Post by ashoka1 on Mar 22, 2005 15:59:46 GMT -5
(It's been a while since I've kept up with the site, so feel free to delete this if it's a repost)
Now Playing Magazine
Hatch: Tom Zarek Will Return
Written by Scott Collura
Monday, 24 January 2005
Original Battlestar Galactica star Richard Hatch appeared in the Sci Fi Channel's reimagined version of the show this past Friday night, and early reports are indicating that the episode had even higher ratings than the previous week's season premiere. Hatch recently talked with Now Playing about his spin on the new show, and he also gave us some details on what to expect when he returns to Galactica on another episode later this season.
"[In] the second episode, because we went out and took on the challenge of getting the ice to the ship, many of us have earned our freedom," Hatch says of his character Tom Zarek. "So I've earned my freedom and then basically I get nominated by Sagitarian to be their representative to the government when they're going to have the elections. They're trying to rebuild the Quorum of the Twelve... and I get not only nominated, but I raise the issue that we don't have a vice-president, and what happens if the President dies? And of course all of a sudden it becomes this adversarial, very challenging relationship between the President, Mary McDonnell, and me. She does not want me to be her vice-president, and so it gets into a very political entanglement of her trying to stop me from having any political power at all. I go from being a prisoner onboard the ship to actually being a political adversary."
The episode, "Colonial Day," which is the eleventh segment of season one, will allow the actor to play opposite more of the cast this time out.
"I play scenes, because we're at the Quorum, with multiple characters," says Hatch. "I get involved with Mary McDonnell, Edward Olmos, I deal with Jamie Bamber still. I also get [time] with the new Baltar character. He's starting to deal with him, because Baltar actually runs against me for vice-president."
Hatch also has a sense of the events that led Zarek to where we find him in the show - as a controversial political prisoner.
"Essentially, the political leadership on Sagitarian was almost a dictatorship," the actor explains. "They were oppressing the people, they were torturing the people. I liken it to Iraq. And this man decided that he wasn't going to take it, and he first politically stood against them and tried to run against them. But they wouldn't allow fair elections. Ultimately, he began to realize that there was only one way. Step by step, he was moved to acts of terrorism in order to challenge the government, which was not listening. And basically, as a result of that, he was arrested. And then, this is not quite clear and it's something that I'd like to sit and talk to [creator] Ron Moore about, once he did that, he was given an opportunity for immunity. He chose to go to jail rather than take the immunity, and therefore he went to jail for his political beliefs."
For Hatch, who played Apollo in the original show, Zarek is an actor's dream come true. He says that the complexities of the character have made working on Galactica one of the most satisfying jobs he's ever had as an actor.
"It's interesting. People who watched it are like, 'Oh man, you play such a bad buy,'" he says of the first episode. "And I go, 'What are you talking about?' I played him as a good guy. Everything I was doing I believed in. Many times people may be motivated by ideals that lead them to doing bad things for good reasons. I think you get into a very interesting area there."
As for season two - if a season two does get greenlit, that is - Hatch has high hopes for another return as Zarek.
"I haven't talked to [Moore] yet, but the way the second show ends, you'll see it's set up very clearly to bring me back," he says. "The adversarial relationship between the President, Adama, and Tom Zarek - you see that this character is now going to present a major challenge to her. There's still the elections ahead of us, which is basically what I say at the end of the episode: "I'll see you in six months."
Now Playing Magazine
Hatch: Tom Zarek Will Return
Written by Scott Collura
Monday, 24 January 2005
Original Battlestar Galactica star Richard Hatch appeared in the Sci Fi Channel's reimagined version of the show this past Friday night, and early reports are indicating that the episode had even higher ratings than the previous week's season premiere. Hatch recently talked with Now Playing about his spin on the new show, and he also gave us some details on what to expect when he returns to Galactica on another episode later this season.
"[In] the second episode, because we went out and took on the challenge of getting the ice to the ship, many of us have earned our freedom," Hatch says of his character Tom Zarek. "So I've earned my freedom and then basically I get nominated by Sagitarian to be their representative to the government when they're going to have the elections. They're trying to rebuild the Quorum of the Twelve... and I get not only nominated, but I raise the issue that we don't have a vice-president, and what happens if the President dies? And of course all of a sudden it becomes this adversarial, very challenging relationship between the President, Mary McDonnell, and me. She does not want me to be her vice-president, and so it gets into a very political entanglement of her trying to stop me from having any political power at all. I go from being a prisoner onboard the ship to actually being a political adversary."
The episode, "Colonial Day," which is the eleventh segment of season one, will allow the actor to play opposite more of the cast this time out.
"I play scenes, because we're at the Quorum, with multiple characters," says Hatch. "I get involved with Mary McDonnell, Edward Olmos, I deal with Jamie Bamber still. I also get [time] with the new Baltar character. He's starting to deal with him, because Baltar actually runs against me for vice-president."
Hatch also has a sense of the events that led Zarek to where we find him in the show - as a controversial political prisoner.
"Essentially, the political leadership on Sagitarian was almost a dictatorship," the actor explains. "They were oppressing the people, they were torturing the people. I liken it to Iraq. And this man decided that he wasn't going to take it, and he first politically stood against them and tried to run against them. But they wouldn't allow fair elections. Ultimately, he began to realize that there was only one way. Step by step, he was moved to acts of terrorism in order to challenge the government, which was not listening. And basically, as a result of that, he was arrested. And then, this is not quite clear and it's something that I'd like to sit and talk to [creator] Ron Moore about, once he did that, he was given an opportunity for immunity. He chose to go to jail rather than take the immunity, and therefore he went to jail for his political beliefs."
For Hatch, who played Apollo in the original show, Zarek is an actor's dream come true. He says that the complexities of the character have made working on Galactica one of the most satisfying jobs he's ever had as an actor.
"It's interesting. People who watched it are like, 'Oh man, you play such a bad buy,'" he says of the first episode. "And I go, 'What are you talking about?' I played him as a good guy. Everything I was doing I believed in. Many times people may be motivated by ideals that lead them to doing bad things for good reasons. I think you get into a very interesting area there."
As for season two - if a season two does get greenlit, that is - Hatch has high hopes for another return as Zarek.
"I haven't talked to [Moore] yet, but the way the second show ends, you'll see it's set up very clearly to bring me back," he says. "The adversarial relationship between the President, Adama, and Tom Zarek - you see that this character is now going to present a major challenge to her. There's still the elections ahead of us, which is basically what I say at the end of the episode: "I'll see you in six months."
