Chief Among Men
By: David Bassom
Date: December 2005
Source: Dreamwatch #136

 

 

 

 

 

Season two of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA has seen Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol facing betrayal, pain and loss – and actor AARON DOUGLAS couldn’t be happier.

 

Aaron Douglas has absolutely no complaints about where Battlestar Galactica is taking his character in the second season of its quest for Earth. “For me personally, it seems like the longer the show goes on, the more really cool stuff I get to do,” explains Douglas, who plays the Battlestar’s resident engineering wizard, Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol. “In the mini-series, Tyrol was a really small, ancillary character. He originally had about 15 lines in the script and was just supposed to be this guy in the background who brought some life to the ship. But [writer/executive producer] Ron Moore liked what I did with the character in the mini-series and started to write more for Tyrol, and he found him interesting to write in the sense that he was a blue-collar worker/everyman type character. I think that had a lot to do with Tyrol growing into a much larger role.”

“During the course of season one and now this year, I’ve grown to feel vital to the show,” he notes. “I really wasn’t sure what was going to happen to Tyrol after season one, but season two has just been a wonderful experience for me. They just keep writing more and more really great stuff for me to do. I’ve had a few episodes where it’s been the Tyrol story, and I really feel valued and appreciated by Ron and David [Eick, executive Producer].”

“Having said that,” he adds playfully, “now watch me get killed at the end of the season!”

Dressed in casual civvies and sporting a decidedly un-Tyrol-like small earring on his left ear, the cool, relaxed and extremely likeable Douglas really isn’t kidding about his character’s contribution to Battlestar Galactica’s second season. Picking up from season one’s cliff-hanger ending, the opening episodes of season two have seen Tyrol fighting for his life on the planet Kobol and facing accusations of being an undercover Cylon agent just like his former ‘secret’ lover, Lieutenant Sharon ‘Boomer’ Valerii (Grace Park). As the season has developed, Tyrol has also been forced to face the deaths of several people close to him and has struggled to come to terms with the arrival of a second Cylon Sharon and her lover, Lieutenant Karl ‘Helo’ Agathon (Tahmoh Penikett).

“I’ve definitely taken a much more active role in the storylines this year,” reports Douglas. “The first three episodes were really action packed for me. I was just running around and getting shot at and shooting back! They were my chance to do Saving Private Ryan. And then when Tyrol got back to the ship, I got to do some great scenes with Michael Hogan where Colonel Tigh suspects me of being a Cylon. It was very cool to do that because I think Michael is one of the best actors on the show – he’s a fantastic actor and a great guy.”

“Tyrol’s relationship with Sharon has been interesting this season,” he continues. “I was fully behind Ron’s decision for Tyrol to split up with Sharon, as I knew that would give us a lot to play with. So at the start of season two, Tyrol is pulled out of his denial about Sharon being a Cylon and he’s shocked to find out about her attempt to kill Adama. I had a really cool scene with Eddie [James Olmos], where Commander Adama talks to Tyrol about his relationship with Sharon and asks Tyrol if he could really love a machine. That was fun to play.”

“It’s also been interesting to explore Tyrol’s feeling towards Helo when he returns to the Galactica. Tyrol’s nose is put out of joint and it makes him angry, although he doesn’t really know what he’s mad at.”

After playing a key role in several second season episodes, Tyrol takes center stage in the season’s ninth instalment, Flight of the Phoenix. Written by the show’s executive story editors, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, Flight of the Phoenix follows Tyrol as he attempts to build a new ship from scratch.

“Episode nine is basically the Tyrol Show,” says Douglas with a grin, “Tyrol goes a little mad and crawls into the hangar deck one night and starts building a ship! It’s very cool.”

“Bradley and David write the best stuff for me. Those guys are unbelievable. I worked for six of the eight [shooting] days on that episode, and I got really immersed in it. And Michael Nankin, who directed the episode, shot it in sequence, which was great.”

The US Sci Fi Channel’s premiere of Battlestar Galactica’s second season went on hiatus in September following the broadcast of its 10th episode, Pegasus. The remaining 10 episodes of the season are in production at Canada’s Vancouver Film Studios, and will debut during the opening months of 2006. With shooting set to wrap in December, Douglas is excited as the show’s viewers about learning what the rest of the season holds for Tyrol and his crewmates.

“I don’t really know a lot about what’s coming up in future episodes,” he states. “David Eick has told me a few little things, but I generally find out things for the first time when I get the script for a new episode.”

“I think people are going to be surprised by where the Pegasus storyline is going,” he says of the Pegasus/Resurrection Ship two-parter, which reworks the popular original series adventure The Living Legend. “I’ve been blown away by how everyone has been geeked up by episodes 10 and 11, and I know the producers have some interesting plans for the Pegasus. I don’t think the ship’s necessarily going to go away at the end of episode 11.”

Douglas’ work on Battlestar Galactica represents the highpoint of a busy acting career that began just five years ago. A native of New Westminster, Vancouver, Douglas first tried his hand at various occupations ranging from salesman and marketing officer to sports nutrition rep, before deciding to focus on a career in acting. After studying at the William Davis Center for Actors in Vancouver (an education he funded by working as a waiter between lessons), Douglas quickly started to crop up in such local film and TV productions as Taken, Smallville, X-Men, Stargate SG-1 and Dark Angel. More recently, the popular character actor has also played brief supporting roles in the likes of I, Robot, The Chronicles of Riddick, Catwoman, White Noise and The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Douglas first became involved with Battlestar Galactica in 2001, when the show was set to be revived by X-Men director Bryan Singer and Tom DeSanto. As a childhood fan of the original series, Douglas quickly made it known that he wanted to be a part of Singer’s planned continuation TV movie.

“A casting director I know was in negotiations to do the continuation,” recalls Douglas. “I told that casting director, ‘Look, I have to be on that show! I will work for you for free for a year! I’ll do anything. I’ll be a Cylon metal toaster!’ I really wanted to be a part of it, because I was a fan of the original show. But I never heard anything after that, because that project just went away.”

Nearly a year after the cancellation of Singer’s TV movie, Douglas got a second chance at working on Battlestar Galactica when Moore’s mini-series remake entered pre-production. Douglas’ initial audition for the role of Captain Lee ‘Apollo’ Adama brought him to the attention of Director Michael Rymer, who invited him to read for the part of Lieutenant Gaeta and then Chief Tyrol. Although Tyrol was initially meant to be significantly older than Douglas, the role was reworked to suit him.

Since signing up for the Battlestar Galactica mini-series and its subsequent weekly series, Douglas has been allowed to develop Tyrol into a tough, first-class engineer whose gruff exterior hides a heart of gold. “Tyrol is, first and foremost, a mechanic who really loves his job,” notes Douglas. “He always wants to do a good job and make everyone proud. He has a bond with his guys, the Deck Gang, but he also maintains a distance between himself and them because when you are in charge of a group you need that distance.”

“Tyrol is like the dad of the Deck Gang, and I’m like the dad of those actors in real life,” he adds. “We’re all friends in real life and I think you can see the affection between us on screen.”

As Chief Tyrol is an entirely new addition to the Battlestar Galactica franchise, Douglas has been spared a lot of the controversy surround Universal’s decision to commission a remake of the show rather than a continuation. However, he’s fully aware of how some fans of the original series have objected to the dark, reality-driven reinvention of the once grandiose, fantasy-orientated sci-fi franchise.

“That still pops up every now and again,” he reveals. “I occasionally get people coming up to me pissed off that Starbuck is now a woman or complaining about some other change, and I always go, ‘Well, I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do about that. If you don’t like it, change the channel – or go for a walk.”

“The thing is, you shouldn’t really compare the two shows, They’re both great for different reasons. The original show has such a magical, wonderful appeal, but it couldn’t do a lot of things we can do in the new show, Our effects are better and the original show had that usual, larger-than-life sci-fi genre acting, whereas we don’t do that. The new show is really well written, well produced and well acted.”

“When season one started, I remember thinking to myself that if I wasn’t in the show, I would watch it. And I’ve gotta say, I think season two is even better than season one. It’s fantastic.”

With the bulk of his work on season two nearly complete, Aaron Douglas is clearly enjoying every moment of his time aboard Battlestar Galactica. And he hopes that Chief Tyrol survives the Cylons’ pursuit of humankind for several seasons to come.

“I feel very blessed to be a part of this show,” he declares. “The cast and crew are great, we all get along really well and have a lot of fun and laughs, and the show itself is fantastic. This is the first time I’ve been a regular on a series, and I could be stuck on some terrible TV show where I was feeling lucky to be working steadily but hating the show and feeling that I was missing out on better things, but that’s really not the case on Battlestar. I just love working on this show.”

“Eddie Olmos has joked that we should be ready for the 15-year run, but if that happens, I’m there!” he admits with a laugh. “I’m having a blast.”

 

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Galactica Duty
By: Mark Phillips
Date: November 2005
Source: STARLOG #340

 

 

 

 

 

Recognize Aaron Douglas? You should. He’s flying high aboard the Battlestar Galactica.

“Excuse me, but … are you the actor on Battlestar Galactica?” asks a young, petite woman, who’s a little nervous and shy. “Yes, I am,” smiles Aaron Douglas, who’s sitting at a Vancouver restaurant buzzing with lunchtime activity. “I wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your work. It’s a really good show.” the woman says. Douglas is genuinely pleased and — after a few minutes chatting — the young lady happily walks off.

“I’m surprised. That doesn’t happen often,” says Douglas, who plays Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol on the Battlestar Galactica series. “Last year at the San Diego Comic-Con, I walked around and nobody knew me. The only time I got mobbed was when I was with Grace Park [Boomer]. People would run up and push me out of the way to get to Grace, thinking I was just her manager!”

Things may change now that Battlestar Galactica ranks as one of cable TV’s highest-rated programs. And Douglas admits that, initially, he wasn’t keen on a remake of one of his favorite shows. “I first thought, ‘Listen the original was great, don’t redo it.’ But after speaking with [writer-executive producers] Ron Moore and David Eick and reading the script, I realized it was a complete reworking and they had done a phenomenal job.”

He was honored to be considered for a part in the series, but originally, it was not as Chief Tyrol. “Casting director Coreen Mayrs brought me in to audition for Apollo in November 2002,” explains Douglas. “I didn’t get the role, but in January I got the callback for Lt. Gaeta; there was me, Alessandro Juliani and somebody else up for Gaeta. Ty Olsson, who ended up playing Captain Kelly, was going in for Tyrol.”

“During the final callbacks, director Michael Rymer remembered me from when I auditioned for a pilot. He liked me for Lt. Gaeta, but they gave it to Alessandro, and for the right reasons. He’s fantastic in that role.”

Olsson was picked for Captain Kelly, which meant Tyrol was still uncast. “I was left the odd man out,” says Douglas. “In the casting sessions, they had this open space above Tyrol’s name, and as they were looking through this stack of actor photos, they were going, ‘We need someone for this secondary character, Tyrol,’ Somebody had seen my photo and said ‘How about Aaron Douglas?” Mike replied, ‘Great, he would be perfect.’ So they fished my picture out and stuck it on the wall above Tyrol’s name”

 

Ultimate Sacrifices

Tyrol has come a long way since his bit player status at the project’s start. “In the original draft of the mini-series, the Chief had 10 lines,” notes Douglas. “But I’m a big ad-lib guy, even when I don’t have any lines. So on day one, that’s what I did. By the second day, Mike and David pulled me over and told me, ‘You aren’t written into this scene, but we want you to go out there and say something.’ So I did, and David said, ‘That’s great!’ They asked me to do more scenes, and I ended up with 14 days of work. It’s also a credit to the writers, because by episodes three and four in Season One, they got in tune with the character and I didn’t need to change anything.”

The Chief has had his share of memorable scenes — from lighthearted to horrific — during both the mini-series and weekly series. In the mini-series, pilot Sharon “Boomer” Valerii and the Chief get into a quiet side room — still arguing — and proceed to rip off their clothes in a frantic make out session. “Grace is wonderful to work with, a very professional, bright lady — and a good kisser.” he winks.

When 100 young rookies are trapped in a bulkhead raging with fire, Colonel Tigh (Michael Hogan) orders the bulkhead doors closed and its emergency hatch blown, which will send the rookies into space. Tyrol desperately argues that he only needs 40 seconds to get them out safely, but Tigh refuses, saying the rookies training will ensure they put on protective gear in time. However, 88 people end up dead.

Regarding that dramatic and devastating scene, Douglas remarks: “Mike Hogan is a tremendous and intense actor. He’s like Eddie Olmos [Commander Adama]. They’re so good, all you have to do is listen and respond to them. For that scene, Mike Rymer shot a very intense close-up of me. I had to react to Tigh’s decision, and I gave it everything I had. Three hours later, they came back and said they were gonna shoot it again, with a different angle for my close-up.”

“Well by that time, I had been laughing and joking about other things, so I had to recapture and zoom back to those ‘these men are gonna die’ emotions. I pulled Mike Rymer aside and said, ‘You can’t do this to me! You told me I was done for the day. I’ve been thinking of golfing and going out tonight, and now you’re bringing me back into a scene where 100 people are about to die! That’s tough to do.” But Mike told me they would use the best take, regardless of the camera angle, and it worked out fine.”

What probably won’t work out fine is the future relationship between Tyrol and Tigh. “Tyrol doesn’t like or trust Tigh because Tigh’s a drunk,” says Douglas. “For instance, in one scene, Tigh is obviously hammered as he’s making some life-and-death decisions. That disturbs Tyrol. He doesn’t like weakness. He won’t tolerate it in himself, and he certainly won’t tolerate it in other people.”

One of the few bright spots in Tyrol’s life is Sharon, but when there’s a suicide bomber on Galactica, paranoia runs rampant. Who is a Cylon collaborator? The key to uncovering the culprit is finding out who left a hatch combing open, allowing the bomber access to explosives. Unfortunately, a romantic rendezvous between Tyrol and Sharon occurred around the same time, and Tyrol risks his career to protect her from the investigation. He later realizes the compromises he’s making and ends their relationship.

“That was a great scene, because it was so hard for him to break up with the woman he loves,” says Douglas. “Tyrol is still in love with Sharon, but he’s angry over covering up to protect her. His friend Socinus [Alonso Oyarzun] took the fall and went into the Brig instead. Tyrol’s pride and forthrightness were hurt. In essence, he says to Sharon, ‘I had to sacrifice my integrity for this relationship with you, and that’s unacceptable. I won’t have that happen again, so we need to end this.’ “

“But Tyrol is also suspicious that Sharon could be a Cylon, despite her protests to the contrary. It’s a case where he’s blinded by love and thinking, ‘No, she can’t possibly be one of them.’ And yet when the President announces that the Cylons have taken the form of humans, Tyrol spins around and looks at Sharon. That wasn’t in the script; I just did that on impulse. So, yeah, deep down he sort of knows. I’m still begging the writers to let Tyrol kill Sharon. To break up with her is one thing, but to kill the woman he loves and show Tyrol’s sense of betrayal, hurt and anger would be cool to play.”

 

Crew Loyalties

Engulfed by all of this mayhem, what exactly motivates the beleaguered Chief to get out of bed every morning? “That’s a great question.” comments Douglas. “I think it comes down to the pride of the uniform, the pride of what he does and the loyalty to his people. I really connect with this character. Tyrol is quite a bit like me. He gets up and does the job because there are people relying on him and he can’t let them down. And he has such profound respect for Adama that he would die trying not to let Adama down. I would like to explore more of their relationship, since Tyrol is sort of Adama’s eyes and ears among the non-officers.”

Douglas himself has faced some pretty grueling situations on the show. In “Six Degrees of Separation,” Tyrol has to inspect a captured Cylon Raider, which was brought back to the hanger deck by Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff). To evaluate the ship’s interior, Tyrol climbs through what looks like rotten spaghetti. “It was like crawling into someone’s innards,” smiles Douglas. “That stuff was mostly latex and K-Y jelly, and it was disgusting. Those interior shots of the Raider were done out at Baltar’s house, where he and Number Six [Tricia Helfer] get together. It’s a gorgeous house on top of a cliff.”

“The inside of the Cylon Raider was set up in a black tent — on the house’s driveway — and they told me to get inside. Then they dumped all this slimy goo over me and I had to crawl through that thing. The stuff was getting into my eyes, and I was trying to move all this goop out of the way, and then they would yell cut and we would have to do it again, Then more goop would be dumped on me, so it would look like fresh slime. It was hot, sticky and gross.”

That was only half of it. “At the end of the day, I was soaked head to toe with K-Y jelly and — because we were on location — everyone was starting to pack up and leave,” Douglas continues. “So I headed to my trailer to change, but then decided I was gonna get out of this goop first, because I didn’t want to get my street clothes all messy. I walked over to the hair and makeup department, but nobody was there except for an AD loading up stuff, so I asked, ‘Where are they?’ And he answered, ‘They left, They got a ride back to the studio.” I said ‘You gotta be kidding — look at me!’ “

“I went back to my trailer, put my clothes on, with the jelly goop dripping all over me, and I was really mad! As I walked to my car, all of the crew guys were looking at me very quietly, because they knew I was ready to explode. It was an hour’s drive back to my home, with the makeup and jelly crusting on my face and hair, and then I had to take a two-hour shower to get that stuff off me. I’ll tell you, the makeup people heard about it from me! But hey, it was one of those [once-in-a-lifetime] experiences. I’ll try anything once.”

Douglas — who has also appeared in such genre TV fare as Smallville, Stargate SG-1 and Andromeda — finds his Galactica shipmates much more enjoyable to act with than K-Y jelly. “Eddie is a real prankster,” he laughs. “In the scene where I talk to Adama about how Tigh killed all those rookies, we filmed the master and his close-up before lunch. After lunch, they were going to do my close-up. Well, Eddie ate this garlic, onion and sardine sandwich for lunch and didn’t brush his teeth. He returned for my close-up and said, right into my face [Douglas does a gravelly impression of Olmos’ voice], ‘He’s the EX-O of this ship, don’t you forget that! Return to your post, Chief.’ Eddie was only inches away from me, and his garlic-onion-sardine breath was burning my face. My stomach was retching, and I said to myself, ‘I’m gonna get you, you SOB!’ So I have some really good stuff in store for Eddie for Season Two!”

 

Heroic Duties

Action is one of the keynotes of Battlestar Galactica and, in the two-part first season finale, “Kobol’s Last Gleaming,” Tyrol and his comrades find themselves spiraling down toward Kobol’s surface after their Raptor is hit by Cylon fire. The exciting crash sequence literally rocked the actors. “They put the Raptor on hydraulic jacks, so the ship could jump and move, like being in a boat,” says Douglas. “Buckets of the candy glass were supposed to fly at us when the ship’s windows break, and they told us, ‘When you hear the words “window smashes,” be sure to close your eyes!’ But when the guy dumped the buckets in front of the air mover, it shot the candy glass at us like a cannon!”

“In the back of the ship, there was a door with metal bars and a big arch, and at one point, James Callis [Baltar] stood up and cracked his head on the metal arch, cutting his head open. He collapsed and was knocked out cold. They got him up, dragged him into a tent and started giving him first aid. He passed out again, so they called an ambulance and the whole production shut down. During this horrific event, I, of course, was making jokes with him the entire time!”

Callis recovered and, as the last episode wrapped, the big question was whether the series would be back for another year, “It was weird to walk off the set that final day, not knowing if Season Two was going to happen,” says Douglas. “Some of the younger people were like, ‘Hey, I’ll just go onto the next thing,’ but my heartstrings were being tugged. I realized this could be the last time I get to touch a Viper or stand on the hangar deck. I walked around all of the sets, with a beer in hand, and went, ‘You know, just in case … this is goodbye.’ So when they picked it up again, I was thrilled.”

Douglas is aware that many fans of the original series were upset over the new show. “We experienced some of that last year at Comic-Con,” he says, “after the mini-series aired and some people gave Ron a bit of, ‘Why are you doing this and that? You aren’t respecting the original show.’ I feel you can enjoy them both equally, Don’t try to compare them. The old one is great and it will always be great. The new one’s great too, but it isn’t the original. We’re 25 years later — the world has changed, TV has changed. If you tried to put this version on TV in 1978, the heads of the FCC would have exploded. If you don’t like this version of Galactica, fine, don’t like it. Change the channel. No one is forcing you to watch it.”

To the fans of the series, Douglas is both courteous and genuine. “These people are the reason the show is on air and that I have a job. I’ve worked with hundreds of big-name actors, and some are just total asses. In those cases, the first thing I do when I get home is phone all my friends and family and say, ‘So-and-so is a complete ass. Don’t go see their movies anymore, and tell everybody you know.’ My friends are actors too, and we talk about who we’ve worked with. It would kill me to find out that there were five dudes sitting around a table saying, ‘Yeah, I met that Aaron Douglas guy and he’s the biggest jerk I’ve ever met.’ I’ve told my friends to punch me in the head if they ever see me being rude to a fan. There’s no greater compliment than someone saying, ‘Thank you for your work.’ I’m not delivering babies or saving lives. We’re actors getting shot with a camera’ we’re not getting shot with an M-16.”

Speaking about the letters he has received from people in the military brings up real emotions in the actor. “I’m not a military guy, and I don’t understand that superpower ‘might is right’ attitude,” he reflects. “I’m a Canadian, and I wasn’t brought up that way. But I respect the military. They’re amazing, phenomenal human beings, and when they send me letters like, ‘You’re just like this chief I know on the battleship I worked with in Vietnam.’ I get very emotional.”

“It’s the greatest compliment I can ever receive, and much of that is testament to Ron Blecker. He’s an ex-U.S. Special Forces Army Ranger, and he’s the military technical advisor on our show. Whenever we have a military issue, Ron or one of his guys advises us. I have so much respect for him. He’s an amazing human being, with an incredible life history, The reason that all of the military stuff on our show is so believable is 100 percent attributable to Ron and his guys.”

“I’m really sorry for interrupting you but … you look familiar,” a tall blonde waitress cautiously tells Douglas. “Are you on TV?” When STARLOG informs her that Douglas is Chief Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica , she grins and exclaims, “I knew you were someone! My husband loves that show.” Douglas is gracious and amused. Only 30 minutes earlier, he had stated that recognition rarely happens. Now, it’s two in a row.

The waitress returns to the far side if the room, whispering excitedly to two co-workers. Bits of her words leak out: “Actor … TV … Chief … Galactica …”

It’s all part and parcel of being aboard the Battlestar Galactica. And while this interview may be over, for Chief Tyrol — and actor Aaron Douglas — the adventure is just beginning.

 

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Officer Material
By: Steven Eramo
Date: November 2004
Source: TV Zone #182

 

 

 

 

 

While the likes of Starbuck and Apollo are jetting around in their Vipers, it’s down to Chief Petty Officer Tyrol to keep the Galactica’s fighters shipshape and ready for action. Actor Aaron Douglas chats with Steven Eramo about how his two-line part expanded into a major role …

It’s been a bumper year for Aaron Douglas in terms of acting work. Along with roles in no less than six feature films – including I,Robot, Catwoman and The Chronicles of Riddick – the Vancouver native recently finished playing Chief Petty Officer Tyrol in season one of the new Battlestar Galactica TV series. He made his debut as the character last year in the Galactica mini-series and, as the actor recalls, landing the part wasn’t easy but well worth the effort.

“I auditioned on tape back in November 2002 for the role of Captain Apollo. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the part and with good reason. Jamie Bamber has done a better job as the character than I ever would have. I did, however, get a call back in January [2003] for the role of Lt Gaeta. When I went in to read, Grace Park and Alessandro Juliani were also there along with my friend and fellow actor Ty Olsson. Grace had originally tried out for the part of Starbuck [which ended up going to Katee Sackhoff] but wound up landing the role of Lt Boomer, while Alex was cast as Gaeta. The producers were going to give Ty the Tyrol character but decided instead to make him Captain Kelly.”

“Apparently the production team was sitting in the casting room and wondering, ‘Who’s going to play Tyrol?’ Someone suggested, ‘What about Aaron Douglas,’ and the mini-series director, Michael Rymer, said ‘He’d be perfect’. So that’s how I got the role. At first I thought I was being given this little two-line part and was like, ‘That’s OK. I’ll do it and then go on to the next job.’ However, when I got the script and began reading it I realized, ‘Wow, this guy is much cooler than I ever imagined’. No offense to Gaeta or Captain Kelly, but Tyrol certainly fits me more than any other character would in the show.”

A tough but fair man, Tyrol is a born leader and as such understands that people make mistakes, just so long as it’s not the same one. He is one of Galactica’s chief petty officers and in charge of the Deck Five crew. The chief and his 15 deck hands are responsible for, among other things, restoring Commander Adama’s (Edward James Olmos) old Viper fighter from the first Cylon war. Tyrol admires Adama and is fiercely loyal to him. While his character could have easily become just another wisecracking intergalactic grease monkey, Douglas’s talents have allowed him to take Tyrol beyond such stereotypes.

“In the mini-series, Tyrol started out as a much smaller role,” notes the actor. “However, after a day-and-a-half of me ad-libbing, David Eick [executive Producer] and mainly, Michael Rymer, realized, ‘Hey, Aaron is bringing more to this role than we first envisioned. Let’s use that to both our advantages.’ So they began writing Tyrol into scenes that he wasn’t originally in.”

“My part grew by about a third in the mini-series, and when the the order came in for the first season, the writers gave me even more to do. I’ve had a great time on the show, We’re all really excited about the work and happy to put in the effort to make the best series possible.”

It will be at least February 2005 before the Battlestar cast and crew hear whether or not the show has been picked up for a second season, but Douglas is already betting that it will be a hit. “I’ve seen the first episode and it’s as good if not better than the mini-series,” he enthuses. “So the show should do well.”

 

In Appreciation

Like most actors, Douglas is thankful for being given the opportunity to pursue a career he is passionate about. Getting to hear what audiences have to say about his work is the icing on the cake. “There is no great compliment than for someone to tell me that they’ve been moved by my work,” says the actor.

“For example, with Tyrol, I’ve had people in the military remark to me, ‘Tyrol reminds me of a chief I once served with. He was just like your character; a bit of a hard ass but deep down a big softy who looked out for his guys. Thanks for bringing him to life.’ I mean, I’m not a military guy at all. I’ve never been in the army or anything like that, so to be told that I’ve pulled off such a role and in a believable way means a great deal to me.”

“I was at Comic Con in San Diego back in July and couldn’t believe that fans would stand in line for hours just to meet me. It blew my mind. I felt terrible that they had to wait so long, but I was genuinely touched by their affection and response towards to me.”

 

      

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