seemed saddened at the death of Valerii.

Clyne’s character was absent in the following three episodes. But, in that time, the actress believes Cally’s character took deep reflection on what transpired. Whether or not she actually felt guilty about killing Tyrol’s lover remains to be seen. “That is a tough one, and I think about that a lot, because I don’t think it is right to kill anything. I don’t think it can ever be a positive feeling. At the time, she felt like there was no other way, and that was her only option, but I am sure upon reflection in the brig, or when she got back to work, that she saw how it affected Tyrol. That she, she shows a lot of wondering. There is actually a scene that got cut, but she finally approaches the Chief, when she is finally sick of him ignoring her, after she has gotten out of jail, she says, ‘If I had a chance, I would do it all over again.’ “

Crewman Cally’s strong affections for Chief Tyrol have never been overtly subtle. Whenever someone badmouthed him, she was the first to jump to his defense. Nicki felt that their eventual coming together was beneficial for her character’s development. “I think it made a lot of sense for my character,” a pause came, “I think that Cally has been in love with the Chief from the beginning and looks up to him so much, because he is such a wonderful person and always has [been]. Not only that, they have shared such a traumatic experience and that they have gone through so much together, the bond they have is so strong. And, I think it makes sense.”

Easy relationships, just like in real life, aren’t common in the world of Battlestar Galactica. In the episode, Lay Down Your Burdens, Part One, Chief Tyrol has a violent nightmare and takes out his repressed anger on Cally when awoken by her. It was so graphic, that for the first time, the show had a parental advisory for younger audiences. When asked about the scene, Nicki took it in equal parts seriousness and hilarity…

“It was difficult for people to watch. Even when we were filming it and it was difficult to do. Not only physically, but I had to make it look real. Actually, Aaron (Douglas–Chief Tyrol) actually punched me in the face!” She chuckled as she continued on, “And, it’s really difficult, but the funny part about it is that he and I were trying to be brave, but whenever you get knocked in the face I think the instinct is to start crying. I was laughing at the same time, trying to persuade everyone that I was fine, but there were tears streaming down my face. And, Aaron was all, ‘But it wasn’t me.’ I was like, ‘Ok, ok, I am not blaming you, I know it was an accident, but I don’t think I punched myself in the face.’ He felt terrible about it happening. It was fine. Luckily, I didn’t get a bruise and slow everything up.”

“But it was difficult and I am trying to block the punches and then my own hand was going into the whole scene and realizing what he had done. It was pretty emotional.”

When asked about her professional relationship with Aaron Douglas, she said they shared a great friendship that translated well on and off screen.

“With Aaron? Absolutely! Mostly because we work together, I think he is a great actor. He is really a generous person. Really fun to work with!” Nicki continued by saying she didn’t have a favorite actor to work with, but Aaron was the one she worked with the most. “I wouldn’t say I have a favorite to work with, because everyone is so different. He is definitely the one I work with the most, so I know him the best. We have a great time together, but I think everyone on the show is so great and has something to offer that I really appreciate.”

“When I got to work with Eddie (Edward James Olmos—Admiral Adama) [it] is really amazing. When I had this scene with James Callis, who plays Baltar, it was great! Because, I think he is such an amazing actor and loves his character.”

Which was yet another groundbreaking scene for the mousy character. After Dr. Baltar shot Crashdown, a crazed Lieutenant in the episode, Fragged, Cally threatens the not-so-good Doctor by exposing him if he doesn’t help clear Chief Tyrol’s name as a Cylon supporter. Even though it was an act that saved Cally’s life, she still blackmailed Baltar into doing what she wanted.

“They really are terrible people,” Nicki joked about her co-stars. “No! I think this is the most amazing cast that anyone could have…they are so nice and friendly. Funny, great to be around! It’s interesting, because we often just spend time with the same people and there are some people with the show, which I barely work with, which is unfortunate, because I think everyone is so great…I mean, Aaron and I work together all the time, so obviously we have a really close relationship and always play jokes on each other and gang up on the other people. We try and make it as fun as possible. We try and have a good time together.”

IGN Interviews Grace Park
We talk one-on-one with Battlestar Galactica’s Sharon “Boomer” Valerii.
By: Eric Goldman
Date: March 10, 2006
Source: IGN FilmForce

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with GRACE PARK where she mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

Is it fun having two different love interests on the show?

Hell yeah! It’s like, “Oh, who am I making out with today?!” Tahmoh [Tahmoh Penikett, “Helo”] calls me the Cylon hussy. And Aaron [Aaron Douglas, “Chief Tyrol”] just calls me the Cylon slut.

Well, you’re not really a Cylon slut. You’re two different people!

I know! It sounds so nerdy when I do that, but I’m like, “Aaron! Two f***ing different people! Get it!” But I’m like, “I sound ridiculous right now. Just walk away from him! Walk away.” But a part of me is like, “They’re two different people!” My friend makes fun of me, because when I get adamant about it, she says, “You’re crazy, you know that?”

When you found out the first Sharon on Galactica was dying, was it sad to say goodbye to that character? Did you know she was coming back?

Oh, I had no idea she was going to come back! I thought it was totally sad. I was actually so much more sad when I watched how they edited it and it seemed like you didn’t get much of Aaron’s reaction. You didn’t get much of Tyrol’s reaction, so it seemed quite short. And because you didn’t get to see much of his grieving process, it was sort of an abrupt death. And then the next thing you know, she’s in the morgue and people kind of forget to grieve for her. You know, somewhere in your mind you sort of make the connection that she is dead, without grieving for her.

Richard Hatch’s December 2005 Newsletter
By: Richard Hatch
Date: December 23, 2005
Source: BattlestarGalactica.COM

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with RICHARD HATCH where he mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

For those of you in England thanks for turning out to see the first Battlestar classic reunion convention in Birmingham this past Sept. It was so much fun to see the entire cast again and even Aaron Douglas from the new series showed up to support us. He was a big fan in his youth and has always been supported of the original BG series. Thanks Aaron, your heart and comedic talents lifted all of us attending in England. Aaron is a natural comedian by the way. One of the funniest actors I’ve ever met and is a hoot at conventions. Don’t miss seeing him when he appears at a convention near you.

Double Trouble
By: Bryan Cairns
Date: October 2005
Source: Dreamwatch (#133)

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with GRACE PARK where she mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click on the thumbnail image below.

Since Park’s two roles on Battlestar Galactica have required her to become sexually involved with Helo and Tyrol, the actress acknowledges that she could be giving Gaius a run as the show’s most promiscuous character.

“I guess I am the Cylon slut” laughs Park. “Aaron [Douglas, Tyrol] loves to call me that. He just glares at me and walks away. It is like ‘Dude! That is the other Sharon!’ He doesn’t care. He gets all possessive, which is cute.”

[click thumbnail to enlarge]

Space Invaders
By: Ileane Rudolph
Date: March 20-26, 2005
Source: TV Guide

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with GRACE PARK where he mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL.

There’s one particular benefit gained with her double roles, says Grace Park. “I get two love interests,” brags the portrayer of pilot Sharon “Boomer” Valerii … Do the guys give her a hard time about her extracurricular double-dipping? They’re male, whaddya think? “Aaron Douglas (Chief Petty Officer Tyrol) will get all hurt and betrayed,” she says with a laugh. “Seriously. When I’m with Tahmoh Penikett (Karl “Helo” Agathon), Aaron looks at me from the corner of his eyes and says things I probably shouldn’t say, like, ‘Two-timing bitch!'” Not surprisingly, the two actors have pressed Park to compare their kissing skills. “Aaron asked me after an interview about that,” she recalls. “I said, ‘I told them that you’re a great kisser! The best kisser, better than anyone I know.'” True? The girl ain’t talking.

Richard Hatch Interview
Richard Hatch Talks About The New Galactica And The Genesis Of His Involvement
By: Robert Falconer (HNR Senior Editor)
Date: April 18, 2004
Source: Hollywood North Report

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with RICHARD HATCH where AARON DOUGLAS asks him some questions. . To read the full interview, click HERE.

Robert Falconer: You mentioned Chief Tyrol previously in our conversation. Aaron Douglas, the actor who portrays him, is a big fan of the original series, and was hoping you could answer a couple of questions for him.

I’d be happy to.

Aaron Douglas: First, Richard, I’d like to thank you for your work and all your efforts on behalf of Battlestar Galactica over the years. I think you know how much it means to the fans to have someone so available. And a personal thank you for entertaining me while I was growing up and finding my way…not an age shot, a fact!

Looking back, has your career path taken the form that you originally envisioned? I know we make the best choices we can with the knowledge available to us at the time, but looking back with 20/20 hindsight is there anything that you would have done differently? And how do you view your career ambitions now, compared to when you first began as an actor?

Thanks, Aaron, I appreciate that.

Very interesting questions. Looking back on my career with hindsight-which is often 15/20 or 10/10.often better than 20/20-and the choices I made and what I would have done differently, I would have to say that one of the hardest lessons I learned, was learning how to say “yes.”

People will tell you that you need to be discriminating about your choices as an actor, and I agree with that, but the problem in my case was that I was a very idealistic actor. I was always looking for something-and I know I’ve said this umpteen times before-that would be very meaningful and challenging for me as an actor, as opposed to playing the same old one-dimensional clichéd characters. But, metaphorically, it’s like looking for the perfect relationship. If you’re waiting for it to show up, it rarely does. The secret is to get out on the dance floor and start dancing, and then step by step you’ll probably meet the person you’ve been looking for all you life.

But if you don’t get out there and start the process of opening up to opportunities, you’ll never get to that opportunity you’re looking for. In my case, I was always waiting for the opportunity to do what I wanted to do. I was frustrated doing a lot of parts that, for me, didn’t turn out the way I wanted them to. I wanted roles that had depth and would challenge me as an actor. For example, when projects came to me after Battlestar Galactica , I started turning them down because I was waiting for something that would really, really touch me and have meaning to me.

And the lesson I learned was that the more projects I turned down, the more writers and producers I upset. They felt their projects were wonderful because they had put a lot of time and energy into them, and when they submit them to an actor and he says, “no,” they feel rejected the same way an actor does when he doesn’t get a job. Well, when I said “no” enough times, all of a sudden these people didn’t want to hire me anymore.

Aaron Douglas: I’ve really come to appreciate the devotion of the fans. Does it still surprise you how extremely dedicated they can be, and do you still appreciate that dedication after all these years?

Number one, I don’t think there are any fans in the world that are more dedicated than sci-fi/fantasy fans. The industry doesn’t really understand the depth to which fans love their stories and characters. Sci-fi fans all have their favorite stories and characters, and once they fall in love with a particular story or group of characters, they do so forever, and the actors who have been fortunate enough to be in such a beloved project have a family for life.

To be able to travel the world and have thousands of fans come out to see you, to support you, and to say thank you, it’s extraordinary. Let’s face it, when you’re an artist, one moment you’re up, one moment you’re down one moment everybody wants you, the next moment nobody wants you. But even if the industry may not be hot on your trail, the fans still look at you and remember your character with tremendous love and affection.

And you know, all actors are fans of somebody. Actors are often fans of movies and stars that they saw and loved. So even when you become famous, you can never forget the fact that the moment you meet someone that you grew up with in the movies, like George C. Scott, for example, you’re no longer Richard Hatch the star, you’re the star struck Richard Hatch. I’ve been on both sides of the equation numerous times.

Ron Moore’s Recipe for Season One
By: Farvoyager
Date: February 26, 2004
Source: Galactica2003.net / bgstns.com

Note: This is a snippet of an interview with RONALD D. MOORE where he mentions AARON DOUGLAS / CHIEF TYROL. To read the full interview, click HERE.

I know we talked about this the last time I interviewed you, but regarding the entire original cast at that time you said that everyone who was in the mini would be in the series, is that still the case?

Yep, its still the case

And Aaron Douglas will be returning as Tyrol?

Yeah, there were certain actors, and Aaron I believe is one of them, that we are in the midst of negotiating to bring back, because we didn’t have series options on everybody. There were some members of the cast that, for various reasons, some members had series options built into their original miniseries deals, others did not. And I believe Aaron is one that did not, but we are working our way through business affairs, and all this stuff, and the plan is definitely for Aaron to be in the show.

Oh that’s fantastic. I’m sure he’ll be happy to hear that, too.