We're still here

I promise. I haven't abandoned All About Tahmoh Penikett. The news has been a bit slow and summer has been a bit busy so I've not posted in a while. I'm hoping to grab some screen caps from The Killing in the next couple weeks. Keep your fingers crossed - we may even have a few surprises to share. For now...

Links originally posted at the Facebook site (follow us there if you're on FB).

Nerdist Podcast from C2E2
Video Interview with The Electric Playground
Tahmoh and Aleks Paunovic talk about their memorable convention moments with CNN

Netflix Subscribers can stream many of Tahmoh's earlier movies and television series, including the following (I'll update the list as I find more or they become available):

• Cold Squad
• Battlestar Galactica
• Dollhouse
• Trapped Ashes
  
• Trick r Treat
  
• Riverworld

Just because I can, I'm reposting the flickr link to screen caps Justine took of Tahmoh as Elias Noth in Whistler, which is my all-time favorite Tahmoh role. I don't know any place you can still legally watch Whistler, so these pictures are all I can share until (if?) it becomes available.

Charity Support, Podcast, and Mortal Kombat

A new site, Checkers Green, has featured some of the charities Tahmoh supports. "Checkers Green is a central hub for Battlestar Galactica fans to find information on the latest charity efforts by members of the cast." To help them out, Tahmoh gave us an update on the charities he support. In addition to his continued support of Caleb's Hope, participation in such events as the AIDS Walk and Food on Foot in Los Angelas, and various other fundraisers and charity auctions, Tahmoh regularly supports Falling Whistles and ChildFund International (formerly The Christian Children's Fund). Check out the websites of all these organizations to learn more and find out how you can help.

SciFi Diner interviewed Tahmoh at Farpoint. His interview begins about 36 minutes into the podcast.

Episode Three of Mortal Kombat was released today, but no Tahmoh this week. Click here to watch the video.

Reader Genoka send in this video this video from the Mortal Kombat release party. Tahmoh appears a few times, sometimes in the background.

Site News: Bertha, who is handling the graphics for the site, and I have been working out some issues with Flickr. We hope to have them cleared up this week, which will allow us to renew our Flickr Pro Account. This will mean renewed access to older pictures of Tahmoh from Trapped Ashes, Whistler, BSG, and more.

Fan Expo Pics, Reports, and More

Fan Expo looks and sounds like a lot of fun! Thanks to everyone who sent us con reports or gave us permission to link to their pictures. Note that all pics are the property of their posters. Do not repost or use in fanart without first contacting them.

Doug Mann of The Mark posted a detailed con report. He shared this exchange with Tahmoh:

I asked Penikett in his Q-and-A session about the attitude of the Canadian actors who worked on both the grimly realistic Battlestar and more fantastic shows such as Smallville: were they struck by the differences, or was it just another job? He replied that even the Battlestar miniseries was “badass,” and that it “broke that stereotypical mold about what a sci-fi show is.”

Click here for more on Tahmoh and the full con report.

Geekstalt posted this pic of Tahmoh to Flickr (original here).

He later posted this second pic, "Because the moment I post a picture of him, the internet goes wild and I receive e-mails asking for more. I didn't realize he was this popular!" (original here)

AATP reader Mari went to Fan Expo to celebrate her birthday. She got to chat with Tahmoh a couple times, including sharing a great exchange about books written by Dominican Republic authors. Here are a few exerts of her report (Mari, I tried not too get too personal!)

Tahmoh: Oh, you're Dominican! Then you must've read In the Time of the Butterflies
Mari: I haven't yet.
Tahmoh: Oh it's great. Or Oscar Wao. It's dark and historic.
Mari: I haven't read it yet either and it's on my list of books to read. I've been told it's Lord of the Rings meets Dominican history.
Tahmoh: (makes a face) Mmm, naah. But it's definitely dark. You know it's a Pulitzer Prize winner, right?
Mari: I do, I own it I just haven't read it.

They also discussed the book Dead Awakening before Tahmoh wished her safe travels and she moved on so as not to hold up the line for autographs. [Edit: In the comments Mari gives an udpate on the title and author: Dead Man in Paradise by J.B. MacKinnon]

See more pics and con reports at the following:

• A Books Blog
  
• Lady Knight
• Televixen flickr and website
• Iheartmuseums
  

Rambling Russ posted this audio that includes an interview with Tahmoh. Tahmoh "appears" at about the 9:00 minute mark. Thanks to Michelle at the Tahmoh Penikett Facebook fan page and Mari for the links.

Finally, SpoilerTV gives us the name of Tahmoh's character on Human Target, but little else on his role. Of course spoilers for Human Target 2.01 "Ilsa Pucci". (Edit: forgot to mention that their info comes from the Fox Press Release. As of 9/12, Futon Critic and others had also reported the same.)

Photos & interview with Tahmoh from Starfury con

With tremendous thanks to Marcel of Galactica.TV, here is an interview conducted by Marcel with Tahmoh at the Battlestar Starfury convention last weekend. Michelle Forbes briefly breaks in to chide Tahmoh to "be more serious."

[The interview is 20 minutes, so it takes a minute or so to load in the player. Or you can download it here (14 mb). If anyone has suggestions for a free host with higher streaming bandwidth, let me know.]

Update: Whedonesque is also hosting the interview. Thanks!
Tahmoh addresses a lot of lingering fan questions: What does the "C" in Karl C. Agathon mean? What was Helo's backstory? He also talks about how he relates to Helo and Helo's relationships with Kara & Lee.

He also answers some of the Dollhouse questions that I sent to Marcel:

• What has been the biggest difference between working on Battlestar and working on Dollhouse?
• As a character outside the Dollhouse, working to discover its secrets, has Paul interacted with much of the Dollhouse cast? Or are you/he as isolated as Helo was on Caprica in Season 1?
• What's it like working with some of the same people on Dollhouse as you did on Battlestar (Jane Espenson, Felix Alcala, Ron Hardy)?
• Have you bumped into any actors on other FOX shows while filming Dollhouse?
• How does working in LA compare with working in Vancouver? Do you get recognized more in LA than you did/do in Vancouver?
• What's the last movie you saw? Or what are you reading now?

Tahmoh even recorded a shout-out for All about Tahmoh Penikett (0:09):


Marcel has previously done two other interviews with Tahmoh. You can find them here (Nov. 2006) and here (Aug. 2007).

Thanks to Bertha for the con photo of Tahmoh! Check out more of Bertha's photos from the convention over at her Flickr!

If you have any questions you'd like to ask Tahmoh, please ask them now in the question thread.

New interview, spoilers and Dragon Con panel video

The great folks over at Galactica Quorum interviewed Tahmoh recently and just posted the audio for all to enjoy (download here):

We interview Tahmoh Penikett at DragonCon! Tahmoh talks about some of Helo’s memorable scenes, and addresses the infamous Cylon virus controversy. He also mentions his latest role on Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.

Kristen at E!Online followed up with Tricia Helfer and Mary McDonnell on what Tahmoh said happens in the Battlestar finale. Was he serious? Was he joking? Kristen tries to find out.

Finally, thanks to the Bamber Bunnies, video from the last Battlestar Dragon Con panel with Tahmoh and Richard Hatch is now online. Here's part 1:

You can watch it all over on YouTube!

Message to fans from Tahmoh: Thank you so much!

The Galactica Quorum podcast interviewed Tahmoh while he was at Dragon Con a few weeks ago. They'll be playing that interview in next week's podcast, but in this week's episode (#52) they included a special message from Tahmoh:

"Hey guys, this is Tahmoh Penikett, or if you say it properly, it's Tah'moh, because I know you're all curious about that. I just wanted to thank all the fans; you guys have been amazing! I have received some incredible, thoughtful letters, gifts and so many things in the mail. And I can't tell you how much it means to me from the bottom of my heart, especially you guys' support.

I really appreciate it so much. But I also have to say that it's gotten to the point where I've received so much that I can't keep up. I'm like six months behind and, I've gotta be honest with you, I really appreciate the letters, the gifts and what have you, but I don't want anyone to expect any responses or pictures and what have you, like I used to do in the past, because I simply can't do it. I just can't keep up. It'd be like a full time job. I'd basically have to hire someone to do it and I'm not sure if that's going to be the situation. So anyway, once again, thank you so much for your support, but I just needed to let everyone know that."

You can listen to the message about 7:20 into the podcast, which you can download over at the Galactica Quorum website. Stay tuned next week for their interview with Tahmoh!

Sci Fi Wire & TV Talk interview with Tahmoh (audio)

The TV Talk podcast and Sci Fi Wire both interviewed Tahmoh during Comic Con. The interview lasts about 7 minutes and is well worth listening to. Tahmoh discusses the end of Battlestar in general terms and his ideas about his new character on Dollhouse.

Listen here. [Show #231210]
Download here. [Scroll down, look for download link]

The interview with Tahmoh starts around 5 minutes in and lasts until around minute 12.

Update: Thanks to Michelle from Aaron Douglas Fans, here is just Tahmoh's part of the interview available for download.

The Green Chain to premiere at Montreal Film Festival

The 31st annual Montréal World Film Festival will host the world premiere of The Green Chain, which looks at the logging industry from multiple perspectives and stars Tahmoh and Tricia Helfer.

It will screen on August 26th at 7:30pm as a part of the festival's Focus On World Cinema program. It will also play on August 27th & 28th.

The film's writer/director, Mark Leiren-Young, was recently interviewed by Sci-fi Talk. The podcast is introduced by Tahmoh. Leiren-Young talks about Tahmoh, his role in the film and even Battlestar; here's a brief excerpt:

"What was interesting was that I went after Tricia (Helfer) and Tahmoh (Penikett) because in large part from where they were from. It wasn't connected to Battlestar. In the case of Tricia, I was so excited that she was in a small town in Alberta. I loved the idea that someone who grew up in a farming community would both get the loggers and the environmentalists. It was so vitally important to me to have people who were willing to look at all sides to this.

In Tahmoh's case, he grew up in the Yukon. You don't get more rural than growing up in the Yukon. He came in and read the piece which is about a firefighter who ran into some hard times. And he had just come from speaking to an old friend of his who was having the same dilemma of his character. He has grown up in this type of industry. And really if Tahmoh wasn't an actor, he could have been one of these guys. If you are growing up in a community like this that is resourced based, your used to jobs being there. But those jobs are vanishing."

Download the podcast.

See more on The Green Chain here.

BSG Roundtable recap

The roundtable podcast with Ron Moore, Jamie Bamber, James Callis and Tahmoh is excellent. When you have a chance, be sure listen to the whole thing. But if you're mainly interested in what Tahmoh has to say, here are the key timestamps:

0 minutes in
Ron questions Tahmoh.

41 minutes in
Of all the characters, Helo loves the military service the most, according to Moore. Tahmoh briefly considered being a police officer as a child.

67 minutes in
Interacting with directors and Rymer... Apparently there was one really bad director for the first 4 eps of S3. If he could play any other character, Tahmoh would play the Chief.

88 minutes in
How Tahmoh would like to see BSG end.

113 minutes in
How the show has made Tahmoh grow as an actor. In the miniseries, Helo sucking on the lollipop was Tahmoh's idea.

123 minutes in
Ron compliments Tahmoh.

148 minutes in
What Tahmoh would like to do as Helo... share a scene with Baltar or Tricia (Jamie Bamber ribs him that Helo kissed Six in "33" and so he's already shared a scene).

Just before the end, Tahmoh excuses himself as he's going to go snowboarding in 5.5 hours.

You can download the three-hour podcast here.

BSG cast roundtable available (& ratings tidbit)

As I blogged about previously, Tahmoh participated in a cast discussion after dinner at Ron Moore's house last week. The recording is now available. Tahmoh mentions among other things that his grandfather was a RAF pilot in WWII and his grandmother was a nurse...

You can download the three-hour podcast here.

Also today, TV Guide released this tidbit of BSG ratings news:

"A ratings morsel for the avid Battlestar Galactica fans: The third season has increased its delivery in adults 18-34 by 12 percent, and adults 18-49 by two percent."

Watch "Unfinished Business" tonight at 9pm EST

Don't forget Tahmoh recorded a special podcast with Grace Park (Sharon) to accompany tonight's episode!

"A rank-free boxing tournament aboard the Galactica is intended to help the officers and crew blow off steam, but it quickly drags old grudges into the light — including Apollo and Starbuck's lingering issues and resentments, which were spawned on New Caprica."

See a clip from tonight's episode thanks to AOL.

Read a very positive, spoilery review from the Chicago Tribune.

The show will repeat tonight at 11pm. It will also re-air on Monday, November 13th at 11:30 pm.

Download the podcast (featuring Tahmoh & Grace Park) for the episode here.

Slate raves about Battlestar and Ron Moore

In a recent Slate article, Adam Rogers writes about Galactica and its writing staff, focusing particularly on the series of writer's room podcasts (for the S2 episode "Scar") that Sci-fi released this summer.

Captain's Log
Want to understand Battlestar Galactica? Eavesdrop on its writers.

"But actually hearing a producer of Moore's caliber work through the process is thrilling, because he relies on the improvisational qualities of the writers' room. Maybe he has no idea whether his human characters will ever find the (possibly mythical) Earth. It doesn't matter. He and his writers are building a world to live in, not a theory to unravel. It's a world that does more than transcend his show's silly title. It actually redeems it."

You can find the writer's podcasts here.

I blogged about the "Scar" writer's room podcasts four times. Thanks to the new tags, you can see all the posts here.

Tahmoh participates in two BSG cast podcasts

As Ron announced in his latest blog entry, he and his wife Terry have hosted dinner parties the past two nights with Galactica cast members. The first night, the attendees were:

• Jamie B.
• James C.
• Tahmoh P.
• Mark Sheppard, a guest star in three yet to be aired eps.
• Henry, a friend of Jamies from school.
• Ron M.
• Terry M.

After dinner they recorded a four-hour round-table discussion. Look for it to be posted in two parts; the sound quality is reportedly somewhat uneven, but hopefully Sci-fi will still post it.

Last night, some of the female cast made it too; Mary McDonnell, Grace Park, James Callis and Tahmoh had dinner with Ron and Terry. Then Grace and Tahmoh recorded a podcast for "Unfinished Business" (this Friday's episode).

Look for the podcasts to appear soon here.

Tahmoh podcast interview from Dragon Con

"The SciFi Zone Radio Show" interviewed the BSG guests at this September's Dragon Con:

James Callis is on 9:07 to 11:00
Kate Vernon is on 27:11 to 35:27
Tahmoh Penikett and Aaron Douglas are on 39:44 to 47:50

If you just want to hear Tahmoh's interview, thanks to Michelle from Aaron Douglas Fans you can; she has trimmed it down to just Aaron and Tahmoh's part. You can find it under "Audio Interviews" on the "Media" page of her site.

Massive Tahmoh/Helo Update

In an attempt to catch up on news and happenings the past few weeks, I thought I'd post lots of tidbits at once:

* In "Women of Battlestar Galactica" carefully transcribed by Azure Monkey from last week's TV Guide, Grace Park had this to say about Tahmoh:

Who’s the hottest guy: "Tahmoh. Because of his huge heart. But our relationship is only professional."

* A Helo spoiler photo for "Flight of the Phoenix" has been posted to Dark-Thoughts.net. (It's the second image on the page).

* Tahmoh briefly introduces Paul ("Billy") Campbell's interview on SciFi Talk. Of course, the interview with Paul itself is also worth listening to.

* Lots more great pics of Tahmoh at Gatecon here and here. I especially like this picture and this one of Tahmoh winking. But they're all fun.

* Ron Moore and David Eick had some very complimentary things to say about Tahmoh in the ep. 207, "Home, Part 2" podcast:

"Tahmoh is such a great actor and so great for the show that we found a way to suggest his culpability ... without going quite that far [making him completely on Sharon's side and participating in the plot]. Although I still think we have in Helo now a character we need to keep an eye on, as he does have some conflicted loyalties on a very basic level."

* Tahmoh in now listed on Celebopedia. See his page here.

If there's anything else you think I should be reporting, let me know!

Tahmoh Interview on Sci-fi Talk

Tahmoh was interviewed by Tony Tellado at Gatecon last week for Sci-fi Talk, a talk show on sci-fi, fantasy and horror movies & TV.

Tahmoh Penikett - Battlestar Galactica

He plays Lt Karl "Helo" Agathon, a Galactica pilot trapped on a hostile planet, in the hit series, Battlestar Galactica. We talk season two, the show's concept, and style. We also chat about his appearences on Stargate SG-1, Smallville and Cold Squad (He was a regular). Taped At Gatecon 2005.

It's a great listen. You should check it out! (Mildly spoilery).

Thanks to the Unofficial Battlestar Blog for the heads up!

Tahmoh calls into S2D radio show

Though Helo sadly didn't appear in "Fragged" last night (see POLL at right), Tahmoh did briefly appear on Subject 2 Discussion (a radio show) this Wednesday, calling in from Gatecon.

Thanks to Blade Runner over at Galactica Station, if you missed it, you can listen in.

Tahmoh, Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) & Paul Campbell (Billy) on S2D [Please right-click-save.]

Tahmoh's segment is about 16 minutes in.

Also be sure to check out the other BSG audio interviews from S2D (including a much longer show with Tahmoh) that are available on Galactica Station.

Quotes from Tahmoh's Interview on S2D

Ok, so I’ve been a bit slow to post this, but life intervened… and transcribing, I learned, takes approximately forever. But for your reading pleasure, here are selections from Shaun O’Mac Daily’s (SM) interview with Tahmoh Penikett (TP) on Subject to Discussion last week (March 23, 2005) on lvrocks.com.

You can download an MP3 of the whole interview here (or use this direct download link). I’ve mainly concentrated on his remarks about Galactica. I’ve abbreviated and clarified in several places. If anyone wants to type up more of the interview, I’d be happy to post it…

SM: Where are you? You up in Canada?

TP: Yeah, I’m in Vancouver, actually just got back last week from LA.

SM: I’m surprised at the strength of the show and the fan base. Are you surprised as well?

TP: Yeah, I’m absolutely surprised. I think one of the main things… there was a lot of talk right after we did the pilot. People were talking about the purists, the original fan base from the original series and how they weren’t very happy about the show being redone, what have you. But I think anyone can testify that the new series is great. It’s not absolutely faithful to the original series, but new and better.

SM: You, yourself you’re kind of on a spin off show on the show itself. You’re down on the planet and everything else. How does that feel? You’re part of the show but really off on your own show.

TP: I love it. I love it. I remember last year when I got the call from Ron Moore and he told me his idea for the storyline and that he wanted to bring me back and what have you. As far as I knew I wasn’t sure if I was coming back, I had other plans. I was basically looking for work in other places. He called me back and said we’d love to have you back on the show, see what’s happening with your character. He’s still on the planet. He survived--post-nuclear holocaust. These are the ideas I have. I was really excited. I kind of liked the storyline. The audience must appreciate it too because it takes you out of the ship. I remember when he first told me about it, it kind of made me think of Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back. You’d be going up to the space ships and then cutting back to the planet. It gives it a little bit of diversity in the storyline.

[…]

SM: You’ve done a lot of location shooting for the show. How’s that been?

TP: It’s great man. Vancouver is such a beautiful place. Picturesque--ocean, tons of rainforest. As you can see, Caprica, the planet on the show, has been through a holocaust. They’ve been pretty consistent with the rain. I’m usually wet pretty much every episode. I’m going on location every time. Not stuck in the studio. It’s been fun.

[…]

SM: How is it to work with [Grace Park]? She’s basically doing two different roles.

TP: Grace’s character is awesome. Grace as a person; the girl’s fantastic. I love working with her. I’m always joking around because this whole last season we did, the first season, it’s the Grace and Tahmoh show. Pretty much we’re acting together every time. I haven’t even worked with the rest of the cast since the pilot so that’s who I look forward to going back to, every time I do shoot. Grace is awesome. She’s a very talented actress. She’s very generous. And we have a great time. The first time we met was when we went to the boot camp, right before we started filming for the pilot. We clicked right away. We knew we were supposed to be partners. None of us had actually read the script, I don’t think at that point, but we caught wind of what was going on and we had a loose idea of the storyline. We bought it from that point and we’ve been good friends ever since.

[his acting background, schooling]

TP: I’m a Taurus. I have twin sisters: they’re May 18th. I’m May 20th… My father was a politician when I was younger, pretty much through most of my youth…. My dad was also an actor and my grandfather was an actor. They gave me an appreciation for good drama from a young age…. One of the first films I ever saw with my dad. I’m not sure how old I was. When did Bladerunner come out? [1981] So I was five or six at the time. I saw that film and it made a huge impression on me….

[early career: Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, The L Word, Smallville; working with directors]

SM: What’s the origin of your first name?

TP: I’m named after my great-uncle. My mother is First Nation; I guess you guys would call Native American down there. I was born and raised outside of Yukon, right beside Alaska, lived there until I was 19. Lived in BC the last 8 or 9 years…. My father is British. Hence my lovely white skin and the last name, Penikett.

[...]

Question from the chat room: Will you be returning next season?

TP: Absolutely. Yeah, just recently taken care of. I’m coming back. I’m really excited about it.

Question from the chat room: Who’s a better kisser, Trisha [Helfer] or Grace [Park]?

TP: How dare you guys ask me that? [laughing] I’m a lucky man to have kissed either or both of those women.

SM: Do you watch your own work?

TP: Absolutely, whenever I can…. I think you can learn a lot from it. I’m going to make a point of this year, especially if I do get back to the studio, just to watch the dailies and stuff.

[…family’s reaction to his deciding to be an actor…really supportive]

Question from the chat room: What do you like most and like least about working on Galactica?

TP: I’m loving the action sequences. It’s great, man. I did most of my own stunts this year and that was a lot of fun…. The least… would probably be not getting to work with the rest of the cast. Everyone in the cast is awesome and super-talented. That’s one thing about the show; it was cast so well. Someone like Aaron Douglas; he is that role. He is the chief. I’m really looking forward to sharing a scene with some of the heavy-weights. Edward James Olmos, Mary McDonnell, Michael Hogan; they’ve been in the business for tons of years and are so talented, I can’t wait to get into it with them.

[playful speculation about what might happen with Helo’s storyline]

SM: You going to be comfortable if Galactica runs seven years. You okay with being identified as Helo?

TP: You know the show’s doing great and I take it as a huge compliment…. I’m not looking too far into the future. What I’m doing right now I’m doing this series and apparently it’s doing really well and people are happy with it. I’m really happy doing the character right now. We’re going to go with it as long as we can. I’ll tell you this, I read the first two episodes of the new season and I couldn’t put them down. They are killer, they are so good.

SM: You have any ideas why they gave the character the name “Helo”?

TP: I think it means “ice” in Spanish. It’s like “ice man.” [Anyone know… does Helo really mean ice in Spanish?]

[toaster scene… connection back to the old series]

SM: Where do you see your career going five years down the road? Do you want to act, do you want to direct?

TP: ….I look forward to directing…. If I ever had the opportunity to [direct] one of the episodes, I’d jump on it. But it’s one of those things, you really need to know what you’re doing. I’d need a lot more experience before I take a crack at it. But five years down the road, I hope to be doing the same thing. I really love to act. It’s a dream come true. I’m living the dream….

[James Bond… Star Wars]

[impressed, ecstatic about being on show with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell]

Question from the chat room: What was your favorite scene from season one?

TP: Hard question, man. Action-wise, I’m loving shooting at cylons and diving over counters and having pots dropped on my head and stuff like that. It was great.

[will be attending Gatecon 2005]

SM: Any words for the fans?

TP: …The first two episodes are killer. I’m so excited. Be prepared to get caught up with some the characters and get some real back story happening with some of the senior characters…. We’re going to have an awesome series and an awesome season. Everybody stay tuned. Thanks for being supportive. I’m looking forward to it.

Great Interview with Tahmoh on S2D

Thanks to Shaun from Subject to Discussion on lvrocks.com for a great interview with Tahmoh!

In the interview, Tahmoh revealed that he's now back in Vancouver and is excited to start filming season 2 in a couple weeks. He also spoke about his acting background, his family and his hopes for season 2 and his career.

UPDATE: If you missed Shaun's interview with Tahmoh, the archive is now up.