Monday 22 February 2010

Cast interviews: Aleks Paunovic and Scott Porter

Two new interviews today. Aleks Paunovic, who will appear as William Adama (Joseph and Sam's dad) later in the season, talked to Vancouver Observer about working on Battlestar, the short film he has done with Tahmoh Penikett, and Caprica.

WD: What do you have coming out that we can look for?
AP: Guido Superstar, which is a Silvio Pollio film. John Cassini is one of the producers. Michael Eklund and I popped in for some funny cameos which we had a great time doing. Caprica, which is a spin off series from Battlestar Galactica, where I got a fantastic role of the grandfather, the leader of the resistance of the Adama family.

I have so much respect for that franchise. Tahmoh was one of the leads in the Battlestar franchise. To be a part of that family and to hang out with them, Mary McDonnell, and Edward James Olmos the academy award winning actor, and to fit into it within Caprica with Esai Morales. I'm grateful, very grateful for it.-- Vancouver Observer

And Cinema Spy has a nice, long interview with Scott Porter.

CinemaSpy: Let’s talk about Caprica. Although ostensibly about the invention of a race of robots, Caprica is really a drama about a booming civilization on the brink of crisis. What attracted you to the role of Nestor?

Scott Porter: It was the general and overall mythology of Battlestar Galactica. How I got that role was very unique and serendipitous. I was presenting an award at the Saturn Awards and I saw the creative team and a lot of the actors from Battlestar Galactica, and I don’t usually do it but I walked up to them and I said "I am the biggest fan of your show, in what you are able to do in space but making it a comment on our world today. What do we do when we have nothing left but each other and we are on the run? How closely does humanity work together then? It is so amazing." And two of them said "Jason Street? We are fans of Friday Night Lights." It was so odd to know that people who are in such a high concept science fiction show like Battlestar Galactica watch Friday Night Lights. Maybe for them, it was visa versa. At the heart of both shows, is people and how they interact with each other, whether it is in a small town or in outer space. We got that in each other.

A week later I got a call and they said "Look, we don’t have anything written for this character. We could tell you his basic arc but we would like to offer it to you." And I said "Of course!" So there was never an audition. It was weird. It wasn’t that I was drawn to the character specifically because we didn’t really know what he was yet. He was kind of nebulous. But the opportunity to work with the pedigree of people that created Battlestar Galactica was what drew me to it.

CinemaSpy: But then when did you realize that you would be the youngest husband in a group marriage with Polly Walker’s character, who also seems to be hooked on smoking something that looks a bit stronger than tobacco?

Scott Porter:
Only when I got the script. I had no idea. I knew was going to be part of an organization that is responsible for the Cylons having consciousness and we are kind of the beginning of the end for humanity as we knew it. We are a bit of religious zealots. It is crazy to put yourself in those shoes but it was something I have never been afforded the luxury of playing before. He is definitely a character that has beliefs in something so deep and he is affected by it so much that he is willing to do great deeds of evil to get [things] done. It is a very cool character to play. I don’t want to spoil the plot too much but I think you kind of see the seeds of who the good guys are and who the bad guys are right off the bat. It is not about keeping secrets from the fans. It is more about describing how they got on a [space] ship 60 years from now, and that is a very cool reverse storytelling opportunity. I just want to tell good stories and this is one of the best. -- Cinema Spy

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