An early 2000s Mary McDonnell interview prompted me to post this because of what she said and what's happened since...
Long story short, I am not an OG BSG fan but I recently revisited this motherfucking show because...what's better than getting down and dirty with the things that hurt you most when you're already there?
Anyways, onto the interview which you can find through Wayback Machine (here and here):
Mary McDonnell is probably best known for her role as First Lady Marilyn Whitmore in Independence Day (1996), during which she was professional, compassionate, and eventually dead to fuel our sympathy for the President, Bill Pullman.
In Battlestar Galactica -- which has been greenlit as a series by the SCI FI Channel -- McDonnell plays Laura Roslin, the Director of Education who becomes President when the 43 people between her position and the President's are killed by the Cylons.
ME: This is a real step up for you.
MM: I am feeling energized, and know, that 43 people who had to die is an interesting fact, as one of the things I'm fascinated by in BSG is that here's this women who was thrust into power, instead of having to work her way into it. I love the idea of a woman being able to discover the idea of power this way, on such a scale. And I don't know about that, what it means -- well, I guess I'd better, or my part's in trouble.
It's about women -- I have an opportunity to deal with the issues of being powerful, but being feminine, while being a warrior. So far, the closest I've gotten to the presidency is being the wife. It makes this all the more delicious. I always admire the first ladies; they're always well-dressed, intelligent. There are some remarkable first ladies in history. But now we're going farther.
ME: Being in education myself, one of my favorite lines in the miniseries is definitely when Adama is growling that your character isn't really the President, and he's not going to take orders from some "schoolteacher."
MM: That seems very realistic to me. That's the way this man experiences things. And then…we shall see. It's even more realistic that she's co-running things with Commander Adama -- Thank God it's the brilliant Eddie Olmos playing him! I mean, he has the power on this ship.
ME: President Roslin's got a real challenge ahead of her. You know, [writer/exec producer/creative force] Ron Moore enjoys exploring relationships, particularly sexual aspects. How long do you think it will be before he's got you and Olmos dealing with the sexual tension between Adama and Roslin?
MM: Well, that's just going to be inherent in the situation, so I would guess pretty quickly. As I'm looking more and more at what's ahead -- well, I'm not the writer, I -- Ron when you read this, don't be angry --
ME: Don't worry. He'll never read this.
MM: Well, I don't know what Ron has in mind, but I do know about the arc of the show. Looking at how intuitive and instinctive Eddie and I play, that is the sort of thing that leads into sexual chemistry. I wouldn't be surprised if it emerged. Of course, [Roslin's] not going to sleep with anyone ever! [laughs]
ME: Watch out, that didn't work too well with Janeway.
MM: What do you mean?
ME: On Voyager, Captain Janeway is a woman, but she's stuck in space with her crew for seven years and can't sleep with anyone, as they are all beneath her in the chain of command. The last season, she has to resort to a holographic boyfriend.
MM: What?! I'm not sleeping with a hologram!
ME: What about a Cylon?
MM: No! The Cylons are such a frightening concept -- not knowing who is real. No way.
ME: Are you a sci-fi fan?
MM: I never spent that much time with sci-fi, though I was quite taken with the Dune books. I think [such fictional places] are a world that is very real to me -- perhaps that's why I don't read a lot of it. I'm thrilled to be more attached to it, because I'm quite taken with it when I watch it.
I remember when I saw the rough cut of the series, even with all the little drawings in place of the special effects, I was so pleased at how interested and attached I become to the other characters. I'm a very critical viewer, but this became "real" to me. I'm fascinated by other realities and other realms and I think they exist - and when you have a good writer, it becomes palpable.
ME: Ron Moore - what qualities make you judge him a "good" writer for this?
MM: He's very intuitive about human behavior, combined with a wonderful understanding of the scientific/fantasy perception - an understanding of what we can perceive beyond what we admit to. But he doesn't depart from the human being. That means you get to use everything you are and more as an actor.
ME: The two major scenes in the miniseries with your character, for me, are the inauguration, and the scene where she's had to order the faster ships to leave the slower ones behind to be destroyed. In each, your character seemed to implode upon herself, and then hold there to get through the moment. This seems to me that this is the core of her. Is that how you view it in terms of how she might be developed?
MM: Ron allowed us to see right away the private piece of a person about to become very public. I suspect we're going to see more of her very private world -- Laura's private experience. I'm not sure yet how public she's going to be about the actions she's going to have to take. How deeply can she can risk experiencing her own core? When we get down to the core like that, it can make us not able to go on. Ron seems to have an instinctive feel of that process with her.
ME: Well, you're talking about an honesty there, but remember, at the end of the miniseries, we see her and Adama enter into something of a scam. Earth doesn't exist -- as far as they know -- but they're going to pretend they think it does.
MM: That moment was very important because it was political. That's what has to be done, so they struck a deal. She figures his is a well-thought-out motivation that she felt was worthy trade-off. The motivation here is survival, and she has to think like a leader
ME: It's really a nicely complex character.
MM: It would have to be for me, if I'm going to do it. I love to work. I love to have complexity. And she's just one of an ensemble. It's phenomenally important to me that, if I'm going to be spending years on a project, I need to be interested in the whole thing. I'm not there to be on my own. And if I'm going to be with these people, I'd best be interested in their work
ME: So you're not of the mind of, say, a Robert Beltran, who said after a while he only read his own lines in a script and didn't bother with the rest.
MM: If that's ever have it comes to me, it's time to get out. That's not what I'm interested in, or Eddie's interested in. That kind of thing won't be fostered by Ron -- he's brilliant, an ensemble writer. With BSG, sci-fi is the human experience taken beyond the envelope. When I first became involved with the project, I knew that I would be able to play a human being for many years, exploring and reflecting on issues that would impact people's lives.
ME: Well, talking about important issues, you're dealing with a woman in power, and for some reason, lately, Americans just love to vilify women in power: Hillary Clinton, Leona Helmsley, Martha Stewart, (Kathryn Janeway)... How are you going to be able to show a powerful woman while surrounded by such a negative atmosphere in our culture?
MM: I do think that it's extremely important with this character show her assuming power with a great deal of grace, and find out how to do things she won't like - the things she's called upon to do.
I really think we haven't found a way to allow women to have grace while finding power, particularly in the military. I'm going to get to discover on my feet with Ron and the others what is the truth here, what is the truth of the woman in power, and why do we vilify them, demonize them? I'm not sure why we do that to women. I'm not sure I'm answering your question. I think I'm asking the same question -I want to know how and when women can find a way to contribute on that level.
ME: Well, guys like us to be mommies.
MM: I don't think it's that simple. I think there are demands to allow the masculine and feminine to grow in different ways so they're not so polar. There's a duality inherent in how we've been living as humans for so long that needs to be matured. That's why I was drawn to BSG. I have a sense we're going to poke around in that. I mean, here we are, and what sort of civilization are we making? Sure, we're starting over, but we're bringing a great shadow from our past into our future. Is there another way to do it? Or will we recreate an apocalyptic nightmare?
Hi, it's me again. You're friendly older fanlady (has anyone TM'd this? If not, I probably won't). What I think is most interesting about this interview is that we all (or you should) know that RDM had no fucking clue where he was going with the show but that motherfucker knew from the get go (much to Mary's, and my/our surprise. From 25-ish minutes in) that the show was always going to go in that direction. You should watch the rest of the video too, just because Mary is adorable and a great interviewer.