Jamie Bamber on ‘Battlestar,’ family and more
By: TERRY MORROW, Scripps Howard News Service
Source: The News Tribune

When actor Jamie Bamber saw a script for the remake of "Battlestar Galactica," he had a shrinking feeling.

"But I guess that’s normal for any remake," says Bamber, 32. "You should go into it wondering why (anything) should be remade."

After nabbing the role of swashbuckling Apollo Adama, Bamber realized how serious this new version would be. The producers shipped him and other cast members off to a two-day Army boot camp for physical training and "to get the right mental attitude," he says.

"We did drills, running around, taking orders, learning rank structure," Bamber says. "They didn’t take any (stuff) off us. I come from a very non-military background, so this was different for me."

This was the first project that Bamber agreed to do after leaving a British military series called "Ultimate Force."

On "Battlestar" (returning with new episodes at 8 p.m. EDT Friday, Sci-Fi Channel), Bamber plays the survivor of a planetary disaster.

After the villainous Cylons devastate his world, he and other refugees head toward Earth.

Apollo’s father, Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos), is in the thick of political infighting among the leadership of the refugees.

Unlike many sci-fi shows, which emphasize special effects or alien threats over character development, Bamber says "Galactica" has a different style.

For his character, the show is "more about the relationship between a father and a son," he says. "That’s what I have locked into because it’s a fundamental relationship that we all have. You try to make different decisions than your dad as you grow up.

"Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn’t. I was struck by how that works for this character."

Apollo is trying to prove himself in the shadow of a father who is larger than life, says Bamber. The actor is a U.S. citizen who has never lived in the States. He lives in London, but plans to move here. His father is an American.

He has three children, two of whom are twins. They are all under 2 years old. Bamber is married to Kerry Norton, a British actress.

"Marriage is all about that," he says, "bringing up the kids. When we got married, we already had a 3-month-old, and the twins came shortly after that."

He says he likes how family elements can work well in a cosmic drama.

"When sci-fi is all about the surface, about gadgets and what-not, then I am not as interested in it and I don’t think the audience is either," he says.

"When it is about relationships, the human drama, then it’s much more interesting to explore. Good sci-fi shows how different the world may be, but how much we have in common."