CBM had a great opportunity to interview Richard Hatch, who many of you will know from his role as Captain Apollo in the original Battlestar Galactica series who would later play another pivotal character by the name of Tom Zarek in the rebooted series. Hatch is no stranger to film and television—having a career that spans over 40 years. For most of the readers here, that 40 years condenses down to his Sci-Fi and Horror work. In this interview I get to talk to him about a short film he's starring in (releasing December 17th) that is a Wayside Creations adaptation for Machinima Prime of the popular online free-to-play FPS—Loadout. titled Loadout: Going in Hot.
I got to sit down with Richard and talk about everything from his time with both BSG series, to his role as Gaz in this short film. I ran out of time because of how deeply focused we were in the conversation (as that time melted away) unrealized. However, Richard generously offered to answer some of my additional questions offline.
I thoroughly enjoyed talking to Richard about Loadout: Going in Hot, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Trek: Axanar—I hope you enjoy the interview.
When we first connected into the conference call we exchanged pleasantries and he let me know he was recovering from a minor flu. He was hopeful to kick it completely before leaving for Biloxi, MS for the weekend; on his way to an event called Geek-O-Nomicon. I'm familiar with the event and a specific world record they are trying to break—Most Steampunk Cosplays gathered in one location. I of coursed asked if he would be participating.
Richard Hatch [chuckles]: "I'm actually in a steampunk show called: Cowboys and Engines with Malcolm Mcdowel. We filmed it last year, It's actually going to debut at the landmark theater out on Pico in Los Angeles on January 14th. And their going to screen some of the presentation here [Geek-O-Nomicon]."
CBM Manny: "I love your work, I've been a fan since I was a kid watching the original Battlestar Galactica."
RH: "Oh Thank you!"
CBM Manny: "Funny enough I was exposed to Battlestar before Star Wars and I loved it so much it started my fixation on science fiction at age 4."
RH: "That's great! Did you like Star Wars too?"
CBM Manny: "I did (still do), but I was a weird kid, started reading Frank Herbert and Kenneth Johnson material before anything else because of BSG."
RH: "I appreciate that. I love that. It's so great! You were assimilated early!"
CBM Manny: "Actually as early as a few months old in a stroller at Comic-Con!" [Laughs]
RH [Laughs]: "My God...wow! Then I'm with the right guy, in the right place! I'm in good hands."
CBM Manny: "Indeed! We got you covered here at CBM. Now?—I never had a chance to meet you, even though we've been to some conventions together, but we were both working and never got a chance to cross paths. But—I did get a chance to do some light project and production work for the SyFy network when BSG was in production and I got to see Edward James Olmos (a lot) a few times while in the production offices. Having worked with him closely yourself and being one of the stars of the original series—can you tell me about some of your experience on both BSG's and your take on how Apollo was then vs recently and your take on Tom Zarek?
RH: "Well, all I can say is (you know) the original battlestar was the biggest most expensive production in TV history—at the time. and, they were trying to do a theatrical style series on the level [...] (you know) the scope of Star Wars. Only it was a very different story. In fact—I think the battlestar story is a phenomenal story. I love this epic journey, surviving a holocaust and trying to survive space and find a new homeland. It's a very archetypal and iconic type of story. Having somebody like Loren Green [Adama] play the (you know) Moses and the israelites, leading us to a new land. (I thought) was really extraordinary and to have grown up with Loren Green on Bonanza and to have him play my father, was...was probably a dream come true. He was such an extraordinarily down to earth, generous human being. He was the father all of us wished we had or would love to have. Like I said, that was an amazing experience for me and we worked 18 hour days, seven days a week.
It was a year and a half filming that first season. It was a pretty dynamic, pretty intense year and a half of filming. We bonded as a crew, as a group of actors, and it was one of those kinds of extended families we [actors] rarely get to be a part of...because we tend to come and go—(you know) from show to show. We rarely stay in one place long enough. It was (you know) going on the set the first day. Seeing film crews from all over the world. I had no idea how big this show was.
We were on the cover of every major magazine. Time. Newsweek. It was extraordinary. I have to say: I was kind of overwhelmded or I thought what the hell have I got myself into. I was honestly embarrassed to have my name first in the credits over Loren Green. Even though my agent had negotiated for the moon and somehow got it. I felt like apologizing to everybody, because I was humbled (to tell you the truth).
Because:
1) I was starring in this great epic.
2) I have a great respect for those people that put their time in and had the success Green had.
Anyway, it didn't matter. He was gracious about it, he had no problem with any of it, and we all got along famously.
It was just...just a really, really, really great shoot. And I have to say: not every production runs smoothly. Not every production has a number of people that don't rank or ego gets in the way...
CBM Manny: "No: I'm first on the Call-list!?"
RH: "Right...you know, there's always problems on most productions but the original Battlestar and then the new Battlestar were pretty much the same. Incredible crew, Incredible cast of peole—that really were very artful in their approach to acting; in appreciating the subject matter of the show. For me having the chance to have done the original was more fun [lighthearted] and full of adventure. The new show got down into the trenches. It got into the core story of surviving the holocaust. It got into the drama of dealing day-to-day with life and death. That gave me a chance to come full circle and actually get to do the kind of work that I (as an actor) live for. So I loved playing Apollo (obviously) in the original show. But the new show gave me a chance to really feed my hunger for great material, wonderful actors to work with, and a chance to do some of the best work of my life. So the new show was a phenomenal experience to come back 35 years and be able to be part of a new Battlestar. I felt very honored—very lucky."
CBM Manny: "What was your favorite episode on the original series?"
RH: "The original, I love the opening movie and the final episode—Hand of God..."
CBM Manny: "That's my favorite!"
RH: "Yeah...well, we didn't know what was going to happen. I also liked the last one with Commander Cain [Lloyd Bridges] I really love that actor, (you know) the Bridges. The Bridges family. He was an iconic actor to work with as well. I loved some of those episodes. [...]"
CBM Manny [Chuckling]: "I loved that episode, the Colonel is going over a horrific battle strategy, pretty much telling them "You're all going to die," This base star has pulsars and 100 laser turrets... pretty much saying how it's all over for them. Starbuck mentions "These are better odds then on Caprica" in a snarky manner and Boomer looks at him and says "We lost in Caprica." It was a fitting ending for this series."
RH [chuckles]: "Yeah!"
Richard spoke about how "back then..." some of the material was too edgy and the production didn't want to alienate the audience and they [RE: Lloyd Bridges] really weren't comfortable with Sci-Fi. Elaborating on the subject that the studio wasn't yet fully exploring the deeper mythology or stories in the series. But that the reboot did this in spades. That he tips his hat to SyFy for what they did with the material.
RH: "They [SyFy] allowed us to go into the deepest, most provocative, edgiest areas of that life and death story. I think some of the writing in those episodes are some of the best writing television...ever on television. Forget SyFy, I think it was some of the best drama anywhere...Time Magazine called it the best drama on TV period."
With some fanboy questions involving Battlestar Galactica out of the way, we delved into the reason this interview was occurring. His role in the upcoming Wayside Creations short film production—Loadout: Going in Hot.
CBM Manny: "Now to focus on your current project.
RH: "Oh yes."
CBM Manny: "I've played Loadout a bit and love it's eerily satisfying ultra-violent sci-fi fantasy..."
RH [chuckling]: "Right. Yeah."
CBM Manny: "Have you seen the game? Played it in some way to research your role?
RH [chuckling]: "Yeah...I'm playing the game officially, if I can squeeze it in, next week before the launch over at Machinima."
CBM Manny: "The game also reminds me of another title...i'm a nerd, I can't help but make comparisons to other popular media. You may not be familiar but for the readers that may have yet to play the game, it has a visual style similar to Team Fortress 2. Based on the crazy situations in the game. People getting blown up, heads flying off characters and such. Can you tell us if we're able to expect some of the zany over-the-top action for this short film coming over from the game?
RH: "Yeah, no, no...first of all, whenever you translate a game—although games today have much better stories than they used to. Once upon a time they would wrap a superficial game around game technology to hold it together. But now, they're coming up with really good stories and (you know) there's a lot more character, a lot more story, a lot more depth to the games. So it lends itself (actually), so I think what they're doing for the first time, which is evolving live action shows or movies off of a successful game; opposed to the other way around—(which was) building a game off a successful movie. Generally speaking, the game would kind of be thrown out the back end, as a half-assed game. Just lending itself to borrowing off the title as opposed to how good the game was."
Richard continued talking about how people love how the stories in these games are allowing for deeper and richer content that easily adapts to a film, allowing for high quality entertainment. Building better bridges between game content and live action media.
RH: "We're able to take that kind of (if you want to call it the seeds of the characters) and then we as actors are bringing our own imaginations, and our own creativity to the script that's created. So there is a collaboration between what's written on the page (Which is always the case) and the actor takes that and is going to play it differently. They're going to bring it to life differently."
Richard spoke about how the Gaius Balter we saw on the screen in the original series was a far different interpretation than the Balter that was written on the page. How the actor brought his own signature quality to the role. Significantly improving on the role over what the studio had expected to gain from the characters portrayal.
RH: "We actors are always going to take the core character on the page. But we're going to expand it, we're going to embellish it. We're going to breath life into it. But we are going to still find the heart of what that character's all about. You should still be able to recognize that character (definitely) in the live action version and then the next step is, you're right. That over the top go-for-it quality that Loadout has is definitely in this piece. I think that's part of the fun of it. That they're thrown into crisis...emergency...and then of course these characters esepcially Gaz (of course) always having to deal with one crisis after another and if its not the bad guy its the big shipping company, trying to stop them from delivering their commerce. If not their ship is falling apart."
Richard gave me a deep explanation of Gaz and his ship. It had interesting parallels to BSG in terms of how they interact.
RH: "This is an old broken down freighter that Gaz has to somehow, someway, keep patched together and to get through the thick and thin. Somehow this old workhorse keeps going and like many an old warship. (You know) a battlecruiser, they go to war. They don't have the sophistication of everybody else and yet they're still able to do the job, sometimes more effectively."
He expanded on the deep love Gaz has for this old bird, which has gotten him out of all kinds of trouble. He also referenced how things were built to last many years ago and how there's a feeling of that here with how this ship manages to keep it together.
RH: "...I don't know the way they used to build old things, but they put more quality, more effort, more heart into it. So he loves his ship...it's also a love-hate relationship. Like when you have an old broken down car. You're always yelling and screaming at it but you're also talking to it...you're cajoling it. You're trying to get it to keep going to keep running, to keep being as efficient as possible."
That's kind of the fun of this character—always fussing over this crazy broken down ship. Then a really quirky over-the-top crew, each one brilliant in their own right. They're really a crazy crew of characters and he [Gaz] got to somehow keep all of these guys together to keep them from falling apart. So he's managing the ship, he's managing this quirky off-the-wall crew and then of course constantly having to deal with all of the elements against them."
CBM Manny: "Almost like Galactica! On some level, I feel reminded somewhat of those struggles with this older ship that had to fight a more up-to-date enemy with overwhelming technology."
RH: "What I love is that this is a small ship. Galactica was like a giant carrier. This is a small little freighter with a 5-6 man crew. It's more personal. The Captain has to go bang on the engine. Like trying to get your car started in the morning when it's too cold."
CBM Manny: "Like banging the alternator with a wooden stick." [chuckles]
RH: "Yeah...He does whatever he has to do man to keep it all together. He'll yell, he'll scream...he'll throw his shoe. Whatever he has to do, he's so dedicated [...] He makes sure his crew gets to where they have to go."
We kept talking about the various scenarios the crew faces. Which had a lot of elements from the game as well as elements from other popular genre pieces. I could hear a pinch of Firefly, a dash of Cowboy Bebop, a little bit of Star Wars, and a variety of character archetypes that sounded like fun mashed together with these characters in a small space.
I also asked him if the film touches upon the biggest gimmick the game advertises...the ridiculous weapons customization. I was curious if he would be wielding some Big Fracking Guns!
CBM Manny: "What's his weapon of choice? The game is hugely known for insane levels of customizable BFG's (Big F'ing Guns)...from the stills I've seen there weren't any of you with any big weapons.
RH: "I got to be a badass with a gun. I get to really, really kick ass with some phenomenal weapons that our little weapons expert comes up with. Some that almost destroy the ship and blow him up because he has no clue. But he's absolutely brilliant at coming up with this stuff but not all of it works. That's half the fun."
CBM Manny: "That's great, I think at least the fans following the material from the game will see that the film is trying to capitalize on that concept. Did you notice in one still a weapon pointed at you says "Nerf" on it? I think a few fans noticed and started to post about it. One fan pointed out. "It's not Loadout without that sort of stuff." [laughs]
RH [laughing]: "Yeah, I think so too. They [the characters] are constantly coming up with bigger and better. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. For all I know a crappy nerf is part of one that doesn't work. Who knows. So everytime he [weapons expert] comes up with something cool. We're like cool. We are the little guys. We have to outsmart the baddies trying to edge in on our business, so we have to try and keep ahead anyway we can...trying to take out our ship. We got a brilliant little crew, each with their own ability. We have a full range for a mix of characters. I love that."
At this point we heard a ding and another reporter was coming into the conference and we were told that our time had expired. Yet, I was given one more question.
CBM Manny: "My closing question that I always toss in when given the last bit of time...What is your favorite comic character?"
RH: "Oh man, man, man, man...that's interesting...(Well, listen) For me, my favorite of all time is Spider-Man...was always Spider-Man. I grew up and my son ended up feeling the same way. We both loved Wolverine. Wolverine to me is just an amazing character. He's Tough-Real! Human. You know, he's not the superguy. I mean he's got these abilities and super-abilties but he's more of a human being with all of these flaws and challenges. So my son and I love Wolverine."
CBM Manny: "Awesome, thank you Richard, It was a pleasure."
Just as I was thanked by the PR company that orgnizes our calls and Richard. Richard pulled out another tidbit of info he wanted to remind me of.
RH [chuckles]: "Hey Manny, don't go yet, are you still there?"
CBM Manny: "Yes, I'm still here!"
RH: "Don't forget to check out Cowboys and Engines. It's a Steampunk presentation. They're gonna debut the pilot over at the Landmark movie theater on January 14th. It's a retro-futuristic world. I play a Clint Eastwood archetype character in 1887 trying to get on a boat to Mars. It's a phenomenal Steampunk film and it fits in nicely to this convention I'm meeting up with. The one I mentioned that's got the big steampunk gathering going on this weekend.
CBM Manny: "Yeah Geek-O-Nomicon."
RH: "Alright! Great talking to you, Happy Holidays, bye Manny!"
Loadout: Going in Hot is an adaptation by Wayside Creations of the Online Multiplayer Free-to-play First Person Shooter of the same name by Edge of Reality. Wayside Creations, the creator of some of the most popular live-action shorts based on the world’s most popular video game franchises including Fallout: Nuka Break and Fallout: Red Star – has announced that its latest adaptation, Loadout: Going In Hot, will debut on Machinima Prime on Tuesday, December 16. Featuring a strong ensemble cast – headlined by Richard Hatch (BattlestarGalactica, All My Children) as Captain Gaz - Loadout: Going In Hot is inspired by the popular third-person shooter that was created, developed, and released by Edge of Reality. Introducing viewers to Captain Gaz and his loyal crew of the HMS LOADOUT, the new sci-fi short delivers to viewers the same excitement, absurdity and key gameplay elements featured in the video game.
Directed by Vincent Talenti (Red Star, Fallout: Nuka Break) and also starring Bonnie Bower (Fallout: Nuka Break,Escape), Matt Mercer (Attack On Titan, Iron Man: Rise of Technovore), Jon Enge (Mars Rising Films). Becca Hardy(Off-Season), and Circus-Szalewski (Fallout: Nuka Break, Conan O'Brien) Loadout: Going In Hot will debut on Machinima Prime on December 17.
About Loadout: Going In Hot
In a novel twist on the well-traveled sci-fi genre, Loadout: Going In Hot follows a group of "merchant marines in space" who compete with other local haulers in the highly profitable (and extremely dangerous) antiquities and curios shipping business. Like other critically acclaimed sci-fi properties (Firefly, BattlestarGalactica), Loadout: Going In Hot is peppered with genre action and violence while focusing on character development and interactions.
Cast
Richard Hatch – Gaz
Bonnie Brewer – Cassie
Matt Mercer – Rook
Jon Enge – Snack
Becca Hardy – Sarra
Circus-Szalewski – MIck
Vincent Talenti - Director
Matt Munson – Executive Producer/Writer
With time gone, we didn't get to speak about him playing a Klingon named Kharn in the upcoming & highly anticipated independent project
—Star Trek: Axanar. However, I was able to send Richard a few more followup questions that I'll post when I receive an answer from him.
It was a great pleasure speaking to Richard—
if you've ever been a fan of either of the Battlestar Galactica series, you'd likely know his work and are probably a fan of one of his characters. If you've had a chance to play Loadout, you may also be anticipating this short film from Wayside Creations for Machinima Prime. Their previous productions of Fallout: Nuka Break and
Fallout: Red Star were fan favorites and the expectation for this short is that it will also be a hit online.
Loadout: Going in Hot releases this week December 17th, 2014 live
Online.
Comment, share, tweet, form some words and hit that big red thumb in the sky.
By @EmanuelFCamacho
Editor, Staff Writer | CBM