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Battlestar Galactica's Chief – a Fan’s Experience |
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Sunday, 26 March 2006 |
By SherryJo Crandall
 Battlestar Galactica is a dark and edgy creation from the mind of Ronald D. Moore. As someone who grew up watching the original series, fought for the classic remake and then accepted the re-imagined series, I noticed a lot of things about the new series I never saw in the original.
As portrayed in the current series, the thoughts, people and technology within the show are so different from those of the original; the characters demonstrate more realism in the way they deal with problems they are faced with. You see the anguish they feel with a loss of a friend, or one in a horrible situation, or the joy they experience in other situations. Take the character of Galen Tyrol as an example of the gritty realism of the characters. Tyrol is your average blue-collar worker among the hierarchy of the military and often works hard for little or no credit. It is often these types of characters that make up the backbone of a show, and these are the characters the main characters play off of.
One might wonder how a man like Aaron Douglas could expand what seems to be a trivial background character in the miniseries to a pivotal role. Defining those traits that endeared the actor to series director, Michael Rhymer, and to Executive Producer, David Eick, is proving to be a difficult challenge for the author of this article. According to the Hail to The Chief, article which appeared in Issue 2 of The Official Battlestar Galactica Magazine, the role of The Chief was only supposed to be about fifteen lines in length. Aaron Douglas’ amazing ad-lib skills have taken the character and developed it to the extent that major parts of the story hinge on his reaction to people and events around him.
Aaron has also taken a bit of himself and incorporated it into the character of Tyrol. Having exchanged email and private messages with the actor, I have often been on the receiving end of his humor. Actually, I have egged it on a lot. On the Mediablvd forum for his official page, I posted the following question:
“Will Tyrol’s portrayer ever be shirtless in the show? I was
reading the Sci-Fi Board under “Finally…male eye candy’
and besides making me die laughing it got me wishing.”
He took it in great stride and responded in the following way:
“Me shirtless????? Gods of Kobol I hope not.
That would mean dieting and the gym…
Sweet mother of Crumb Cake, NO!!!!!”
I’m familiar enough with him to see examples of Aaron’s sense of humor coming out in his portrayal of Chief Tyrol. His sense of humor can come from his words or simply from a look, but you see examples of it all throughout his performance. In the episode titled, “33,” there is a scene towards the end in which Capt. Apollo and Starbuck go at each other over Apollo’s behavior as Commander of the Air Group, and stimulants. It ends with Starbuck taking the stimulants, and Aaron, as Tyrol, rolling his eyes at her and turning away. It seems like a little thing but it was a classic moment of comic expression.
Another example of Aaron’s traits coming through his character can be seen in the episode titled, “Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Part 2.” You see the concern and care that Aaron, as Tyrol, has for Socinus when he gives Socinus the overdose of morphine. You can tell that even though it is acting, it affects him deeply to do scenes where he loses friends.
Having read and listened to several interviews that Aaron has given, anyone can see how much his caring nature really comes out. In his Gatecon call-in interview on the web cast show, “Subject2Discussion,” with Shaun O’Mac, you hear him make comments about Michael Hogan and his cast-mates that commend them for doing a good job. He never seems to have a negative word to say about anyone, and that kindness also comes out in the character of Tyrol.
His character goes through a series of emotional stages that everyone goes through when dealing with the discovery that the women he thought he loved the most was really a Cylon operative. The first one is stunned disbelief that he fell in love with a Cylon, then anger he fell in love with her and then through the other stages of grief. The scene where he goes to Commander Adama on behalf of Cally, even though she has just shot the love of his life, shows how loyal Tyrol is to his crew…how, despite his feelings, he will stand up for his crew.
Take the Tyrol-Sharon-Helo storyline as an illustration. Tyrol, in his shock and disbelief, couldn’t entertain the idea of there being more then one copy of Sharon, until he was confronted with that thought during his conversation with Commander Adama. He then has the concept reintroduced to him in “Kobol’s Last Gleaming, Ppart 2,” when the Commander finds the President and her entourage, among them being Helo and Caprica Boomer. Tyrol finally has to decide how he would have to deal with a different Boomer being involved with someone else. On the outside he seems to handle it well but later on, in “Flight of the Pegasus,” we saw that he wasn’t handling it all that well, after all. Helo and Tyrol were on a path where they were destined to fight but the reason for the fight was best summed up when Tyrol said, “I don’t even know why I am mad at you.” In scenes such as these Aaron’s own approachability makes the character seem that much more empathetic to the audience and fans.
Aaron Douglas, a multifaceted actor, has hit his acting stride with the role of Chief Petty Officer Galen Tyrol. He has a character that brings out all sides of Aaron, the person. All the skills to make the character of Tyrol believable have to come from somewhere. I am told that I should avoid such personal references but you can’t help but feel like you know, like Aaron is your best pal. He seems to know that the fans are important to an actor’s career. It’s through email messages, posts on the forum for his web site, and reading various interviews that we have come to know him.
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