A Very Brief Interview With Aaron Douglas at SLCC FanX
By: Adrienne Fox
Convention: Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience 2014
Source: WatchPlayRead

Salt Lake Comic Con FanXperience was my first event as a writer with WatchPlayRead and my fist ever press pass for an event. As a member of the press, I was able to attend a press conference to kick off the event. After opening speeches and recognition of local heroes, organizer Dan Farr introduced some of the special guests that were kind enough to get up early and participate in interviews. The group of guests represented a variety of interests and notoriety from Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees to Kelly Hu of more sci-fi, fantasy, and comic-inspired movies and TV shows than I can count.

Lucky for me, Aaron Douglas signed on as a last minute guest for the event and he was available after the press conference for interviews. I was able to speak with Douglas for a few minutes. As you may know, (and I certainly hope you do), Douglas portrayed Chief Tyrol on Battlestar Galactica (BSG) and recently appeared on the Netflix original series Hemlock Grove. My chat with Douglas was just that, more a casual (and awkward on my part) chat than a formal interview.

I asked Douglas about his role on The Strain, an upcoming horror TV show on FOX based on the story by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. Douglas told me that two BSG writers, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, wrote a part for him in one episode. Although, he wasn’t able to meet Hogan or del Toro on set he hopes to have an opportunity to do so in the future. (I will look forward to seeing him in episode 7 of The Strain!)

Douglas is an NHL fan. I asked how he felt about the season and mentioned that I grew up a Flyers fan. He mentioned his team [Vancouver Canucks] is not in the playoffs. But that the Flyers are looking decent if they can get past the NY Rangers. (I wish they would! But the Flyers lose to the Rangers all too often and are losing in the series.)

What could he tell me about his upcoming project, Infrared, which he wrote and acted will act in as well? Douglas said he didn’t have too many details to share except that Infrared is a thriller about a group of friends who go hunting and then VERY BAD THINGS HAPPEN. (That is enough to get me out to see it!)

I followed up the Infrared inquiry by asking if horror and sci-fi genres are what he is drawn to. He said that his work varies and upcoming work will include a law enforcement based story, a speculative work taking place 100 years in our future, and then a heartwarming tale about a disabled child.

And that was that! There were lots of others waiting to talk to him. I love seeing the BSG cast getting recognition for those roles and their new work. Thank you Aaron Douglas for being patient during my first attempt at in-person interviews. I hope I see him at Emerald City Comicon sometime soon because I have Chief Tyrol props that need autographed!