More Tahmoh Q&A

Here's Part 2 of our most recent Q&A with Tahmoh. Part 1 is included in this post. Look for Part 3 in the next few days. With thanks again to Bertha for her help prepping this post.

If you were not able to act, what other profession would you pursue and why?

If I was not able to act I think I’d still be in the business in some capacity. I'd probably pursue directing, as I’m interested in doing that in the near future.

There was a time when I wanted to be a fighter; the acting took precedent though. I'm still a passionate fan of Martial Arts and I hope to be able to train for many years to come.

What expensive or frivolous purchase did you make with your first large paycheck from acting?

I bought myself a Movado watch. Even with that first guest star paycheck I still really couldn't afford it, but I had to have it. I saw that watch in a store window once when I was 22 and regularly checked up on it planning on the day that I was going to buy it. It was the first thing I did and owned and I loved that watch for a good ten years before it was unfortunately stolen in LA.

New Battlestar on-set photos from seasons 1-3

Thanks to Michelle at Battlestar Blog for discovering that Sci-fi Channel photographer Carole Segal has posted nearly a hundred never-before-seen photos from the Galactica set during seasons 1-3.
More than a dozen feature Helo (half of which are new). You can see all the Helo photos over at the all.about.tahmoh Flickr.

Another video interview about BSG Season 3

The Australian Channel 10 HD has posted a new interview with Tahmoh about Galactica's third season.

Tahmoh talks about Helo's relationship with Adama and how that changes when he discovers Hera is alive. He also discusses one of his most difficult scenes yet--when Helo shoots Sharon so she can go rescue Hera--and how he and Grace Park conceptualized the scene.

If you missed the two earlier interviews videos with Tahmoh from Channel 10, you can find them on the Channel 10 site or here and here.

Thanks again to Michelle from Battlestar Blog for the head's up!

Galactica Season 3 DVDs available today; S2 on sale

Battlestar Galactica Season 3 DVDs now available.

The six-disc Season 3 DVD set features the Resistance webisodes, the 20 S3 episodes, Ron Moore's podcast commentaries, David Eick's videoblogs and deleted scenes from all the episodes.

Even if you've ordered your set already, be sure to check out the Helo deleted scene now up on the Amazon order page.

For today only, Amazon is also selling Battlestar Galactica Season 2.0 and Season 2.5 episode box sets for $25 each!

Today the Sci-fi Channel is also running a marathon of Season 3 episodes.

See a Helo Season 3 deleted scene thanks to Amazon

Amazon has a free "related video" of a Galactica Season 3 deleted scene featuring Helo and Dualla on their Season 3 DVD pre-order page.

The short scene is a nice exchange between Helo and Dualla, hinting at their friendship that must have developed during their year orbiting New Caprica together. Helo tries to cheer Dualla with some quips and then quietly tries to reassure her everything will be okay.

It's too bad we didn't get to see more of this relationship onscreen, but the Season 3 DVDs--available March 18th--promise more than an hour's worth of new footage!

Pre-order your Season 3 DVDs today!

(If you click through to Amazon from this site, it will receive 5%
of your purchase price at no cost to you.)

Thanks to mamaboo for the head's up!

Frakking hilarious Battlestar Galactica recap (video)

If you haven't yet, you must watch the frakking awesome 8-minute recap of Seasons 1-3 of Galactica. Helo features rather largely in it due to his plot-heavy arc.

It's up over at Scifi.com or IMDB for international fans.

I've also uploaded the early Helo promo pictures from Season 1 that surfaced a few weeks ago to the site's Flickr for ease of browsing. All of them are watermarked, unless fans have photoshopped them, like this terrific one above.

Video Interview with Tahmoh about Battlestar Season 3

Thanks again to Michelle from Battlestar Blog, we have a new interview Tahmoh did for the Australian Channel 10 HD about Galactica's third season.

Tahmoh talks about how Helo feels about being replaced as XO by Tigh, why Helo isn't a big fan of radiation, what staying on Galactica meant for Helo while the rest of the crew was on New Caprica and where Helo's ultimate loyalties lie.

You can download it thanks to Michelle here.

New interview with Tahmoh in Starburst #358

Steven Eramo has done another interview with Tahmoh for Starburst special issue #358 (Torchwood cover). In it, Tahmoh discusses Season 4, including Helo's feelings about Starbuck and relationship with Athena. He also reminisces about "The Woman King" and shares his thoughts about Battlestar ending this season. Enjoy! (Beware vague spoilers).

Scans thanks to Un4scene!

Short video interview with Tahmoh about BSG Season 3

Thanks to Michelle over at BattlestarBlog for the heads up that the Australian Channel 10 HD website has added more season 3 video interviews with the cast to their website. Tahmoh appears briefly in the second video, "Mary McDonnell - President Laura Roslin: Mary McDonnell talks about using bio-weapons to attempt to wipe out the cylons."

Although the video description says it's Mary McDonnell, Tahmoh and Grace Park also react to the proposed use of bioweapons.

Thanks to Michelle for the download link and the screen cap!

Galactica continues to charm critics, Part 2

The new year is a time of critical assessment and critics have found much to praise in Battlestar Galactica's third season. To help further build interest in the upcoming fourth season, here is a higher-res version of the EW photo (now interactive at EW.com) without dots:

BostonNOW: "An impressive year for TV Dramas" (includes photo)

1) Battlestar Galactica (Sci-Fi)
I am not sure how much more praise I can heap on a show whose creators must have had to buy a new house to store all their critical raves, but there is truly nothing else like this on television today, and maybe not ever. It's the best written, best acted, most intense show since Homicide: Life On The Street, which I consider to be the best show ever on television, and before it's done it may climb even higher. BSG continually takes on the important and weighty issues that come with war and does with an unblinking eye. Anyone who says, "there is nothing good on TV" is simply not watching this show.

New York Times: "Robots, Lies and Smoking for $800, Alex"

‘BATTLESTAR GALACTICA’ A Sci Fi favorite that transcends the genre. The series, which follows the survivors of an apocalyptic attack on their home planets by a rebellious race of robots known as Cylons, is out of this world, literally.

Film.com: "The Best in Sci Fi TV in 2007"

Oh, BSG, BSG, how I'll miss thee during the writers' strike. Obviously, Battlestar Galactica, with its female-centric Razor "TV event," was the creme de la creme for challenging gender politics this year. Fans saw the return of Admiral Cain (or Ensign Ro, depending on which sci-fi generation you're from), the introduction of the morally tormented Kendra Shaw (both a woman and a minority!). But to me, the highlight of the entire BSG season was the episode, "Maelstrom," aka, "The 'Death' of Starbuck," focusing on the breakneck pilot's over-foreshadowed destiny. It ain't often a viewer is rooting for a main character to off herself.

Time Out New York: "The best (and worst) of TV 2007"

8) Battlestar Galactica (Sci Fi)
BSG’s hard left turn into the realm of Cylon mysticism could have been a disaster, but it quickly built to the series’ most gobsmacking cliff-hanger yet (no small feat for a program where each season has improbably ended on a more shocking note than the last).

USA Today's Pop Candy: "My Top 10 TV Shows of 2007"

2. Battlestar Galactica

AICN: "The 10 Best Scripted Hours on TV"

1) BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SciFi).
Only 11 hours of the series aired in 2007, beginning with “Rapture” and ending with “Razor.” The algae planet’s sun went supernova, Tyrol welcomed Baltar back to the fleet and a rogue D’Anna got to meet the final five. “Dirty Hands,” the class-struggle episode written by Jane Espenson, may be the series’ best stand-alone episode since season one. The three-episode arc that concludes season three (it deals with the introduction of wily kleptomaniac Romo Lampkin and the trial of Gaius Baltar) is phenomenal, capped by the reveal of four more Cylons. And vipers rocketing into battle to “All Along the Watchtower.” A song that, candidly, always belonged in outer space. Supercool on every level.

See Part 1 here (EW, MSN, Chicago Tribune).

Thanks to Mark Verheiden and the excellent Galactica Sitrep blog!

Galactica Season 3 DVD now available for pre-order

Pre-order Battlestar Galactica Season 3 now.

The six-disc Season 3 DVD set will feature the Resistance webisodes, the 20 S3 episodes, Ron Moore's podcast commentaries, David Eick's videoblogs and deleted scenes from all the episodes. The set will hit shelves on March 25th, but is available for pre-order from Amazon now.

The most exciting news is that "Unfinished Business" (aka the boxing episode) will feature an additional 25 minutes of material! Not sure if Helo will feature in any of it, but here's hoping.

PS: If you pre-order or buy the set by clicking the link above or in the Amazon slideshow at left, All about Tahmoh will get 5% of the proceeds at no cost to you. So if you're going to buy it anyway, please consider supporting the site while you do. Thanks!

Battlestar continues to charm critics in year-end lists

Despite its uneven year, Battlestar still retained its favor with critics, gracing several top ten lists. A nice dose of positive energy to cheer Galactica fans as the WGA strike continues.

In Entertainment Weekly, Stephen King chose Battlestar as one of his Top 5 TV Shows of the Year:

1. Lost
2. Damages
3. Battlestar Galactica

It sagged in the middle, but picked up at the end. The best of Battlestar are the tough-as-nails women. Call them Space Grrrls.

MSN 2007 Year in Review: Best TV Shows

1. The Office
2. The Sopranos
3. Man Men
4. The War
5. Battlestar Galactica

Sure, the third season may have been a bit disappointing compared to the first two, but then Led Zeppelin's third album wasn't as good as their first two either -- and we all know how quickly that became a classic. Baltar's trial, the standoff for the Eye of Jupiter, poor working conditions prompting a strike -- you can't say this year's episodes weren't eventful. Then there's the action-packed flashback film "Razor." Best of all, the last episode of the season ended with such a big bang that you just know it'll quickly push the fourth season into overdrive.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune named Galactica a runner up:

“Battlestar Galactica” (Sci Fi)

Though there were some wobbles in the second half of Season 3, the final four episodes of this drama’s third season, as well as the standalone movie “Razor,” proved once again why this space series is in a class by itself. There’s nothing like a good “Battlestar” plot twist to make your head spin, but the “holy cow” moments aren’t the main point (though they’re one heck of a tasty side dish). But the show and its twists and turns are grounded in deep curiosity about human nature, and how contradictory and confounding it can be. And some of its most provocative moments spring from an abiding interest in the ways in which people fight tyranny – and in doing so, sometimes become tyrants.

Vote for Battlestar in the People's Choice Awards

If you haven't already, be sure to vote for Battlestar Galactica in the People's Choice Awards. Voting closes on Wednesday. Galactica is nominated in the "Favorite Sci-fi Show" category.

The 34th Annual People's Choice Awards:

FAVORITE SCI-FI SHOW

"Battlestar Galactica"
"Doctor Who"
"Stargate Atlantis"

How to place your vote for BSG ....

• Go to http://www.pcavote.com/
• Click on the VOTE NOW button
• On the right hand side you will see VOTE BY CATEGORY
• Choose TELEVISION
• Click on Battlestar Galactica, click on CAST YOUR VOTE

Winners will be revealed during the live broadcast hosted by Queen Latifah from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, Tuesday, Jan. 8 (9:00-11:00 PM) on CBS.

High-res photos and article from BSG Digital Press Tour

Aced Magazine (like Yahoo, see post below) held the cast interviews and photos from the Battlestar Digital Press Tour earlier in the summer until the Razor premiere this last weekend.
Aced's cast interview article includes a long quote from Tahmoh about his love for Galactica, as well as a lot of high-res set and cast photos.

Fellow actor, Tahmoh Penikett, who portrays Karl Agathon, says about the show, "This is my favorite show on television, obviously I am biased, but it is. I know that last year, some of Michael Hogan's work touched me so deeply that—especially in the court scene—he had this moment where he was being pressed and he breaks, and he looks at Adama...

"I talked about that for weeks...I thought about it for weeks...it just broke me. I literally was weeping when I saw that. Just that connection...he was completely mad and he had this switch, and he looked at Adama, his best friend, and he just—he admitted it—it was so horrible and so touching....but there's been so many moments like that throughout the series with so much of the cast," he recalls.

Read the full article (& see the rest of the photos).

New Interview with Tahmoh at Galactica.TV

Marcel Damen from Galactica.TV had a chance to interview Tahmoh at the recent Wolf 3 Galactica Convention in London (see photos from the event here).

Marcel asked some great questions about Battlestar--both past episodes and what is to come--and Tahmoh's other projects, including Smallville, The Green Chain and Trick 'r Treat.

Here are some excerpts. Read the full interview here.

Can you tell us about The Green Chain and your character as Brett Hall?

I play a forest fire fighter, who going through rough times trying to support his family, and what have you. He doesn't have that much of an education. I think he was at one time probably the popular athletic guy, maybe the hockey player. The hockey star in high school, what have you, but he never finished his education. Hooked up with a girl, got her pregnant right away, so he's living in the typical small town BC (British Columbia). Living and trying to support his family by being a fire fighter and of course fire fighters up there... The forest fire fighters, they completely depend on whether there's a fire or not. So when there's no fire, there's no work. So he ends up having to work at the Dairy Queen, or what have you, to try to provide for his family. Yeah, that's the character I play in there. Really, it's a neat part. Each of us does these really lengthy monologues. It's probably the longest monologue I ever did.

I was also wondering how your father, a former Yukon Premiere would have felt about a movie like that?

Oh, he absolutely agrees with it. My dad's a left wing man, he's a socialist, he's the leader of the NDP (New Democratic Party), so he's very much... He's always been a conscious environmentalist and he's all about sustainable resources. I was raised in that environment. Of course my mother is First Nation, so I have a huge respect for the environment, Mother Nature and to just use what we need, and respecting the environment and what have you.

Okay. Can you tell us about Trick 'r Treat and your character Henry in that movie?

Yeah, I can't really say that much about it other than my character Henry is the loving husband to Emma, who's played by Leslie Bibb. She's a great actress, really funny, beautiful energy, and a nice spirit. Anyway, Henry is very much into Halloween. He loves it. He loves the tradition of it where as Emma isn't so keen as him. But it was a neat role. We had a loaded cast on that film: Brian Cox, Dylan Baker, Anna Paquin...

Is it working okay for you as a character, for Helo? Is it what you wished?

Yeah, it's good! I just finished some mid-season stuff that I'm really prevalent in. An opportunity to act with some actors who I haven't been able to work with for a while, so that's always fun. That's great, I'm really enjoying that. It's been some strong stuff.

Read the full interview.

Thanks to Marcel for a great interview and for sharing his convention photos!

Emmy win & other accolades for Battlestar Galactica

This Saturday at the Creative Arts Emmys, Galactica won the Emmy for Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series, for EXODUS PART 2. Congratulations!

Don't forget the Primetime Emmys will air this Sunday, September 16th. BSG is nominated for both Writing (OCCUPATION/PRECIPICE, Ron Moore) and Directing (EXODUS PART 2, Felix Alcala).

In other award news, Time magazine recently named Battlestar one the top 100 shows of all time. Here's what they had to say:

Like Rod Serling did with The Twilight Zone, Ronald D. Moore and David Eick use science fiction to write about current events, in this case, viewing the facts on the ground in the war on terror and the war in Iraq from the perspective of deep space. As in the campy 1970s series it remade, a distant civilization of humans has nearly been eradicated by the sentient robots, called Cylons, that they created. Here, many of the Cylons appear human, adding a layer of sleeper-cell paranoia and moral questions. The Cylons' evolved status raises philosophical questions—what does it mean to be human?—and complicates things morally when the human military waterboards Cylon captives and stages suicide bombings to end an occupation. A stark, well-imagined story of a war in a galaxy far, far away, yet too close for comfort.

The Time website includes a clip from the end of miniseries with Baltar and Six.

Finally, the UGO Top 50 TV shows of all time list is now complete as well and Galactica ranked number 3.

3. Battlestar Galactica, 2004-Present
The re-imagining of Battlestar Galactica had a lot working against it. Trying to remake a show that had become so ingrained in sci-fi fans' heads, and considered by many to be a classic, was a huge undertaking for producers David Eick and Ronald Moore. But when their 2003 miniseries got the highest ratings of any miniseries that year, it was certain they had hit the nail on the head.

BSG has shown a lot of backbone in its thinly veiled allegorical commentary on the Iraq War and the world we live in. It has cleverly portrayed both humans and cylons as playing both good and evil at various times. Whether you think the Colonial heroes are the righteous freedom lovers or the vicious suicide bombers of New Caprica, the show has accomplished it's goal: to make you think, or to at least consider the motivations and conditions of each faction, either in space or right here on Earth.

Battlestar snags 4 Emmy noms; 2 for writing/directing!

The official 2007 Emmy nominations are out and Galactica has been nominated in 4 categories, including two writing and directing noms. Glad to see the show getting some recognition!

Gold Derby and TV Guide are thrilled. (No one tell Ron the Emmys left his last name off the official nomination list... I guess when you write "Ronald D.", the Moore is implied...)

Hopefully this will all result in public appearances by the cast at the various swag, red carpet and after party events as it did last year. See photos and video of Tahmoh last year here.

Will Battlestar win? I've added a new site poll at right. Vote now! ---->

Outstanding Writing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Occupation/Precipice • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Ronald D. Moore, Written by

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Felix Alcala, Director

Outstanding Special Visual Effects For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Tom Archer, Lead Compositor
Brenda Campbell, Lead Compositor
Doug Drexler, CG Supervisor
Michael Gibson, Senior VFX Coordinator
Jeremy Hoey, Lead Matte Painter
Gary Hutzel, VFX Supervisor
Andrew Karr, CGI Supervisor
Alec McClymont, Lead CGI Artist/ Animator
Adam Mojo, CGI Sequence Designer

Outstanding Sound Editing For A Series
Battlestar Galactica • Exodus, Part 2 • Sci Fi Channel • R+D TV in association with NBC Universal Television Studio
Michael Baber, Music Editor
Vince Balunas, Sound Editor
Daniel Colman, Sound Editor
Jack Levy, Supervising Sound Editor
Doug Madick, Foley Artist
Rick Partlow, Foley Artist

Battlestar Galactica tops critics' lists

The end of the TV season has made critics reflective and Battlestar has been figuring in their thoughts. Here are three lists that include Galactica:

• TV Week: Critics Poll 2007 - Series
• Battlestar Galactica tied for 12th with Entourage.


• The Guardian: The far side - 5 of the best sci-fi/fantasy shows
• Battlestar tops the list, just ahead of Firefly.


• UGO: Top 50 TV shows of all time
• TBD... Battlestar will feature in the top 10, but the final results aren't in yet. I'll update when they're posted.
  

More new Helo Season 3 promo photos

Thanks to Michelle from Aaron Douglas Fans for finding these variant Season 3 Battlestar Galactica promotional images (for the two she found earlier go here). Click on the images for slightly larger versions.

The one with Sharon is sadly only about the size you see here, but the one of Helo alone is slightly larger than the version she found last week. Again if anyone else comes across higher-res versions of these pics, please pass them along!

Emmy Buzz for Battlestar; More All-Access Event links

Industry mag Variety's Award Central has posted their Top 10 Dramatic Moments from this year's TV season and Galactica tops the list.

10 dramatic moments from the 2006-07 TV season
Variety staffers select drop-dead drama scenes

1. BATTLESTAR GALACTICA
"Crossroads, Part 2" -- March 25

As music plays in their heads, building toward the jarring revelation of who is and isn't human, four of the five missing Cylons are revealed. If you're not a fan, this won't make a lick of sense; if you are, it was a frakkin' great moment.

According to the LA Times' Gold Derby, the episode the show submitted for Emmy consideration is the early third season episode "Collaborators" (episode summary here; pics of Helo in the ep here). Mary McDonnell (a Variety Emmy favorite) spoke with the LA Times about the show and the Emmys.

A few last links from the BSG All-Access event on June 6th.

• G4 - video highlights from the cast Q&A panel


• Kristin (E!Online) - a second video of her red carpet interviews


• Kristin also posted the rest of her "True, False or Frak-No-I'm-Not-Telling-You" game with Ron Moore, which actually included a question about Helo:

Helo is totally hot. "What? Helo?! No way. False." [I think he's kidding here!—K.V.]

See more video, photos and interviews from the All-Access event in my previous posts here and here.