Edward James Olmos joined his Battlestar Galactica costar Mary McDonnell and creators Ron Moore and David Eick with two United Nations representatives for a panel discussion. The UN praised Battlestar for its portrayal of the very issues they face in the war on terror. We got a few minutes with Olmos on the red carpet (gray in this case) before he went inside to address an audience of invited guests, including members of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences from The Envelope series.
Crave Online: Is it Mr. Olmos or can I call you Eddie?
Edward James Olmos: Edward would be fine.
Crave Online: This might be the last official Battlestar Galactica event, but do you think you might be talking about Battlestar Galactica forever?
Edward James Olmos: I think so. I think that I’ll probably be able to talk about this like I talk about Blade Runner. It’ll be an integral part of my life for the rest of my life and I think that we have one more major piece of work that’s coming out of this crew, a thing that Jane Espenson wrote and Ron Moor and everyone worked, and that’ll be out probably in [the fall].
Crave Online: What is your last pitch to the Academy voters in the audience tonight?
Edward James Olmos: Actually, this is more for the UN. The Academy members are being asked to participate if they’d like to and I think there are quite a few of them here but I think it’s more about the relationship of this story and the writing to what is going on in today’s world as we see it. The relationship between the arts and what the United Nation stands for and does in consideration of the same problems that we’re facing in the program, so it’s really a complementation from the UN to the writing staff, to all of us but especially to the storytellers.
Crave Online: How gratifying was it to get one last chance to revisit Battlestar Galactica with The Plan?
Edward James Olmos: I loved it. I think it was probably one of the most riveting moments of my time working on the series because it really did come full circle. Going back to the beginning and being able to see what the plan was that the cylons had, it’s, for people who are into the show, breathtaking. It’s really, really wonderful.
Crave Online: Are there any cool easter eggs with Adama?
Edward James Olmos: Yeah, you’ll enjoy them when you see them.
Crave Online: Will you be following Caprica intently to see how little Adama turns out?
Edward James Olmos: For sure, yeah, I’d love to. I hope to be directing them too, so I’ll be working with them on that.
Crave Online: It would be a very different aesthetic than Battlestar Galactica though.
Edward James Olmos: Yes, it is, totally. It’d be a different style all the way around.
Crave Online: What do you think the future will actually be like? Will it really be flying cars and towering buildings?
Edward James Olmos: Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be flying cars and towering buildings. That’s a given. Moving from point A to point B as fast as humanly possible is really what the human is in for. They want that. It’s like communication right now is just incredible. No one could have ever predicted 20 years ago how close and how small this world would get by the technology that we’re faced with. We talk into an object, it goes out on microwave and pretty soon I’m talking to anyplace in the world to anybody, and they can connect to me no matter where I am. It’s something that is fantastic and I think it will get to the point of like the old Dick Tracy, where you have the actual little watch where yeah, I can hear you, I understand. That’ll happen. It’s already happened.
