SUPANOVA POP CULTURE EXPO
When: April 13-15
Where: Melbourne Showgrounds
Preview: Angela Allan
ACTORS are known to have many things – flashy cars, Hollywood mansions – but rarely does one have an asteroid named after them.
Asteroid 5608 Olmos is named in honour of Edward James Olmos (pictured) who played Admiral William Adama in Battlestar Galactica.
“There were some fans, who were scientists, so they called me one day and said: ‘‘‘This is your asteroid that’s named after you.’ They showed me a photograph of it,” Olmos recalls. “I was blown away and very humbled by it, as the asteroid will be there for the duration of humanity.”
The American actor, who recently portrayed Professor James Gellar in Dexter, is well known as Gaff in Blade Runner and continued his sci-fi foray in Battlestar Galactica in 2003.
“I’ve done a lot of television in my life, but nothing quite affected me as strongly as Battlestar. I had been offered other things in sci-fi but, after Blade Runner, I didn’t really want to get involved,’’ Olmos says. ‘‘I felt I had touched the core of the genre and I felt that I needed to explore other pieces of work.
“[Battlestar] made me realise the integrity of Blade Runner could be achieved, understood and used in television … and that was very important and needed. If you watch the last episode of Battlestar and as soon as it goes to black, you put in Blade Runner, you’ll see how they connect.”
In Melbourne for Supanova Pop Culture Expo this weekend, Olmos will talk about his various television and film roles, including his stint as lieutenant Martin Castillo in Miami Vice and the colourful wardrobe that went with it.
“Actually if you remember, I didn’t wear any of it,” he laughs. “I wasn’t into that style, but I really enjoyed that show.”
