I’m glad we’ll get to see Lou Diamond Phillips on TV every week on Stargate Universe. I frankly miss him in movies, and those Numb3rs guest spots weren’t enough. So he’ll be on the latest Stargate spin-off.

Crave Online: You made a joke at the SGU press conference about being the next three named ethnic guy on Syfy.

Lou Diamond Phillips: I kinda carry it with me, you know what I mean?

Crave Online: Do you ever have to worry it’ll be a token character?

Lou Diamond Phillips: Not in this panel and usually not in anything else I step onto. Fortunately for me, my body of work speaks for itself. I obviously will play ethnic characters. The last film I did was Che with Benicio Del Toro playing Mario Monje, the Bolivian communist secretary. So those are open to me but fortunately I’ve played enough leading men and enough character roles that I get to play the white guy every once in a while too.

Crave Online: Is it even important to this character?

Lou Diamond Phillips: No, it’s not. We haven’t really delved into Col. Telford’s background as of yet. It may play a role in the future but it is certainly not the where all and the be all.

Crave Online: What pressure do you feel replacing Galactica? Fans are looking for something new to watch.

Lou Diamond Phillips: Good, invite ‘em over to our house. We’re going to have a party. Obviously I’m thrilled for my dear friend Edward James Olmos and that Battlestar became so iconic. This is obviously in the same genre and will beg comparisons but I really do believe that it is its own show. The characters are so individual and so complex that those audiences will fall in love with the people and that’s what the show really is about. It’s about the characters, about their interaction and what I believe to be very human stories that everyone can relate to.

Crave Online: What cool worlds have you gotten to visit?

Lou Diamond Phillips: See, that’s part and parcel of the frustration of my character is that I don’t. I was supposed to be the commander of the away team that goes through the stargate into this brand new address. The base gets attacked, I get stuck on earth and my entire mission is to get back on this ship and to save these people. So a lot of what happens to them on the ship I’m not privy to and I can only go back through the communication stones. I will say that the communication stones between myself and the actor Louis Ferreira makes for one of the most interesting love scenes you’re going to see this fall, I promise you.

Crave Online: Do you have a lot of stunt work on the show?

Lou Diamond Phillips: Hopefully so. I’m trying to stay in shape for whatever reason, what ever might come up.

Crave Online: What’s your routine?

Lou Diamond Phillips: Pretty much I have a dear friend, Darryl Chan who was introduced to me by another dear friend, Brandon Lee. He taught me a lot of tricks and ever since Courage Under Fire I’ve tried to stay within striking distance. So whenever I play a military character like Col. Telford, I try to present a physical aspect to the character as well. So I find myself in the gym an awful lot.

Crave Online: Every day?

Lou Diamond Phillips: As much as possible. It’s a mix of weight lifting and cardio. And trying to eat right although I like my beer.

Crave Online: What does that entail?

Lou Diamond Phillips: I don’t aspire to any particular diets if it has a name. I just try to eat smart and not do pizza at two o’clock in the morning.

Crave Online: Is it harder as you get older?

Lou Diamond Phillips: Oh my God, are you kidding me? I’m 47 and I’ve earned every single year of it. Yeah, it takes a lot more work.

Crave Online: Were you aware of Stargate in the other series before?

Lou Diamond Phillips: I was 100% aware of it, yes, but it’s not a show that I followed. Certainly no disrespect to the show itself but for me, I was able to come into this entirely fresh and with new eyes. I think since these guys are creating a new hybrid of the beast that that freshness for me, there is no baggage. I’m coming onto it trying to create a character that isn’t like anything they’ve done before and inject my own sensibilities and worldview into it.

Crave Online: That must be important with so many spinoffs.

Lou Diamond Phillips: Well, I mean, the beauty of it is, and they talked about this a little bit, I think there’s a great deal of interest from the fans that do exist. We don’t want to “alienate” them, but I think that the appeal of the show is starting to spread to people who are not hardcore sci-fi fans. I mean, the presence of people like Robert Carlyle and Ming-Na, suddenly go okay, this is going to be a different approach and it’s obviously much more character oriented and not as much about a superhero state of mind.

Crave Online: We miss seeing you in movies, like Courage Under Fire and for me particularly The Big Hit.

Lou Diamond Phillips: Thank you. One of my favorites.