The Study of Life

Tricia Helfer talked to Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune about her work on Burn Notice, Battlestar Galactica, and other topics:

MR: Just turning to “Battlestar,” the mid-season finale, "Revelations," definitely got a huge response. Was it one of those times where you could feel it on set, that it was going to be something special?

TH: Yeah. When we shot “Revelations,” we also shot [the next episode] at the same time. It was a very odd feeling shooting those right before the strike because those scripts ended at a place where you could end the series there. It’d be incredibly dark, but you could.

So we were going into the strike, and filming these episodes, not knowing if were coming back. It was all these unknowns. We were told that we were supposed to, that that was the goal. But you go into the strike not knowing anything and [wondering] if the strike goes on, how long before they pull the plug?

So it was a very odd feeling on set, and everybody was not wanting to say goodbye as in, “This may be the last time I see you in years.” I think in way it helped the episode, because we were feeling uncertain. Here it was, you land on this planet after this elation of “We found Earth,” – then you get down there, the looks on people’s faces. We shot that the last day before the strike.

MR: That was the very last thing you shot before the strike, the “on the beach” scene?

TH: Yes, the very last day we shot that. All the cast was there, and it was this huge unknown. I guess looking back it was kind of cool [that that informed the episode], but at the time it was weird, such a bizarre feeling.

MR: When do you guys wrap “Battlestar” for good? I keep hearing different dates.

TH: It was June 30, now it’s July 7, but I think it’ll kind be around July 12 that we finish. We’ve got a couple of very heavy episodes – not giving you a spoiler there, I just mean “heavy” in terms of a lot of work to get done. So I’m not sure what day it will be, but I bet it will go into the second week of July.

MR: You’ve seen all the scripts for the final episodes -- how did they affect you? How do you see them fitting into the legacy of the show?

TH: I think they’re fantastic scripts. Obviously, it’s the end of the series, so things are going to be revealed, and all the questions are going to be answered. There’s a lot to fit in. I’ve heard some fans say, whoa, there’s so much in every episode, and that’s certainly not going to change in the last half of the season, there’s so much to get out there. It’s intense.

All our reactions to reading script [among the cast], we talked about it – some people broke down in tears, I felt like I was punched in the stomach. More so out of a mixture of feelings like, wow, that’s why this happened, but also [sadness about the end of an era] – I was sitting on a plane, and it was like, “This is the last ‘Battlestar’ script I’ll read.” So there was that mixed into it.

There’s some really heartwarming stuff, there’s some very damaging, sad stuff. It’s such a commentary on human behavior and social behavior and where our world is and can go. I find the last episode is quite fascinating, the study of life.

Read the entire interview here.