Battlestar Galactica - SFX Magazine: Mark Sheppard Interview Part 1

At SFX Magazine:

(Please follow the link for the complete interview excerpt.)



Tuesday March 10, 2009

Interview with Mark Sheppard Part 1

The actor who plays Romo Lampkin has been in about a million sci-fi TV shows. We persuaded the busiest man in genre television to write a foreword for our latest special, dedicated to Battlestar Galactica, and we also ran a four page interview in that edition – but even that wasn’t enough space for all his cool anecdotes, and so here on the SFX website over the next couple of weeks we’re able to share even more of what he told us. The 44-year-old actor has appeared in Dollhouse, Firefly, Star Trek, Medium and more, as well as being an accomplished musician, and we spoke to him about all of it when we met up at the last Starfury convention...

A brief excerpt:

SFX: Sounds like there's a real sense of community working on all these sci-fi shows in LA.

Sheppard: "It's a very big community in LA. I got to work with people like Eddie [James Olmos] and Mary [McDonnell], and Jamie [Bamber], Tahmoh [Penikett] - these are some extraordinary people. Nathan Fillion, Adam Baldwin I've worked with four or five times. Alan Tudyk. I mean these people are so nice! You've met them; you know I'm not bullshitting. They're lovely people! There's a reason why they carry on working, you know."

"I've got to know every director that I've worked with more than once. But it's not a slam-dunk. You know who you know. If you want to go to work, then you want to go to work with somebody who you know can do the job. That's why people get hired. That's why Javier [Grillo-Marxuach] will use the same directors and actors in a lot of his stuff. He knows he's gonna get what he wants."

"I've been very lucky as an actor. I've got some fantastic friends who write fantastic stuff. How great is your job when somebody goes, 'Mark, I've got something I'd like you to do which will bring you accolades, joy, and money.' [Laughs] I'm like, 'Nah, I don't feel like it. I want to go home and play on my PlayStation.' It's kind of marvellous! I feel I've been very lucky, you know, with Joss and Javier. I've known Javier for a long time; I've done many shows with him, and he's truly a great friend."

You can read even more of this interview next week on the SFX website, including Sheppard's thoughts on Doctor Who and Bionic Woman. In the meantime, don't miss what he says about working with the Battlestar team in our latest SFX special edition, on sale now.