I starred on “All My Children” in the 70s playing the role of Philip Brent. I was part of the original cast along with Susan Lucci, who played the role of Erica Kane and has become famous all over the world. This was my first big acting role and was a great place for me to grow and be mentored by some very talented and experienced actors. Mary Ficket, who played my Mother, became a very close friend nd she helped me deal with the pressures of becoming a professional actor. After that I replaced Michael Douglas on the “Streets of San Francisco”. Streets became a classic TV series starring Michael and Karl Malden over the several years it was on. I was just a poor struggling actor when I was offered the role and suddenly found myself moving from a broken down apt in Beverly Glen to a mansion in Pacific Heights. Culture shock to be sure but I truly fell in love with San Francisco and found my life and career quickly moving to a level of fame and notoriety I have never expected. Acting to me was always an art and a process for discovering more about life and the mystery of the human heart. I never expected to be famous in my life. The pressure of replacing Michael was also a challenge to me as he and Karl had developed a very close friendship and special chemistry so stepping into his shoes was not easy. Karl was helpful but not overly friendly to me in the beginning and I felt that I had to earn his respect on the show. I also guest starred on three other well-known series. Kung Fu with David Carradine, Dynasty and the cult favorite “Dead Mans Curve”; The true story of rock stars Jan and Dean. I played 60’s icons Jan Berry who was in a serious automobile accident and had to fight his way back to life.

The biggest difference between working on the new BG series and the classic one is the use of digital cameras that are hand held, giving a more realistic and documentary feel to the series. The use of this new technology allows more time for rehearsal and we’re also able to film consecutive takes of a scene giving the actor more opportunities to get emotionally into the role and take more creative chances and risks. As an actor I love the more fluid process of working with the digital hand held format although I still prefer the look of film from the audience point of view. Another big change is the more challenging and provocative material we get to work with as actors in this new age of television. Actors love to play characters that are complex, edgy and multi-layered, and all the characters on the new BG series are profoundly conflicted, and that includes my character Tom Zarek. This new BG series is definitely an ensemble and not star driven which makes every character and actor on the series feel important and valuable to the overall story.

I would of course love to see Tom Zarek become an integral character on the show, but totally understand and appreciate the fact that their is a very large and talented cast on Battlestar, and that the main starring actors on the show deserve the majority of the screen time. The highly gifted Edward Olmos and Mary McDonnell lead this extraordinary cast, and they definitely have earned their stripes in this business.

Working on the original BG series was a life changing experience for me. I had never worked on such a big production filled with such famous stars past and present. I loved the cast and Lorne Greene was a total pleasure to work with. What an unbelievable experience to play the son of such an icon in the business that I grew up watching on Bonanza. He made everyone in the cast part of his family and we all spent many wonderful days and nights at his house celebrating many birthdays and holidays. The rest of the cast was equally friendly and warm. We all became very close working on the back lot of Universal working 18 hour days, seven days a week including weekends. What an experience. I drank hot sake and ate air popcorn on many a cold night on the Universal back lot sharing time and stories with the cast and many of my close friends who would stop by to keep me company. And Dirk would once in a while share some of his great macrobiotic cooking on occasion, which was delicious believe it or not. I can still remember watching Dirk skip rope outside his trailer and the tourists driving by in the Universal trams trying to get a glimpse of their favorite stars. They never expected to see Dirk skipping rope in his shorts.

Hearing about the new BG series getting produced created a lot of mixed feelings inside of me. I had worked for years to help inspire a revival and yes, here it was 27 years later and Galactica was finally coming back but instead of a continuation, the new series was to be re-imagined! At first I was angry and frustrated after all our hard work to inspire a revival, but eventually after meeting new series producer/writer Ron Moore at the 25th BG anniversary convention I began to realize that at the very least the Sci-fi channel had hired a very talented writer and producer to conceive the new series. I was still very conflicted about everything as I had such hope that I would still get to play Apollo once more, but that hope was dashed of course when it was decided that the new series was to be re-imagined. Eventually after the debut of the Mini-series and a pick up for 13 episodes on the Sci-fi channel I was contacted by Ron and asked if I would be interested in playing a role on the show. The role of Tom Zarek was introduced to me as a darker version of a Nelson Mandela style political revolutionary, and my imagination was immediately captured at the thought of playing such a complex, edgy and idealistic character. As I arrived on the set and began to meet the cast and watch the new show being filmed I found myself gaining a new respect and appreciation for Ron’s new vision and the political and sociological landscape he planned to mine and explore in a very powerful and provocative way. I love this kind of writing and the actors that he and David Eick had cast were excellent! It took me a while but I eventually began to work through my deep disappointments and fall in love with the new show and cast inspite of my very conflicted and painful feelings about the choice to re-imagine Battlestar. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are many ways to produce a quality BG series and that one can love both the classic and re-imagined version for different reasons. In addition I realized that it doe s an injustice to compare these two great versions of Battlestar as they were produced in very different eras and under totally different circumstances and the state of the world.

Outside of acting I do many things including reading about history, mythology and spiritual issues along with hiking, playing basketball and teaching and lecturing all over the world on self esteem, moving from fear to self mastery and unleashing your power and creative vision. I love teaching and inspiring others to live a more productive and successful life. And we always teach what we have had to learn the hard way. I was crippled emotionally and physiologically in my youth and it took me many years of therapy, acting class and self reflection to learn how to take my negative issues and limiting personal agenda’s and use them in a more positive and constructive way. I love seeing the light come on in someone’s eyes especially those who have lost hope and faith in themselves. So many in the world at this time have lost hope and we all need to be there for each other if we’re make it out of this century intact and in peace and prosperity. I also love to write, produce and direct and have been working on a new visionary sci-fi fantasy story called “The Great War of Magellan”. The novel and comic version of Magellan is coming out early next year and you can see previews right now at greatwarofmagellan.com.

Last but not least I just want to say that I live to create meaningful and impacting stories, movies and series that not only entertain, but uplift, inspire and challenge our limiting and sometimes restrictive ways of thinking. And I love Australia by the way. What a beautiful country and the woman are delicious of course! I’ve been there several times in the past decade teaching workshops and attending some very fun conventions but so far no lovely Australian girl has asked for my room key! Frack!!! In any case I can’t wait to return and jump in the water at Bondi beach. I’ll need some protection from the sharks of course but hay, I’m the former Apollo God so I should be able to take care of myself right?! Heeeeelllllpp!!!!!!!!

PS: forgot to mention that I may be guest starring and directing an episode of a new series in Australia called Mermaid Island. That in addition to acting in the Tempest, produced and directed by the talented Australian Jonathan Nolan. Can’t wait!!