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War and Peace: James Callis
We caught up with James Callis at the 13th Annual SF Ball,
where he revealed a bit about the future of Battlestar
Galactica, Baltar’s dark side and his first kiss with Tricia...
SciFiNow: Are you put off by having to attend
sci-fi conventions like this one? James Callis: No, not at all! Fantasy is very
important in all our lives. You need dreams, you
need R&R and I think that the genre allows you to go
there. Sci-fi fans demonstrate a great understanding
of the universe and a generosity of spirit that is
potent and powerful; the more there are, the better!
SFN:A lot of sci-fi features messianic figures
and we reckon Gaius kind of fits the bill in
some ways. Would you agree with that? JC: I would, yes! Gaius definitely fits in there. You
know, with the long hair and the beard – some
people would say he looks like Jesus. Well, Jesus
or Saddam, I’m not quite sure! I’d imagine a ‘messiah complex’ makes the individual believe that
somehow, through them, the understanding of the
world will be worked out. And it’s a huge
piece of narcissism, in that sense, isn’t
it? To believe that you, out of the millions
and millions of people and animals, you,
personally, are the divine being… you’ve
gotta think a lot of yourself! Yes he has
that, I think it’s fair to say. If he was less
confused he might be more dangerous but he’s
constantly being sidetracked by one thing or the
other; whether it’s a beautiful woman or somebody
wanting to cut his head off, he can’t quite focus on
that thing, and I think that in the coming season, at
least, this is going to be developed more.
SFN: Do you think there’s a danger of BSG
becoming a little too dark? JC: I guess with all of the terrorism and war and
everything on the news at the moment, there is a
danger of having too much sadness and despair,
and that’ll make people turn off. But the thing
about BSG is, we’re not just a show interested in
entertaining, we’re interested in subverting politics.
The premise of our show is the same as the premise
of the Seventies’ show – the only difference is
that after the world’s blown up we don’t go to the
disco planet! [Laughs] The darkness of BSG when
I watched it as a kid was what hooked me – it was
different, because the goodies didn’t always win. So
I’m proud to be a part of the remake and I’m glad
that they’ve managed to maintain that darkness,
but it’s balanced with hope.
SFN: Are there any aspects of Gaius’ character
that appeal to you, ways you’d like to be more
like him?
JC: Woah, yeah, I’d love to be brilliant like that, I’d
love to be a genius, and, you know, I’m really not
[Laughs]. What else? In the show, they make Gaius
very lucky with the ladies. Not that I’ve been unlucky,
but I think he’s luckier than I am! [Laughs] He has a
certain, interesting way about him… I guess he’s a
bit shitty. And that bad boy thing is quite attractive
– I think – to women. I’m not like that, and that’s
probably why I’m less attractive. His sexy/careless
attitude is something that’s been totally foisted
on me by the writing, by the producers, that’s not
something I’ve brought to the show, they’re like:
“we’re gonna stick you with Tricia, we’re gonna
stick you with Katee, we’re gonna stick you with
whoever...” [Laughs]
SFN: He’s quite hedonistic really, isn’t he?
JC: Yes! I think that he has been a real pleasure
seeker… and he’s still seeking pleasure! And he’s so
self-serving. He does something despicable, then
two minutes later, he’s all remorseful and confused
again and you feel sorry for him. I really wanted to
explore his humanism and show how multi-faceted
people can be. The fact of the matter is, we’re not
doing Happy Days! This season is darker than
anything I’ve been involved with before and I’ve
loved every minute of it!
SFN: Do you like the direction the show’s
heading in, or is there anything you’d change?
JC: One of the mistakes, I think, is that we showed
everything about the Cylon world, and the kitchen
sink, immediately! The story could have been told
better, and the tension could have been held if we’d
seen less. One of the huge strengths of the show
initially was: you never knew who they were, what
they could be like, and so the whole show had this
amazing atmosphere. To suddenly show them,
the way they’re walking around the base ship and
whatever… When we were making it, it felt less
exciting, because it was less threatening. It’s like
a horror story, and horror works when things are
implicated, but you don’t necessarily see them.
When I was speaking to Ron [Moore] about it, Ron
just looked at me and went “Why don’t we have
these conversations before we make the thing,
James?! Of course that’s the way we wanted to do
it, of course… and we’ve already written the whole
thing and it’s too late now!” [Laughs] But I think that
tension is ratcheted back amazingly towards the end
of the season, and we go from, as it were, holocaust,
and we’re heading steadily towards apocalypse,
by the end of this season. You’re gonna see some
shocking stuff pretty soon… Baltar… a lot happens
to him, let’s put it that way! And it’s not fun!
SFN: Have you ever found playing the bad guy
a bit consuming?
JC: Yes! But I had some great advice from my father
who was just like, “You know what James, save the
acting for the job.” [Laughs] That’s it! It’s hard to do
sometimes, but it’s dangerous if you don’t.
SFN: There’s a lot of speculation
about Gaius being a Cylon…
JC: He does struggle with that
thought himself, but he can’t possibly
be a Cylon – that wouldn’t work, if he’s
running around feeling guilty, only to
turn out to be a machine! But I think
part of him wants him to be… in the same way
that someone wants to belong to a fashionable
gang or cult, that is! He doesn’t feel connected to
his fellow humans so he wanders around like a fish
out of water, wanting to belong.*
SFN: Speaking of Cylons: you spend a lot of
time acting with Tricia Helfer, is it difficult
doing those scenes where she’s not there and
you basically have to talk to yourself?
JC: Only in terms of eye-line, trying to remember
exactly where you might be looking. It’s one of those
things that’s quite fun to do.
SFN: Finally, the all-important question: what’s
it like kissing Tricia?
JC: To kiss someone as beautiful as Tricia is lovely.
She’s my friend. You know, they made us kiss on
the fi rst day on set – a brilliant way to break the ice!
I was trying to be gentlemanly, so I went over and
said: “Listen, I don’t want you to be embarrassed,
I’m a man, you’re a lady, this is just acting”. Tricia
just looked at me and said: “You can do whatever
you do buddy, but I’m going for it!” [Laughs]
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