'ICE ROAD TERROR - MEDIA BLVD. MAGAZINE: A Rare Interview With Michael Hogan
By Kenn Gold
Friday, 10 June 2011
Michael Hogan has a long and distinguished acting career on stage as well as in television and film, and is also an accomplished voice actor. To many however, he will always best be remembered as Colonel Saul Tigh from the Syfy series, Battlestar Galactica. Tigh was the number two in command and a passionate fighter for human rights against the evil Cylon forces. In some of the most powerful episodes of the series, and arguably some of the best drama on television, Tigh went from his command role on the ship to ground soldier and freedom fighter on the planet. And finally, it a dramatic twist, Col. Saul Tigh was revealed to in fact be one of the final five Cylons, the very thing which he had dedicated his life to fighting.
In the Battlestar fan community, Michael Hogan had a different reputation; the one star of the series who rarely, if ever, gave interviews. That mystery played into a mystique about the man, the actor and into the series itself. This coming weekend, Hogan has a relatively small, though important and interesting part in a relatively low budget Syfy movie called Ice Road Terror. The film revolves around the release of an ancient creature from a deep mine shaft and features Ty Olsson (Battlestar Galactica, Eureka) in the lead role. With that film in the queue to air, Michael agreed to do an exclusive interview with MediaBlvd Magazine, in which he discussed not only the new film, but his pivotal role on BSG and his appearances on many other TV series since, as well as an important role in Warner Brothers Red Riding Hood. Therefore, it is with great honor that this online publication is proud to present a rare interview with an incredibly interesting man and fascinating actor; and to in a very small way lift part of the veil of mystery surrounding the enigmatic Michael Hogan...
Edward James Olmos as Admiral William Adama and Michael Hogan as Colonel Saul Tigh from Battlestar Galactica
... MediaBlvd> How do you choose projects that you do? I assume you probably get approached for a ton of stuff by now?
Michael> I can’t say that I get approached for a ton of stuff. There is a lot of competition out there. And I think the older you get as an actor, the more work there is for you for obvious reasons. I choose things that are going to interest me. I think the reason I’ve been an actor for so long is to use my passion for the research. Wayne Rose, who was an actor for Battlestar Galactica and an ADP for it for several years, called me the other day. A bunch of the people behind Battlestar Galactica, who all happen to be Canadians, so it will be a Canadian project if it flies; he called and he has a project going written by Michael Gibson and Danny McNair. It’s called Project Room, and it’s kind of like Inception meets Time Travel meets Angels & Demons, along with a police procedural. And it’s got Doug McClean who was one of the production designers behind Battlestar, and Ryan McMaster who is the DLP on it was the shooter on BSG. Glenn Campbell, who designed the costumes and Rick Bauer who was the sound designer behind Battlestar. And the sound was amazing wasn’t it? It has all of these great people from behind the scenes and that is Battlestar Galactica. We had the same crew for five years and what a gift that is? We had the same shooters for five years, and what a luxury it is as an actor to have that arc written for you and to have this crew. Battlestar Galactica was the first thing in my career that I was around to be aware of post-production while we were actually shooting. I knew what they were going to be doing down in LA when they put this thing together. That’s a gift for an actor because you are very seldom aware of post-production while they are shooting it. The thing is called The Project Room and what we are going to do is get together and shoot pieces, and show it to the Syfy network or whoever. Stuff like that totally intrigues me because everybody is in it for the right reasons and it’s not something I’d search out, but I go “Right on! I’d definitely be onboard for this.” That’s basically how I find things. My wife Susan, who played the judge who said “Not guilty” to Baltar, and I are playing parents in an episode to our son Gabriel, who is in a series in Calgary, Alberta called Heartland...
'Ice Road Terror' premieres Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 9/8C on Syfy.
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