Jamie Bamber of Battlestar Galactica
By: Daniel Robert Epstein
Source: UGO

Jamie Bamber first caught the attention of genre fans as Captain Lee "Apollo" Adama in the SCI FI Channel miniseries, Battlestar Galactica. Now he returns to fight the Cylons again in the ongoing series which premieres Friday, January 14th at 9PM. Jamie also appeared on the HBO miniseries, Band of Brothers.

UGO: How’s Battlestar Galactica?

JAMIE BAMBER: It’s been kind of amazing. For a guy from London to get over there and work with amazing American actors in Vancouver and LA has been great. The writing is surprising and different.

UGO: How much different is it doing the series compared to the miniseries?

JAMIE: It’s a little different because you come into it with that buzz of approval. We know that someone somewhere liked what we did. Now we’re doing it for a reason. Now we’re getting to work with everyone again, so it’s great to continue that. You get that whole thrill of starting a story that you don’t know how it’s going to end.

"I was [a fan] in the sense that a five-year-old kid can be a fan."

UGO: Were you a fan of the original series?

JAMIE: I was in the sense that a five-year-old kid can be a fan. I loved the effects and it had cool chicks. I didn’t have a very mature take on it.

UGO: When did you first get that call that it was going to become a series?

JAMIE: We were supposed to be told by the 31st of December, then that deadline passed and they bought our contracts for an extra month. Then lo and behold at the end of January I still hadn’t heard anything. I went out for a meal with my wife and friends, we were drinking then I got a call waking me up at two in the morning. It was my agent telling me we got picked up.

UGO: What do you think the defining moment of your character was in the miniseries?

JAMIE: I guess it was this tiny moment when I come back aboard the Galactica after having been presumed dead. I’m given an order by Edward James Olmos’ Commander Adama and I say I understand. There was a need to acknowledge their father/son relationship. Also there is another time when the Commander finds me looking at a picture of my dead mother. There is a sense that we are cut from the same stone and we are in the same predicament.

UGO: Are those issues dealt with right away in the regular series or do we have to wait a bit?

JAMIE: These two guys will always have issues. In the series there are moments where they find themselves reacting to situations in a surprisingly similar way. But they are always these non-verbal moments they have with one another. The more verbal moments show their differences. It’s never going to be easy because there is baggage in their relationship. My favorite scene is when they are boxing one another and they never say a word. You get everything about their relationship with their competitiveness and their love and compassion. But in a very male way they show it through fighting.

UGO: What can you tell me about what happens to your character?

"You get everything about their relationship with their competitiveness and their love and compassion. But in a very male way they show it through fighting."

JAMIE: The character’s story is all about finding a role for himself in this new life of combating the Cylons and trying to find a new home. In the miniseries you see that he doesn’t belong on the battleship. In my mind, the backstory was that he was about to quit the military because he questioned it after the death of his brother, but then the end of the world happens. So he has to do what he was trained to do, which is fight. He has, at times, had to make decisions revolving around what he believes, what the president wants and what his father wants.

UGO: Have you dealt much with Battlestar Galactica fans?

JAMIE: I haven’t been to any conventions other than the San Diego Comic-Con in 2003. I’ve spoken to a few fans and I’ve found them amazingly respectful and enthusiastic. Occasionally I get curious so I go on the internet and the general gist seems to be positive. Some people really hate it, which I find amusing, and other times I see their point.

UGO: What superpower would you want to have?

JAMIE: To be anywhere at any time. Travel at the speed of light.

UGO: What are your favorite DVDs?

JAMIE: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.