BSGcast LIVE: INTERVIEW with Richard Hatch
Nat sits down with Richard Hatch, the actor behind Tom Zarek in the current Battlestar Galactica and Apollo in the original, to try and get some information about the rest of the series, and specifically what’s in store for his character. Little does she know, with Richard Hatch, information comes at a price.
This is Episode #3 in the cPanel Flat Panel Giveaway!! So watch what Richard has to say, and give us your opinion in a great comment; we’ll be choosing the best one on each of the FIVE LIVE BSGcast and randomly selecting one of those five to win a 32″ LCD TV courtesy of cPanel, the Leading Web Control Panel!
January 22nd, 2009 at 2:56 am
A Very Powerful Message there from Richard. He is AWSOME to be around. He is such a pleasure to talk to and to learn from.
What you Just said there Richard struck home. WOW! I know BattleStar has always been your dream and you are living it and i hope WE as fans can Make that last a life time, yes the show maybe going away but I will always long for Battlestar. Your Books are fantastic and i look foward to the future of what lies ahead for your dream!
January 22nd, 2009 at 8:58 am
I’ve always liked Hatch, but this interview gives me an even better opinion of him. He’s funny, he’s down to earth, he’s smart, he’s easy to chat with, and he’s good at thumb wars!
Nat, I would have loved it if you had asked him about his comparison between being an actor in BSG original and BSG reimagined – with his comments about how much this one stretched him, it’d be interesting to hear how he remembers the experience of the old one. Just a thought – no big deal that you didn’t.
Regarding Hatch’s allusions to future episodes, I have a hunch that Matt and Nat will be referring to this interview a lot when they talk about how rushed things’ll feel. It’s kinda sad hearing that now, but it’s better than being disappointed later and rationalizing it. At the very least, this ending will not be a boring one. If anything, maybe we’ll be able to agree in the end that the rushed quality of the ending will actually enhance the darker features of the show.
However, two seasons wrapping up the story lines after they get to wherever they get would have been worthwhile. Maybe even just one too. But, as he was saying, the beating we have taken from these crazy mid-season breaks has been too much – this has been too drawn out. But so be it – this has been a great ride.
So, Matt and Nat, how many post BSG Finale BSGCasts are you going to do? Two? Maybe three? It’d be neat to spend a while digesting it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:58 am
I understand where The Hatch is coming from, but only because i felt that the first 1/2 of season 4 just strang us along and withheld nearly all the answers to our questions until the second 1/2 of the season which meant they had to be compressed (even Revelations felt incredibly rushed and an afterthought). If they had spent more time answering questions rather than protecting the answers for later then they wouldn’t have to be turned into machine gun bullets and wow i sound like an ass right now, sorry.
Also, is it me or did everyone behind Nat and The Hatch look depressed
January 22nd, 2009 at 12:18 pm
I have managed to meet Mr. Hatch on many other occasions and he is always very insightful and honest to the fans. He takes his performances to a level that only the best actors of the trade can ever do. He is very passionate about his art that you can hear and feel what he is discussing.
Of course you had to be there at the interview to know what happened before and after the interview. As the members of the Colonial Defense Forces were privileged to.
Well Done Nat, and Richard I’ll Thumb wrestle ya… and probably get my thumb removed in the process.
I will have to agree with Mr. Hatch, the way the story is flowing at the moment without seeing the remaining 9 episodes, I am sure that some of the story line would be best told in a more stretched out fashion. However also understanding that Ron Moore wanted to have a story that also has a legit end to the story. Both are fantastic and having Battlestar end on the note of being #1 to the fans is absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait till “Caprica” and hoping that the show about to be viewed in 2010 should bring about the same caliber of love and enthusiasm as Battlestar has brought to most of us today.
January 22nd, 2009 at 1:12 pm
What a fantastic interview!!!! Richard Hatch seems so nice, funny, and just awesome.
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Signa Jade,
I’d say we’ll probably have two post-finale episodes. Maybe three. We’re considering doing a VERY low-key get-together for the final episode, nothing as extravagant as our Frak-Parties, but if we do we might shoot a LIVE episode with anyone who joins us. Then we’ll probably do an episode just ourselves to wrap it all up, and then do another episode with all of your comments included about the entire arc of the series… that’s just what we’re thinking now. It may change in the next 9 weeks!
And then there’s always the possibility of another party for “The Plan”…
~Matt
January 22nd, 2009 at 3:59 pm
did anyone notice luciana carro at the back? wow from a major recurring character in bsg to an extra in bsgcast.. she has rely gone down which is a shame cause i loved kat and i was routing for her to be the final cylon, kat fit the prophecies and everything weve been told where as ellen didnt, how does the hybrids prophecies relate to ellen?
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I will admit, Richard Hatch did a good job as Zarek. Mr. Hatch did a good job at walking the line with Zarek. He is actually the only person who could either be a good guy or a bad guy. Yes, Zarek is a terrorist and he blew up a building and killed a lot of people to prove his point. But when it came to the events on Kobol, he didn’t go the route that Meier (James Remar) suggested when he clearly could have if he really wanted control. And then, we see his brutal side with Season 3’s “Collaborators”, where he starts off apparently nice, but then after Adama and Roslin discover the “secret trials”, he comes off rather brutal. I don’t think I know a lot of actors who pull off that kind of Doctor Jekyll/Mister Hyde type of mentality (granted, Zarek doesn’t have a split personality, but Zarek’s nice guy/bad guy personality is much like the photography zones developed by Ansel Adams, where there’s eleven zones that go between black and white. Mr. Hatch’s portrayal of Zarek covers the black, the white and all the shades of grays in between).
Hey Matt- I have a question I’d like to ask you, just to get your opinion: After Galactica has reached its end, do you think there will be a rapid growth of fan-made “Battlestar Galactica” related productions, including fan fiction and fan films? Or do you think it will just go rather slowly both progressive, once in a while, fan film and a slow down in fan fiction? I’m curious to hear what you (and Nat if she decides she wants to put her two cents in). Me, I think there may be more of an increase in fan fiction, but still not a whole lot of an increase of fan films (to be honest, I don’t think there’s been any recent TNS BSG fan films since the Battlestar Galactica Videomaker contest, which is really odd to me).
January 22nd, 2009 at 6:22 pm
I love Richard Hatch as Tom Zarek. His character is amazing and at time I have to agree with his character, even though I know it is a bad decision. He is right though, BSG is one of those shows where you have to ask yourself “Would I do that?” “What would I do in that situation?” I have the feeling that they have so much show in the last few episodes that we will not see it all until the DVDs (at least give us extended episodes on the DVDs for 4.5).
Nat loses twice in thumb war…sigh. I was cheering for you in the now, even though it was filmed in the future… it’s like time travel (which I hope that is where the show is not going.
Ori soldier,
I have a question: How did Kat fit the prophecy? Ellen is searching for redemption for betraying the resistance. She wants to be forgiven. Also, from an interview that happened right after the episode, Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh) knew she was a cylon for two years now, and they have been giving clues. RDM giving us the last supper picture (which a bsgcast ago Ryan pointed out), and the prophecy. Ellen sounds so right. I think that people at first thought Ellen (about over a year ago when everyone wondered who is the final cylon)but over time, people wanted it to be someone else, someone that doesn’t fit. I, personally, did not like Kat. That is not to say I didn’t think she was well written, or the acting was bad, no. I just didn’t like where she was going and I was happy she was killed off (not happy at that fact, but in the BSG universe, when they want you out, they kill you off; she could’ve been written off somehow…like Bulldog…). When I heard her (Ellen’s) voice, it sounded right. Now, after a year, who did I WANT it to be? Billy. I just thought that would have been so creepy of him coming back and his first words are, “Hello Madam President.” However, I trusted RDM to make the logical, not the let’s-surprise-everyone-choice. The show always fits into some cosmic beautiful work; this is for you haters of Ellen (not Helen) as the final cylon GET OVER IT! Has a BSG story arc ever let you down (and if you say one of the relationship arcs, I’m going to have to slap you, they are not plot/story arcs, just relationship arcs to help advance the story…logically, like Spock, but that would be mixing shows)? Ellen fits perfectly. Everyone else would be too much of a stress.
Okay, that took more lines that I wanted to, so for my final thought: Ellen rocks! Tears for Dualla (which that scene with Adama with her body was supposed to be longer, as the enhanced version states from RDM). Starbuck… What is she? Finally, here is to the final, darkest episodes to come!!! So say we all!
-Mario
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:22 pm
He nailed it about this season, although good and I like it, it seems a little rushed. The writer’s strike and having only one season to wrap it up may have hurt some of the depth and complexity that we’ve seen in the series. That being said he is 100% right that we should feel blessed that scifi allowed the series one more season to get to an end. This series could have been canceled at any number of points and we would always wonder where the story was going. Imagine if all we got was the mini or just season 1, we would have missed out on so much so thanks scifi.
I also find it amazing to see how far mr. hatch has come from someone against this version of the show to becoming an important part of it. BSG has really showcased his acting as he is allowed to be more complex than the more morally black and white TOS. You never know what to make of Tom Zarek, and like the show in general, he is morally ambiguous. Is he a terrorist or freedom fighter. Is he trying to take down the president of a democracy or trying to create a true democracy. To me he seem to be the only character actually fighting for democracy accountable to the people of the fleet and points out that Roslin was never elected – a fact everyone in charge has glossed over.
January 22nd, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I understand where Hatch is coming from with his comments about season 4 being rushed…. and I agree in some respects that it feels that way. However, I think that the writers also put themselves in that predicament by putting in a couple of episodes this season that didn’t really go anywhere, or went there too slow.
Now, I don’t think ANYTHING in episode 11 (or 13, however you count them) felt like that. We will see tomorrow if anything in the next episode feels like that.
I am looking forward to seeing what happens to his character… and I hope tomorrow night isn’t his last night.
P.S.
Where were all the people when Hatch was being interviewed? Did BSG fans just walk away?
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Nat, this video was awesome. How many people can say that ‘Apollo’ gave them a play smack to the head?…LOL Matt, you must challenge Richard Hatch to a thumb war to defend your woman’s honor!
January 22nd, 2009 at 9:49 pm
Wow, what an awesome guy. I just about actively despise Tom Zarek, and I usually love baddie characters. But Richard Hatch seems like an amazing person, and it’s very cool they got him to come back and do this new series playing a character just about as far removed from Apollo as humanly possible.
What’s interesting about Tom Zarek is that he’s never planned his assassinations or coups out of sheer malice. He feels the people are being oppressed (and stand-alone episodes in Season 3, like those concerning Sagitarons and the mining ship, lent credence to that). But despite this, I nevertheless consider him to be a ‘bad guy.’ He is a terrorist, and he didn’t seem especially concerned that one of his men might rape and kill Cally. He tried and/or planned to assassinate Roslin on at least two occasions, and on one of those occasions intended to kill Lee also before Sharon stabbed him in the back. Even if he wants to do some good, he approaches it from the wrong direction or with some sort of backwards twisted ideal.
But he plays somewhat into the Ellen-as-a-cylon story as well. Shortly after the Baltar-Refuses-to-say-if-Ellen-is-a-cylon episode, she and Tom Zarek came to some sort of deal (during a quorem episode) and her side of it was that she killed Zarek’s assassin before he could rat his boss out. I don’t remember what Ellen got out of the deal – maybe some promise of a favor for her and Saul at some point in the future. Now that Ellen has, finally, been actually revealed as a cylon maybe that will somehow be brought back into play. And more revelations about Psycho Eight might play back in on the time on New Caprica concerning that long-abandoned plotline. I would say why confuse issues with a new plotline, but otherwise I don’t understand the point or necessity of the Face of the Enemy webisodes.
Clearly Tom Zarek takes over a ship or two or tries to insite a rebellion or mutiny in the coming episodes, because the previews show it and we hear the deadly force has been authorized against him. I’d say his days are numbered, but perhaps he does something very ugly – VERY ugly – towards the end. Like keep a ship hostage and threaten to blow it up if marines come for him. And then actually doing it.
January 22nd, 2009 at 11:21 pm
One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Zarek is obviously a principled man. He is not just a killer who will do anything to forward his agenda. He believes in the rule of law, as long as it is applied to EVERYONE… and EQUALLY. If it is not applied equally, then Zarek believes that it MUST be challenged through any means necessary. That is why he did not accept the cylon’s deal on New Caprica, and that is why he ordered the military tribunal. He considers those who oppress, or assist in an oppression, to be terrorists. The tribunal was his way of giving those people a form of justice greater than they afforded their victims.
And remember… right now… he is the ONLY elected official in the current administration.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:15 am
We’ll have to see if the answers come too quickly. Because while I see where he’s coming from….I think we’ve waited long enough with sub-plots and filler story arcs. Ten episodes should be enough to finish the “real” story, while being condensed enough to make it one heck of a ride. One thing that Galactica has suffered from at certain points (don’t get me wrong, I LOVE this show), is that it sometimes trys too hard to make filler material when it really should be dealing with the core issues and questions, and I think having such a focus may indeed be benificial to the craft in this instance. I could be wrong, but I don’t think there was a single moment of that in “Sometimes a Great Notion” or “Revelations”. And if the rest of the season is as ludicrously strong as those two, I’ll be completely happy.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:22 am
What I mean is…I don’t want the show to drag on for another two seasons and end up having five or six episodes worth of that being nothing but filler material. I want this show to go out as strong as it has ever been. If the latest episode is any indication, it is doing just that. The ONLY times when I felt this show was weak was in the second half of a season, between the middle and end of it, when the main story falls short of the connection between the next-season-setup. It starts to feel too spread out, too unfocused, and IMO it drops a little in quality. This story is really an organic one, as complex as it is, and I don’t think it does as well when the flow is interrupted.
And another point: even if it is a little too much to take in at once, there’s always multiple viewings after the fact with DVD sets.
I have a feeling season 4.5 is going to be up for some serious Emmy competition.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 am
He’s also absolutely right about the depth of this show. I’ve known very few television shows that have symbolism, imagery, a score that actually develops musical themes that paralell, augment, and even explain the story; and on top of that, it deals with tough moral and social issues (that are of course relevant today) in such a real way. And of course, every aspect of production – acting, directing….is superb. Very few shows are as special as this one, I’m afraid.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:49 am
I got chills when Mr. Hatch (thank you Matt and Nat for all the interviews and thank you Mr. Hatch for your participation!!!) was talking about how hard it was to act some of the scenes to come. It was a great way to communicate with us that Zarek’s decisions and storylines are going to be dark and violent and probably full of regret, as has been his path so far, without telling us the details or needing to.
I agree he’s done a fantastic job with Zarek. He’s nailed the character as a man who has legitimate concerns and ideals, is practical and gets to the heart of the matter. At the same time, he often does not realize what he has done or what ball he has started rolling, and is genuinely afraid and regretful. He has nailed Zarek as a hard-ball guy willing to go really far for what’s right, but who is not a psychopath or sociopath, he has feelings for others and some wisdom to see what is best for everyone. He can be led, by his own ideas and others, but then can pull back and see his path is not a good way to go (too violent, chaotic, etc.). He has an inhuman and human side, and that will no doubt continue to be seen as we head towards the end of the story.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:54 am
This piece of art that is BSG is such a perfect conflux of incredible music, acting, direction, storyline, production, props and sets, CG. I feel so incredibly lucky.
There are so many scenes that are forever embedded in my mind, heart and soul. The scene after Adama finds out Saul is a cylon in ‘Revelations’ was one of the most riveting and perfect moments of drama that has ever been created. Adama makes this sound that sears across your heart like the lash of a whip, a roar-sob of rage and despair. Or rather, the roar spews from his ragged throat, a literal explosion of his heart and soul through his mouth. He violently pushes everything off his desk, a desperate attempt to get emotion out of his body, to push away what he has just been told. It’s a futile try at obtaining a clean desk/a clean psyche, and Adama knows it. The empty desk before him is an illusion; there is no ‘clean desk’ to be created. At the same time, there is this haunting music, discordant and minor chords with a rhythm reminiscent of a strained heartbeat rhythm. The music is quiet, yet assured, filling the silence surrounding Adama (and all of us)at that moment, pulsing with desolation and suspense and danger all at once. Letting us know with this music, that it’s the truth, that his world, and ours, has just been shattered.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I’ve been thinking about the fact that BSG couldn’t have existed without Star Trek coming first, both in terms of what Star Trek accomplished and RDM’s experience with Star Trek.
It’s like ‘Lord of the Flies.’ William Golding, the author, first read ‘The Coral Island’ when he was growing up. It was to Golding what Star Trek was to RDM. ‘The Coral Island’ featured boys who were stranded on an island, but they held it together, worked cooperatively, behaved themselves, were orderly and productive and generally good little English lads. Golding said basically ‘Rubbish. That’s NOT what would happen if a bunch of boys were stranded on an island. Here’s what WOULD happen” – which became the award-winning and critically acclaimed “Lord of the Flies.’ The boys in this realistic novel fell apart, were weak, violent, fractured. Murder occurred, war, societal breakdown, power struggles…
Similarly, RDM ‘grew up’ with Trek, watching the original series and participating as a young dramatic screen writer. He saw the Trek universe, with its plastic nature, its neat little storylines, its undeveloped characters, humanity always conquering evil – with some flashes of brilliance and realism to be sure, especially in DS9. RDM said ‘This is NOT what would happen if a bunch of humans were stranded in a convoy in space. Here is what WOULD happen,’ which became the award-winning and critically acclaimed BSG.
Both pushed the bounds of storytelling at the time. LOTF in particular was despised and panned for being outrageous, unrealistic, an affront to Britain’s view of itself; BSG has been called ‘too dark’ by some.
Cheesy and sterile and simple and shallow as it was, RDM needed that Trek experience to give birth to BSG. He needed the storytelling experience he gained there. He needed to interact with Trek characters, who in his mind would become pale versions of those he created to inhabit the BSG universe. The brave and steady captain (Picard), his close relationship with his first officer (Riker) reminiscent of what Adama has with Tighe. Picard’s love of a daughter-like officer (Deanna Troi) a pale comparison of Adama and Kara. The relationship between Deanna and Riker reminiscent of Lee and Kara. The collaborator theme in DS9…So many other things from Trek contributed to the birth of BSG, as much as BSG TOS.
We should all acknowledge and honour that as RDM has in many ways.
He has also acknowledged ‘Aliens’ and ‘Blade Runner’ – the vision of Ridley Scott – with various characters’ lines and with the android ’skin job’ cylon versions, with their gritty realism. I am so incredibly glad to see that someone like RDM has taken what has been done before and honoured it with a piece of art that both reflects and goes beyond these other works.
I know that Richard Hatch came from a different place, but was able to see the wonder of BSG and add both his enthusiam and expertise to the work of art. BSG is the better for that. Thank you Richard.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:20 pm
Is he saying Zarek fraked Starbuck?
January 24th, 2009 at 8:13 pm
I have to say it was refreshing to get to see Richard as himself because Zarek is probably my least favorite characters on BSG. I agree that the pilot was packed with info, that Sal’s wife being the final cylon didn’t make sense and then the next episode went too slowly and revealed too little. So far I’m not too impressed with this season but I love the show! I still want to believe that Dee was the final cylon and that’s why she killed herself.
January 25th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
Hi Matt, Nat, Richard & everyone else!
I just heard the Podcast from Ron Moore for the episode “A Disquiet Follows My Soul”. He said that Richard Hatch is an “old school pro”. He is one of the best prepaired actors he knows. I remembered this interview, how Richard talked about really getting into his role. Tom Zarek is maybe not my favorite charakter on the show, but he is always a very interesting one, and i like it how Richard plays him. And i think i know how he mean it, when he said, that the comming episodes/scenes was really hard for him to play. BSG is really getting dark and ugly now. But as all of you, i cant wait to see the rest of the story!
Greetings from Germany
PS: Its nice to see Richard Hatch at FedCon this year!
And of course Olmos, Douglas and Callis. That is gonna be a frakking BSG party! 
January 25th, 2009 at 7:49 pm
God I just love Richard Hatch he is on e of my all time favorite actors. Not only does he perform well on screen but he is also one of the greatest people it has been my pleasure to speak with. To me it is a blessing to be able to exchange e-mails with him from time to time and this interview truly shows him for who and what he really is. (But I had no idea he was a thumb war champion.)
I think it is good I see this interview now after seeing the previews of next weeks show. I think this is what he is so troubled about. He excels at playing the nice guy because he truly is a nice guy and next week he is going to be wrapped up in the revolution or coup whatever you wish to call it and it must have been agonizing for him to do these scenes.
January 26th, 2009 at 4:46 pm
LOL, SciFi really is into S&M aren’t they. But Battlestar Galactica is such wonderful torture that we want it to keep coming.
I definitely have noticed with the first two episodes of 4.5 is that they are definitely having to rush things a bit. Like as much as I love the Adama/Roslin relationship, I do feel like they went a bit fast from the point they left us in SaGN and the point they get to in Disquiet.
At the same time, I feel that these two episodes are more set-up than anything else. I really am excited to see what they are leading up to and I think we will be able to appreciate some of the aspects of these early episodes more once we have the whole story. This is just the beginning of the end and I think it does really show. Hopefully the rushing will be mostly in set-up too, so we can take more time to savour the end.
January 27th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
I had the chance to speak a bit with Richard Hatch at the auction preview and at the Frak party. He’s really a cool guy with lots to say.
I can’t wait to see where season 4.5 is taking us. After the 2 first episodes, I’m quite at loss.
Just had a thought… Ellen could have been a six that for some reason had aged. Depends when her and Tigh hooked up…. Nah, doesn’t make any sense!
January 28th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Here’s a guy that never forgets his fans. NEVER. Zarek is such a nuanced character and Hatch plays him brilliantly. I loved the interview! Keep up the good work!
January 30th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
please see “Ellen…What about Ellen?” under “sometimes a great notion.”
January 30th, 2009 at 9:01 pm
Woo! BSG ftw!
February 1st, 2009 at 12:07 am
I love Richard hatch, he is such an inspiring person. I’m glad to see this interview. I also agree with allot of what he said about the show being too compressed. It seems like the show has always moved at an incredibly fast rate. Now with the discovery of the older Cylons on the planet, ones that even the known Cylon models did not know about, the history behind them has now gotten so much deeper. (If the 12 colonies originally created the Cylons, then they turned against them, I’m not sure how there can be older Cylons that they did not know about. Hope the last half of season four can really explain everything.)
Hope to see more of Richard in the future.