Michael Hogan will be among the stellar cast of celebrities at Fan Expo Vancouver next weekend. Devoted Battlestar Galactica fans will flock to the Vancouver Convention Center April 20th and 21st for a chance to cheer on the actor who played Colonel Saul Tigh on the SyFy series.
I had the opportunity to speak with Hogan in this exclusive preview of his upcoming appearance at Fan Expo Vancouver. I asked the veteran actor how playing Tigh had changed his career.
“I had been acting for 37 years before BSG came along. I’m a journeyman actor. I guess you can say a veteran. I appreciated what was going on. I knew how fantastic this was. Eddie (Edward James Olmos), Mary (McDonnell) was aware. This was incredibly special.”
From Executive Officer to resistance leader to the revelation that he was actually a Cylon, Saul Tigh had an incredible arc over the entire series. I asked Hogan how he felt as an actor as the show twisted and turned.
“I aware of how amazing the stuff was they wrote for Tigh. On every episode, even to the very end of the show there were page turners for me. I would say as I read “Oh My God, you have to be kidding me.” Carerer wise to me it was like a warm bath to play that character in that environment for those years.”
Since the finale of the series Hogan has moved on to other scfi-fi and fantasy genre roles in MTV’s Teen Wolf, Warehouse 13 and Smallville. Hogan’s iconic voice can be heard in video games like Mass Effect 3. The veteran character says BSG opened new doors and he enjoys talking about his experience on the sci-fi drama.
“I wasn’t hurting for work before Battlestar Galactica came along. But it has been amazing for my career, anyone invovled in film industry is aware of BSG. On sets eventually crew members and producers may come up and say ” I you’re probably tired of talking about it but…” and I say “bring it on, I am so proud of that show, bring on any questions,””
Hogan had a fiery chemistry with Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh) and Katee Sackhoff (Lt. Kara Thrace aka “Starbuck”) and the friendship of Adama and Tigh was core foundation of the show. I had to ask the impossible to answer question of choosing a favorite scene to play.
“That’s a difficult one to answer. I’ll tell you the relationship with Edward James Olmos developed very quickly. He’s close friend of mine now. I see him now. That is a relationship that has endured.”
Hogan said he enjoyed scenes on season two because it allowed him as an actor to explore more of Tigh’s past.
“In Season 2 the flashbacks to the meeting of Adama and Tigh come to mind. As actors when you work together on a project mostly with limited time you discuss your back story and you talk about your relationship and you on set with that assumption. How often do you get, after shooting a mini-series and full season, to go back and film the time the two characters met. That was a real treat. If you look at the deleted scenes on the Season 2 dvd you’ll see there are more scenes that we shot of the flashback that didn’t make it.”
I asked Hogan about his first convention experience it was which was at Dragon Con a few years ago and his reaction to fans who remain devoted to BSG years later and are eager to demonstrate their passion for the show.
“Wow it was amazing. The first panel was a massive audience and during Q &A, I hear this voice, “My question is for Michael Hogan and I want you to ream me out!”…and there he was standing with a microphone in middle of audience. I said (laughing) “oh buddy! Oh you man worth price of admission! you made it all worth while!” He had cut his hair and shaved like the Colonel Tigh hair cut, wearing my patch and my wardrobe on. He was like looking into a mirror. I reamed him out, dressed him down in character. Later he came over my table after. I have seen him a couple of times now. That my introduction to it! Oh yeah, we all just loved it. I love going to conventions, I started describing it as an extended family, Hogan explained, “I love talking to the fans. They are the reason I do what I do. I’m a research junkie so I love talking with fans.”
Conventions are great way to reminisce about the past and remember how it led to the here and now. What’s next for Hogan?
“I’m loving it, it (BSG) has opened a lot of doors, it has opened the world, I have gone a lot of different places. I just did an episode of The Mentalist, It was a fantastic part and I thoroughly enjoyed that,” replied Hogan who will also appear in an upcoming episode of Cult.
You can ask Michael Hogan your own burning Battlestar Galactica questions at Fan Expo Vancouver next weekend! Hogan will be signing autographs and taking photos with fans plus there’s a Q & A session on Sunday, April 21st at 2:00pm.
If this interview makes you nostalgic for BSG then check out the series all over again! Here’s a link to the entire series. Some of Hogan’s finest scenes (in my opinion) were in Season Three when Tigh was leading the resistance on New Caprica.
By Editor