Battlestar's Roslin Lives On

Source: SciFi Wire

Mary McDonnell, who plays former president Laura Roslin in SCI FI Channel's original series Battlestar Galactica, told SCI FI Wire that she feared the worst last year when it seemed that her breast cancer had reached a critical point. Roslin was saved at the last minute by Baltar (James Callis), who injected her with blood from a human-Cylon infant, but Roslin's long-term prognosis and the political ramifications of Baltar's actions remain to be seen. As season three begins on Oct. 6, the former president is working as a teacher in the human settlement on New Caprica, whose government is led by the current president, Baltar.

"I was very worried that they were writing me out," McDonnell said in a conference call. "As a matter of fact I still think they were, and James Callis convinced them not to, and so he offered this solution of the stem-cell transplant. Actually, no, not really. But it was a very insecure feeling, even though one knew rationally or one believed. ... And so I think there were two things going on in me. One was a little bit of anxiety about the future, and the other one was the commitment to getting as much of the job done as I could before it was curtains."

McDonnell added: "In terms of that and how it plays out in season three, it is really yet to be known, the implications of the way her life was saved, either how it affected her or how it affects certain relationships. But it's underneath the surface, and eventually certain things are said about it. But we'll see how it affects the story, I think, later on." Battlestar Galactica launches its third season with a two-hour premiere in its regular timeslot, Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT.