Aaron Douglas - Galactic amongst fans, Chief's interview before Convention at Brisbane

Source: Brisbane Times

Aaron Douglas, the star of science fiction favourite Battlestar Galactica, is taking time out of his busy schedule of fighting robots and defending the human race to visit his fans in Brisbane.

The Canadian native is best known as Chief Tyrol in Battlestar – a role which has launched him into science fiction stardom. The show won a cult following in its first incarnation in the 1970s – and the remake, in which Douglas stars, now has a massive following on the Sci-Fi Channel. Douglas has also had smaller roles in hit movies such as The Chronicles of Riddick and X-Men 2, and television shows Dark Angel and Smallville.

He spoke to brisbanetimes.com.au entertainment reporter Scott Casey this week.

SC: You entered acting later than most of your contemporaries – what led you into an acting career?

Aaron: For four years after high school I was a floor layer – I did a lot of construction work until my knees gave out. So I went and worked for a software company doing marketing, then a sports nutrition company… and quit when I was 26 or 27. After a year at acting school, I got an agent and here I am. My mom says I used to say I wanted to be an actor but I’m sure I wanted to be a lawyer…now I’d only be a TV lawyer. If I had to sit in front of a computer for 16 hours a day I’d want to shoot myself in the head!

SC: Battlestar was your big break – why do you think the show has been so successful?

Aaron: Battlestar’s popularity really starts with it’s great writing. It’s real human drama, with real human emotion, and the writers don’t pull an punches – they really tell it like it is, hold a mirror up to the world and start discussions. It’s just top to bottom an outstanding show to work. Compared to the other shite that’s on TV, you don’t have to go far to whip them.

SC: How intense is the filing of Battlestar?

Aaron: We take eight days to film each episode. When you are in scenes that are in different locations then you’ll work a lot – they go to one set and shoot all the scenes from that set, so if you’re in multiple scenes then you’ll work a whole bunch. Battlestar starts filming on May 14, so once we start we’re going we’ll shoot until March 2008, so we don’t really have time to do much else.