EXCLUSIVE: Edward James Olmos talks BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and his CAREER

While attending the COMIKAZE Expo I had the opportunity to speak with acting legend Edward James Olmos.

You know him best for his iconic portrayal of Admiral Adama in the landmark BSG remake!

Scroll on to see what we talked about.

SO SAY WE ALL!

UTF: Referring to the remake of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, it made a lot of changes. How did you feel personally about those alterations?

Edward James Olmos: I was working in theater at the time in 1978. I was doing Zoot Suit, and I had just started doing it. I didn’t get to see the original. So when they sent me the script and I actually read the opening three pages then learned all about how the writer wrote it. Why he wrote how he’s dealing with it … I was blown away.

When I went back and I saw the movie of Battlestar, I found it to be an understandable film. It was kind of a take off on Star Wars, and then Star Trek, but at the same time it had its own sense of value. And so what I found was that the re-imagining was more accessible, because there were no creatures. There was no fantasy world. It was very much a true depiction of what life would be like inside of a space ship under the situations that were being written about.

UTF: It was definitely a hard hitting re-imagining that, for lack of a better description, felt like a real world in space. My parents were actually fans of the original series, and they were very apprehensive about watching the new one, but when they got into it they loved it. My mom became a huge fan of yours, as did I.

But my next question would be: as it relates to Adama, how do you feel about his ending in the show?

Edward James Olmos: I found it to be very dramatic. He basically ends up alone, but he ends up completely satisfied, too, because he got a chance to bring the remaining part of humanity to a place where they would be safe, and be able to propagate and move forward, and humanity would live.

And then, of course, the ending of losing Laura, she got a chance to see the world, and have a sense of balance in what they have accomplished. I enjoyed it all the way around.

UTF: I just have two more questions for you, and then we’ll be done. The first question is, I know that you are a trail blazer for Latin American actors, and minorities in general. I actually used to work at Disneyland, and your picture is in the Lincoln Theater right on the wall.

I have to ask, how do you feel about minorities in film currently? How far they’ve come? Do they have more ground to cover?

Edward James Olmos: I think that right now we are about seventeen percent of the population in the United States, and I think we’re a little bit more. I think we might be twenty to twenty-one percent. But that being said, we only constitute less than two percent of the images you see on television and motion pictures. That’s the issue that I find to be most revealing as to the condition of culture in this country.

Thank God for the African American experience which is about twelve percent of the population, and they own right now seventeen percent of the images in film and television, and that’s the way it should be.

Someday maybe Latinos and Asian Americans, and Indigenous people will be able to see their stories, that we make told from the perspective of an Indigenous, or Asian American, or a Latino person, and still garnish the kind of accolade and financial backing that they do right now with the European cultures that dominate the art world.

UTF: And I just have one last thing. If you could say anything to your fans out there – The devoted fanboys and fangirls that frequent our site loved the show for five years, and miss it desperately, what would it be?

Edward James Olmos: Yeah. I’d just like to say thank you. Thank you to them, and thank you to the original Battlestar, and to Glen Larson, and to Ronald Moore, for the re imagining, and to all the fans for making this story become a little bit more than anybody anticipated. With the advent that if you haven’t seen it, maybe you should try going online and putting in “Battlestar Galactica at the United Nations,” and you’ll see the impact of this show on the world as a whole. It’s something that’s unprecedented in the history of American popular culture, when the entire planet sat and discussed the role of the U.N. In today’s world by way of the television show Battlestar Galactica.

So to all of you who are great fans, congratulations. You’re fans of a one-of-a-kind television show.

I want to take the time to thank Mr. Edward James Olmos for chatting with me, it was a pleasure to speak with an industry legend and hero to varied communities the world over.

But what did you guys think of the interview? Sound off with your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below!