Date of publishing: 27th
November 2006
A native of the Detroit/Southfield area, Rick graduated
from Southfield Senior High School in 1985, and then
from the University of Michigan in 1990 First a stage
actor in Detroit, Rick later moved to Chicago where
he worked with several prestigious theatre companies,
before moving to Los Angeles to focus on television
and film work. His father is a retired auto worker
in the Farmington Area.
Rick has played in numbers of TV show and films such
Battlestar Galactica, Stargate SG-1, Star Trek Enterprise,
Voyager, Deep Space Nine, CSI, Dark ANgel, Odyssey
5, ...
Linda Craddock: Tell
us about the dynamics of working on the set of Galactica
particularly with Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnel,
two very distinguished veteran actors.
Rick Worthy: Working on Battlestar
Galactica is great. The actors are all fantastic and
the writing is top notch. Unfortunately I haven't
yet anything with Mary McDonnel, an actress who is
at the top of her game, but I did have a nice scene
with Edward James Olmos. Working with him in some
ways was a dream come true. He's a great actor, and
he's very generous and welcoming. I've admired his
work ever since Miami Vice, and when I found out he
was going to play the Captain in BSG, of course I
couldn't wait to watch the show.
Linda
Craddock: You are
no stranger to the sci-fi genre, appearing in Star
Trek: Enterprise, Stargate SG1, Star Trek Voyager,
just to name a few. What do you think about the special
effects in television and movies, CGI, etc?
Rick Worthy: I'm always amazed at
what can be accomplished with current technology in
movies and television. Right now I'm working on the
miniseries "Fallen" (ABC Family) and I play
an angel. The other day our special effects supervisor
came by the set and showed us a computer generated
set of angel wings that he put on an actor in a scene.
It was amazing! They looked so real! Our producer
also told us that upcoming feature film "300"
all the battlefield scenes were CGI. They had all
the actors do the fight choreography on a sound stage
and then they CGI'd the exterior locations. Absolutely
amazing.
Linda Craddock: Describe
your character Simon in Galactica.
Rick Worthy: Simon is a scientist.
He's not as religious as some of the other Cylons,
but he definitely believes in a Creator. He wants
for the Cylons what the humans want for themselves:
the right to exist.
Linda Craddock: Is
it hard to give some nuance to the number of Simons
you play in Galactica? I mean they are clones but
they also have their own personality.
Rick Worthy: I actually try to play
the same Simon every time out, but as the story changes
and evolves, so too does Simon.
Linda Craddock: We
don’t see you much in Galactica, could we expect
to see more of you in the future?
Rick Worthy: I would like to come
back to BSG for more eps. It depends on the producers.
Linda
Craddock: What is
your opinion of the war between Humans and Cylons”
Do you think it reflects the situation on the world
today?
Rick Worthy: I do believe it relects
the situation of the world today, and the world of
yesterday. The history of our species has always been
about one group trying to suppress another. Look at
what's going on in the Middle East, look at what's
going on in Sudan.
Linda Craddock: With
the presence of a biological weapon which can ultimately
destroy resurrected cylons (duplicates), how do you
think the writers will revive the presence of more
machines rather than duplicates in episodes to come?
Rick Worthy: Honestly I have no idea
if the writers/producers will revive more machines
instead of duplicates in future eps.
Linda Craddock: You
appeared in 10 episodes of Star Trek Enterprise. Tell
us some of the interesting aspects of alien species
in some of the episodes you were involved in.
Rick Worthy: I loved working on Star
Trek: Enterprise. In fact, I loved all the Star Trek
shows I've worked on. What I found interesting about
my character is that he was afraid of water. Interestingly,
other members of his race live in the water, and yet
others, like the Reptilians, are ground creatures.
But they are all Xindi.
Linda Craddock: With
the story of man creating machine, machine turns against
man, as told in Terminator with the difference being
the fight in Galactica was engaged in outer space
versus taking place on earth. With that said, what
do you think makes Galactica so successful as a sci-fi
television series?
Rick Worthy: I love The Terminator.
I think James Cameron is a genius, and it's one of
my favourite films of all time. I think what makes
BSG so successful is that it's a strong, character-driven
show. It's ultimately a story about the human condition.
And even though this series takes place somewhere
in a galaxy far, far away, we can relate to it very
strongly. All the stories that are told on BSG are
metaphor for what's happening here on Earth right
now. All the pain, the suffering, the joy, and the
love that we see on BSG we can immediately relate
to. It's about us. It's always been about us.
Linda Craddock: What
are your expectations for Simon? How would you like
to see the character evolve?
Rick Worthy: I would love to see
Simon more on the show. I would love to see him take
a more active role in the direction the Cylons are
moving. But hey, that's not really up to me. I'm ultimately
a hired gun.
Linda
Craddock: Given
their story line as it appeared say during the episode
“The Council” in Star Trek Enterprise,
which species would you say was the most complexed,
creating difficulty among the council members?
Rick Worthy: I'm not sure which one
would be the most complex of the Xindi ... Perhaps
the Reptilians. They're warhawks, really. They're
bullheaded, and if's difficult for them to see others'
point of view. This kind of character creates difficulty
in peaceful negotiations.
Linda Craddock: Most
actors describe extensive make up for particular role
like “Jannar” in Star Trek Enterprise
which require early hours for preparation. Did that
hold true for you during your role with Enterprise?
Rick Worthy: For Enterprise they
had me in the makeup chair for probably 1.5 hours
or less. The makeup artists are top notch. I didn't
mind at all.
Linda Craddock: Your
speak with great eloquence, your voice resonates with
authority as demonstrated in the Stargate SG1 episode
“The Warrior” while you were speaking
to the Jaffa, encouraging them to continue the fight
against the Goa’uld. How do you compare acting
in theatre versus television?
Rick Worthy: That's very nice, thank
you. What I love about the theatre is that I can really
use my vocal power. It's almost like singing the words
out. When I read the script for Stargate, I decided
early on that I wanted like him to sound strong and
powerful and wise. It's the same approach I would
use for King Lear or MacBeth. Once you've got the
voice of the character right, you're 99% there in
terms of creating the character. Everything else follows:
how he walks, how he moves, how he picks up an object.
Linda
Craddock: I especially
enjoyed the fight sequence between K’Tano and
Teal’C did it take a lot of preparation to perform
stunts in Stargate SG1 “The Warrior”.
It was well choreographed. Did you have any prior
martial arts training?
Rick Worthy: Thanks again. I studied
Tae Kwon Do when I was younger, and I did some stunt
fighting in The Magnificent Seven, but I had never
done anything like this! I was so excited because
it was new for me. I did some of the kicks and bo
staff hits, but most of the really cool stuff was
done by Bolo, a brilliant Brazilian master of Copeira.
Linda Craddock: I
understand you are in the process of filming a new
adventure called “Fallen”. Can you give
us a hint about story, plot, characterizations, etc?
Rick Worthy: Sure. "Fallen"
which aired last July on ABC Family as an original
movie of the week, will continue this coming summer
as a 4 hour mini-series. "Fallen" is the
story of Aaron Corbett, a teenager who discovers on
his 18th birthday that he is half-human and half-angel.
A group of killer angels, the Powers, are trying to
find him so that they can destroy him, and Aaron is
on the run with my character, Camael, the former leader
of the Powers who has decided to protect Aaron instead
of killing him. "Fallen" is adapted from
characters created by Tom Sniegoski, a brilliant writer.
Linda Craddock: How
was your experience with “Odyssey 5” series
and the concept that a crew of astronauts returning
to earth with a 5 year time frame to prevent the destruction
of earth?
Rick Worthy: Odyssey 5 was really
cool. Peter Weller made my whole experience fantastic.
He directed the episode, and it was fun acting with
him, and watching him direct the scene too... Peter
is a great, great actor and director. He's also a
huge Miles Davis fan and he plays jazz trumpet. He's
also one of the smartest and most well-read men I've
ever met. One night he and some friends went out to
dinner and he invited me to come along, and we drank
great wine, ate great food, and talked for hours about
everything. It was one of the happiest nights of my
life.
Linda
Craddock: Any other
projects down the pike?
Rick Worthy: I wrote and directed
a short film entitled "pack" with my best
friend, Trent Harrison Smith. We were in the "Reel
Black Men Film Festival" at Raleigh Studios in
LA this past August, we were just on "BETJ's
Best Shorts Film Festival", and we will be in
the upcoming "S.E. Manly Film Festival"
November 30 - December 3rd in Los Angeles. So we're
thrilled! Something that we wrote and directed and
acted in is getting some really nice attention. I'm
very grateful to God for that. We just wanna keep
the ball rolling, and see how further we can go with
our film.
Linda Craddock: We
recently watched the 4 episodes of Season 3. This
is definitely the reality of the world described there
with atrocity, violence, sadness, and joys. With viewers
discretion advised, for its realistic violence both
emotional and physical and the fact that we have not
seen such realism in a sci-fi TV show. It has a profound
effect on viewers. That’s a powerful experience
for the sci-fi genre detractors that think sci-fi
has no consistency with the characters. What do you
think?
Rick Worthy: I think this show can
keep up with and surpass the best one hour dramas
on primetime or cable. I think it's due time for the
Emmys to recognize and justly award a show like Battlestar
Galactica. It'll happen, just keep watching!!!
God Bless All of You. And Always Remember: Follow
Your Bliss.
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