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.
There are so many sci-fi fans and it's such a big business now. So many people love sci-fi, and they're so loyal. I would be lying if I said that the fact that I had been on a very popular sci-fi show and had some recognition in that world didn't help me get the job on another sci-fi show.
The thing I love about vampires that I find so fascinating is that, unlike other sci-fi creations, they aren't monsters from the get-go, they're human beings first... and so what kind of human you are would dictate what kind of vampire you would be.
One of my favorite sci-fi books is 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card. I would recommend it to anyone who loves sci-fi. It's a perfect intro to sci-fi.
Sci-fi fans are the best fans you can have. You could be doing the worst piece of tat which might have a robot or vampire in, and some people will become obsessed by it and know every little detail. 'Being Human' has crossed over from sci-fi fans to being a drama that everyone can enjoy.
I'm not from a particularly sci-fi background. I'm not anti sci-fi at all, but I've never been known as a sci-fi writer and, suddenly, I was creating a flagship BBC sci-fi show, which is terrifying sometimes.
I have an older brother and sister, and I'm definitely ahead of my years in terms of sci-fi and films. My brother is a massive sci-fi fan, and the Linda Hamilton and Sigourney Weaver era... I was involved and interested.
I've actually found that most of my jobs have been in sci-fi. I realized it because sci-fi has the biggest fan following. Every time I do a play in London all these sci-fi fans come out. They ask me to sign things from all these little projects that I did. I hadn't even made the connection. It doesn't always have a spaceship and guns; sci-fi has been projected on in someway. I did Never Let Me Go, which is sort of Star Trek-y. It's about the future and training humans. It's sci-fi too. It's such a broad umbrella.
What irritates me about sci-fi is that it got hijacked by video games and also became so high-concept it was all about ideas and gadgets and technology and nothing about the human experience.
I wanted to write a sci-fi story that would appeal to young women. Loads of girls like sci-fi, but it's more culturally associated with guys.
I was the only human in 'Underworld.' I didn't really get the full gauge of what it is to be in a sci-fi/fantasy project. But 'Almost Human' presented that opportunity for me and the fanbase that is in that world at Comic-Con and, honestly, cons all around the world - you can't deny the power of that fanbase.
Sci-fi novels are concerned with problems faced by all of humanity. Crises in sci-fi mostly threaten humanity as a whole. This is a unique and treasurable trait inherent in the genre - that the human race is perceived as a single entity, undivided.
These are human issues. These are human stories. I think that's why 'Fences' has been able to resonate and been able to hit so many people over the years because it is just that. You can't run away from the racial specifics of it, but that's just a part of it.
I have to say, as a young woman of color, and this may sound controversial, in sci-fi, anything is possible. In sci-fi I can belong to the military. In sci-fi I can have an interracial love affair; I can be a revolutionary.
I'm a big believer that sci-fi lives in literature, that the true sci-fi population is out there reading a gazillion authors.
As a writer I'm committed to exploring what I call "The invisible things" - the things that people aren't talking about. I think that's where the juiciest conversations and the juiciest drama lives. My goal with the series is to get people talking about and reflecting on how issues of race play out in their own lives. Since I've spent a fair amount of time watching time travel shows and movies where the leads are White (and can blend in really easily no matter the time period) I thought I would turn that on its head and see what might happen.
I do usually stay in the fantasy/sci-fi range, I suppose, but it has many, many subgenres that I'd love to continue exploring.