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One on One with Edward James Olmos

Wednesday, 05 August 2009

By Jamie Ruby

http://scifivision. com

Edward James Olmos is a man of many talents, though he confesses he had to learn everything he knows, often saying, ?I have become the best I can be.? However, everyone knows that no one can be that great without a lot of natural talent. Olmos is known for his versatility in many roles, though is probably best known for his work in the movie Blade Runner and on the television show Battlestar Galactica, a remake of the old classic.

Olmos recently made a special appearance in Cleveland at the Screaming Tiki Convention where he participated in a panel discussion on Saturday. On Sunday he sat down with Jamie Ruby of MediaBlvd for an exclusive interview.

Olmos told MediaBlvd that he has a hard time choosing a favorite role. ?I really never had a favorite role because they?ve all been favorites. It?s like asking me which one of my six children that I like the most, you know. It?s not easy, but they?re all so different.? He did; however, find one role more challenging then the others. ?The hardest role that I?ve done was [for] Selena. Playing Abraham Quintanilla, the father, was very difficult for me, because it was so close to her death. He was the only one of the family who was around the set, so every time we would finish a scene, they?d holler cut; I?d see that he?d be in pain, in heaving sobs, in the corner, and it really became very difficult.?

Olmos had a lot to say about his work on Blade Runner, in which he played the role of Gaff. At the time the movie was released, it was laughed off the screen. No one knew then that over 20 years later it would become such a phenomenon. ?No one knew where this journey was going to lead us,? Olmos said. The actor had complete creative control over his character then. He helped create the culture of the show as well as invented ?city speak? for the film. Much of his character was his own improvisation that got used in the film.

Olmos often compares Blade Runner to the series Battlestar Galactica, for which he has gained critical acclaim for his role of William Adama. Like Blade Runner, its success was a surprise. He tells fans that the events in Blade Runner are what he believes happen to the characters of Battlestar Galactica after the series (and subsequent movie(s)) have ended.  In 2008 we finished the series [Battlestar Galactica]  The very last words that are said on Battlestar is, it has happened before,  it will happen again. That's the very last shot as Baltar and Six walk away. Grab the final edition, the final take of Blade Runner, put it right after, and you're going to see that the world of Battlestar connects directly to the world of Blade Runner. And you'll see how Adama fought Cylons - genetically his genes came out to be Gaff.

And Gaff is the only=2 0blade runner in Blade Runner. And he's the one who fights the rebels. So you're going see something.  Did Ron Moore know he was going to do that? Did any of us know that they were connected with it.   No. But you can put them right in. So if you want to know what happens to this world, what has happened before will happen again. Put Blade Runner right in there and you'll know exactly what happened.

When Olmos was offered the part of Adama, at first he wasn't interested. They sent me the script and I was asked to read it, and at first I didn?t want to read it and I ended up asking my wife and my wife read it and she ended up [telling] me that I should read it and the script was a very, very important piece, and I did read it after that and I was blown away by the story and by everything about it.

Olmos was hesitant in the beginning and told the show runners that Galactica had to be about the humanity.  I signed the contract and the contract stated, the first four-eyed monster I see, I'm going to faint on camera.  And then I'm going to be having a heart attack so you guys have to say, "Guy died!   I'm off the show. It's in my contract guys. They were so scared to do the hybrid. But I said, No, no, no, it's part human and part machine.  That's not what I was talking about.  I wanted to really make the thing a human story.  And they went for it.

When playing the part of Adama, Olmos didn't need to do research for his character. He draws his inspiration from music. It's really imperative that my characters have [music]. I have to learn something about them in order to expound on them and really create them, and in this case, I found Deva Premal's albums, and ended up listening to them which drove me into understanding Battlestar's world, and it became the centerpiece. It helped Bear McCreary, and it helped the editors edit the very first production. It was really ? I take my hat off to that music. And there were mantras that she was singing and kind of like prayers, but she had put melodies and sang them and they were so enlightening, it was almost like a cross between Gaelic and ancient music, just using her contemporary instruments, but they were so haunting that they became the centerpiece of how I could create this world? I needed my imagination to open, and that?s what the music does. Music has a tendency to be probably the most prolific way of honoring the lines to feel safe and to explore and to go into those places. Some people need drugs; I do it with music.?

Olmos has a hard time choosing a favorite scene from the series. ?I don?t know, it?s hard to say, this program was so beautifully constructed that it?s hard for me to say, ?This is my favorite scene, this is my favorite,? you know. I like the whole journey. So for me it?s just a matter of realizing that, you know, as far as I?m concerned if people really want to see something they should start from the beginning and take the journey.? Although he did say that working with his son Bodie on the show was ?probably the high point of the whole experience.?

However, during the panel, Olmo?s did talk about one of his favorite scenes in Galactica. It was one of the last scenes of the miniseries (which preceded the series), which was the first scene they filmed when the whole cast was together. It was his decision that as admiral he should stand with his crew as they gave their respects to the dead. They had not rehearsed the scene. After saying, ?So say we all!? with his power and conviction behind it, the cast repeated it themselves and it became one of the most defining moments of the series, if not one of the=2 0most defining moments of science fiction.

Olmos has also directed four episodes of the series as well as the television movie, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. He enjoys working on both sides of the camera. ?I enjoy acting and I love directing. I love acting, I love producing, I love the ability to write - anything to do with the story I love doing. I love editing. And over the years I?ve been able to accomplish and understand how to do all of that.? It was also enjoyable for him to get to direct the cast that he had acted along side with for so long. ?It was great. I mean basically, the thing I loved the most about it was that we didn?t have to really go through any kind of studying to be able to direct a show. I?d been there since the very first day, so it became a real, beautiful experience directing them, and they loved it, and they rose to the level of expectation and they actually went further then the expectation.?

Olmos also has watched the series. ?This show is the only one that I actually looked at when I was done with it. It?s a tremendous story and the characters are so riveting you learn something from them all the time, so yeah, I do watch?I?ve been editing myself and directing myself?for 27 years.?

The hardest part now is leaving the show. ?Saying good bye to everybody - I think that?s been probably the most devastating part of the whole thing is having to, you know?A lot of us still stay in contact with each other, but it?s been very difficult.?

Olmos has more projects in the works. ?We?re working on about three or four movies that hopefully we?ll be able to find the money for.? Also, Battlestar Galactica: The Plan will be airing soon, which will be the end of the Battlestar Galactica series.

Olmos believes that The Plan will change the way you view the show. ?It will drive you to want to see the whole series over again, because you?ll have a different perspective on it. And that?s really the issue, and it?s been quite an experience, but once you learn the plan, what the plan was, then it gives you a deeper understanding of everything. So yeah, it will drive you to watch?and at the end you watch Blade Runner and boy you?re going to realize what has happened before will happen again.?

The series also has a ?real world? impact. Olmos, along with Mary McDonnell, Ron Moore, and David Eick, were invited to the UN where they held a Battlestar Galactica retrospective. The series deals with a lot of real life moral issues, including dealing with the reconciliation of two groups (humans and Cylons) after war. They showed clips and talked about how and why the series went beyond the call of duty and how it relates to the real world. However, they also ended up having a discussion of human equality, and as Olmos has often been involved in social activism, he was offended when of the UN?s representatives when talking about human rights used the word ?race.? Olmos went on to explain that race is not a cultural determinate ? there is only one race: the human race. Everyone was moved by what Olmos said, that weeks ago the representative came up to Olmos and told him that because of his speech that the entire UN charter was rewritten without the word ?race.? *

Olmos has been and will continue to be a force to be reckoned with in life and on the screen. So say we all!

/div>

*Note, this has not been confirmed, and other news outlets that originally reported this have retracted their stories.

CONVENTIONS:

DragonCon 2009

Sept 4th - 7th, 2009

Atlanta, GA. USA

NOTE: Aaron will be attending D*C as a 'fan' not a guest

09 August 2009 @ 11:40 am

Aaron at DragonCon (update)

I was just telling Aaron how there were a few comments on his fanpage on facebook from people thinking they were going to see him at DragonCon (at guest panels, photos sessions, autograph signings) and that I had to make a post on there letting them know he was going as a 'fan' not a 'guest'. Obviously all of us here already knew that. But for anyone that doesn't read this LJ comm, they're still under the impression that he will be there as a guest because the D*C website lists him as one.

He doesn't want to disappoint anyone that was hoping to meet him so he said that he might get a table for one day for a few hours just to sign for people who want something.

I'm not sure how the announcement will be made regarding what day and time he will be signing. Maybe at one of the BSG guest panels or on one of those daily DragonCon update pages (not sure what the official name of that is) that you can pick up at the info booths. Or maybe it will just have to be pure luck of stumbling across him in the 'hall of fame'.

                                                                                                 Future Movies

Speaking at the 2009 San Diego Comic Con, director and star of The Plan, Edward James Olmos stated that he believes there will be several more Battlestar Galactica movies in the future and is confident that the DVD release of The Plan will sell well enough to facilitate these films:

"As a matter of fact, I've got to tell you right now. Because of you all, what you're doing, because of the love for that world...I can guarantee that this will not be the last movie." 

This statement, however, is by no means official, as both Ron Moore, David Eick, and SyFy have made no mention of any additional Battlestar films.

Olmos later went on to clarify that is The Plan sold ¾ of a million copies (750,000) then Universal studious would assuredly be willing to produce future Battlestar-related productions.

No UN Charter Change, But Olmos Still Influences World

G4 backtracks on weekend interview with former 'Battlestar Galactica' star

No one can blame Edward James Olmos for being excited.  He told G4's "Attack of the Show" last weekend during San Diego Comic-Con that a March appearance by the "Battlestar Galactica" cast at the United Nations did more than just bring some neat publicity to the world body: Olmos' statements against using race as a cultural discriminant was so powerful, the United Nations changed the very charter it created just after World War II.

The problem? The United Nations never changed its charter.  G4 has posted a bit of a correction of its interview with Olmos Wednesday.

"Though Edward James Olmos was correct in the United Nations changing its language on race, their actions were reflected in their Durban Review Conference," the network said in its "Attack of the Show" blog.

The Durban Review Conference was a United Nations gathering last April in Geneva, Switzerland, designed to evaluate how well the world governing body as doing in battling racism, racial discrimination and xenophobia stemming from a 2001 conference in Durban, South Africa, according to the conference's official Web site.

The conference reportedly ended with an agreement by participating parties that will create "real changes" in the fight against racism, the Web site said.

The conference reaffirmed that "all people and individuals constitute one human family, rich in diversity, and that all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights; and strongly rejects any doctrine of racial superiority along with theories which attempt to determine the existence of so-called distinct human races."

Even though it's not the actual charter that was changed, Olmos still had a lot to be proud of.

"It's one of the hardest things that happened to me, and it would've never happened but if it weren't for 'Battlestar, '" Olmos told G4 last weekend. "'Battlestar' and its writers decided to take on what was happening now. The reconciliation between the Cylon and the human being, how did that happen? How could it happen? If the Palestinian and the Jew could only see 'Battlestar, ' they would understand how to reconcile."