Frakin' Farewell

Edward James Olmos Says Goodbye To "Galactica"

By Stacey Harrison

When you're talking Battlestar Galactica with Edward James Olmos, it's hard for him to stay on topic.

Maybe that's because he believes the show — on which he plays Adm. William Adama — touches on so many aspects of modern-day life that absolutely nothing is off-limits. Ask him about the fans' involvement with BSG, and he'll go on to tell you how he feels electronic media have forever changed not only how artists communicate with the public, but how they create art. Mention the show's place in history, and it eventually leads to him singing the praises of Barack Obama while lamenting the lack of U.S. holidays honoring minorities.

It's not surprising, given Olmos' well-documented social activism. But he seems just as committed to Galactica, which has defied expectations about what is possible in science-fiction television, having become a crossover hit and winning a 2006 Peabody Award. It is a drastic departure from the beloved but kitschy 1970s original, using humanity's war against the Cylons to tell stories that touch on the hot-button issues of our own world.

As Galactica winds down its four-year run, with a conclusion that Olmos calls "heart-wrenching," he talks with us about how hard it will be for him to say goodbye.

Edward James Olmos stars as Adama in Battlestar Galactica Battlestar Galactica airs Fridays on SCI FI Channel, with the series finale March 20. Olmos is currently putting the finishing touches on directing Battlestar Galactica: The Plan, a movie that retells the story of the show's initial miniseries and first two seasons from the perspective of the Cylons. It's set to air later this year.

How are you feeling about Battlestar Galactica coming to an end?

For me, it's been really, really hard because basically I've been still working on it. ... I'm the only one left. I've been editing and finishing The Plan. And it's been really heartbreaking, a very difficult thing to see come to a close. It's been a wonderful experience all the way around artistically, and probably one of the most rewarding and fulfilling experiences I've had. As far as the people I've worked with, it's just a tremendous crew. I think in the years to come people will realize how impactive this show was and the kind of talent that was on it by the work that these people will go on to do.

Are you still in touch with the cast and crew?

I've never had this experience with anything — any of the shows I've ever done — I've never kept in contact with the actors and the artists involved. But here we're keeping in contact. People e-mail me constantly and they'll e-mail a lot of us and say things that will be e-mailed back to everybody, so everybody's reading everybody's comments about everything that's going on. It's been fantastic. I think the course of electronic media has really changed the course of communication among people, and it's really changed the course of the arts. I think that this show is one of the most extraordinary experiences in the usage of communication between the artists and the people who enjoy their work. It's an instantaneous relationship, because they can blog and get into talking with one another immediately, and this show has really become a better show because of that. There's been a tremendous amount of attention given to the kind of relationship the writers had with the directors and actors and the way the pieces were elevated from the paper to the screen. And it went to postproduction and they elevated it even more, and then it went out into the community and people got to see it and they blogged their experiences and they elevated it even more and found things in it that triggered understandings in them that were even more than anyone expected. Those bloggers then contacted the writers; those writers then augmented their understanding of it and the next time it came down to writing, they were writing even more intensely. It's become a tremendous life and world that we've created — not only the world in front of the camera, but the world outside the camera.

Next: Having that communication with the fans had to help keep the show fresh in their minds during the writers strike.

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