"BATTLESTAR'S" BAMBER SPEAKS
By: Maureen Ryan
Source: Chicago TribuneThings look pretty bad for Apollo.
In the closing minutes of the shocking first-season finale of Sci Fi's "Battlestar Galactica," Lee "Apollo" Adama refused to go along with a military coup engineered by his father, Commander William Adama.
What's more, the senior Adama, military leader of the space fleet carrying the 50,000 survivors of Cylon attacks, was shot by a Cylon assassin in front of his handcuffed son. So, all things considered, Jamie Bamber likes how things are going for his character, Apollo.
"That was a great moment," Bamber said of Apollo's decision to support "Galactica's" president, Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell), and scuttle the coup. "It's defined [Apollo] in a new way. He isn't the son of the commanding officer anymore. He's completely alone in the fleet. His dad has been shot, he's an orphan, he's not defined by being the heir to a military tradition. He doesn't regret his decision for a second. For the first time, he can truly be an individual, rather than [someone] trapped in this military world."
Apollo's not a literal orphan, Bamber hastens to add. Though papa Adama was shot in the finale, he's still alive at the beginning of Season 2, which begins July 15. "But Dad's out of the equation" as far as his son's concerned, Bamber said by phone from the Vancouver set of the show. "Dad's not there to tell him what to do. [Apollo is] looked to in his own right as a person of influence and resources."
And the powers that be can't let a hotshot military pilot stay locked up forever, Bamber notes. "They have to let him out, to do what he does best."
More from Jamie Bamber:
[On the making of Season 2] The only thing that's really changed [in season two] is that we're doing 20 episodes instead of 13, it's a bit of a surprise to us and it's different. It's nice to be a success, and have the confidence of the network and the reviewers and everyone, but at the same time, it's changed the nature of the job. It starts to become more of a way of life, rather than just a short term shoot. That can be worrying just in terms of the future, but I'm thrilled to be back. I'm thrilled to be working on the stories, and so far I love what's going on for my character. But for me this is quite a relocation. Thus far I've been very much London based, now 9 months of my life is in Vancouver.
[On the critical raves and audience reaction] I think the amazingly positive press has really astounded me, What we've done I suppose is surprise people. People had expectations that were lower, what we've done is manage to surprise them with the depth and the breadth and the content of the show. It's very political, it's very social, it's all about interpersonal relationships. It's not really about technology or concepts. There's a great deal in it that comments very directly on the world and climate we live in. sometimes if you tell a story in a parallel [world], you can sometimes be a little more brazen with your commentary. "The West Wing," I'm sure they have to be very careful when they depict events, they are depicting a version of [our own] reality, so it seems real to people. We can do an Abu Ghraib epsidode which isn't so readily associated with real people.
[On the themes of the show] It's that human struggle of waking up every day in the world and trying to make sense of a sometimes absurd existence. We all try to do that. These people are searching for meaning in very fragmented lives, but that's what we all do when you pare it down. When you pare it down to 50,000 people, the drama is greater. That's the essence of good drama, it's about trying to find out why and what, it's a quest for meaning. We've got our own refugees [in our world], people are just trying to find a place to thrive and prosper in the galaxy. I think that's also ke to it, it's not about party politics, it examines many different things and we can debate whther the cylons are more sympathetic than humans, and that often suprises people. In the original, it was much more a good versus evil story.
There is, in the second second season, further confusion about the cylons, some fight other cylons [along] with humans. It's not just a simple analogy for Al Quaeda. There are all sort of religious themes in the whole relationship.
[On Lee Adama's refusal to go along with the coup] It was a little disappointing, there was a little more on the cutting room floor that colored the process [of Lee making that decision], but the gut, snap decision to not go through with the military coup, the way it turned out in the second season -- it was a great moment. It's defined [Apollo] in a new way. He isn't the son of the commanding officer anymore. He's completely alone in the fleet. His dad has been shot, he's an orphan, he's not defined by being the heir to a military tradition. He doesn't regret his decision for a second. For the first time, he can truly be an individual, rather than [someone] trapped in this military world.
[On the troubled relationship between the Adamas] Lee finds himself at that certain agin where he questions everything his life has been about. The catalyst was his brother's death. He blames his dad for that, rightly or wrongly. Every child grows up and questions his or her parents, at some point you question the path they've taken for y ou. Lee's definitely disillusioned in my mind. Galactica's [decommissioning] was the last thing he was going to do as an officer, then the end of the world happened, and he's constrained to accept that he is a pilot and that's the only way he can be useful. He can't turn his back on it, but there's an element of reluctance about him.
Strong feelings are a great indicator [of strong love], even if it's resentment or anger, that comes from love. They've been through a rough time, they've suffered a death. But you see how they react to situations in similar ways, they even like each other, but they're non verbal. They're men. They've got resentment and misunderstandings and they choose for those not to be voiced. They're just boxed in. You also get that sense of male competition, but there's also respect. It's a great relationship to play.
[On Commander Adama's condition as Season 2 begins] It's touch and go. When I said orphan, I didn't literally mean Lee's an orphan. But Dad's out of the equation. Dad's not there to tell him what to do. [Apollo is] looked to in his own right as a person of influence and resources, even though he's in prison and has committed a mutinous act.
[On Edward James Olmos] As a person, he's warm and generous. He's very much the heart and soul and the conscience of the show. Us younger actors look up to him as a father. I have massive respect on a personal level, as an actor, he's got an amazing presence and he is able to leave so much unsaid and communicate so much. It's a privilege to watch him. A lot of actors are cynical and jaded and looking to their own future, rather than [focusing on] the work. He really cares about this show and believes in it and it rubs off on everyone.
[On the relationship between Lee and "Starbuck," fellow pilot and his brother's former fiancé] It's like lots of relationships, you can't simplify it. There's nothing easy about it. They are indisputably attracted to each other. But it's latent. There's so much guilt for the dead brother and dead fiancé between them. Then arguably, she's more responsible for his death than anybody else, yet he blames his dad for it. Can they get together knowing there's the dead brother between them? That's really awkward.
And [Commander Adama] really really relies on her, she's like a daughter to him, he's close to her and Lee resents that. On the professional side, lee's a pretty damn good pilot, but [before this] he's never paid his dues. Starbuck is sort of the go-to officer to pull irons out of the fire. He's working hard to do his job, but he's sort of overshadowed by her.
But then at the end of the first season, when she sleeps with Baltar, he doesn't even know why he's so angry, why he has all these feelings about it. It's a great thing to play, it's not on the surface, it's not really vocalized. He has no idea how much he needs Starbuck and how much he feels for her.
[On working with Richard Hatch] It's a thrill for me, since I watched the original show. I was pretty nervous about [him coming to do the show], I wondered what he would make of everything and I wondered if he wouldn't be so please with what we were doing. But I read the script and they brought him in for the best reasons. I enjoyed meeting hime and he's a such a generous, warm guy. He's actually here on the set today.
[Comparing making the "Horatio Hornblower" films, on which he worked with "Fantastic Four's" Ioan Gruffudd, to "Battlestar Galactica"] "Horatio" was the first job I ever had, it was on and off for three years, so I sort of grew up with it. In a sort of similar way, that happened with "Galactica," we did two years on and off. With "Horatio," it felt more like we did little movies, rather than a series, we shot two movies at a time, with gaps of six months or a year between.
For me it was the most memorable thing I'd ever done, I was new and fresh and I met friends who became lifelong friends, I also experience a very romantic era in history. Especially living in the UK, there's nostalgia for that Napoleonic era. It was an amazing thing to do, my eyes were open wide the whole time, the ships, the costumes, firing muskets, it was a schoolboy dream come true. With "Galactica," it's a trip to get inside a Viper and all that, but I'm a mature actor. There were actually tough moments in both, but they're my two favorite jobs to date.