Not Just Another Viper Jockey
Continuing our tradition of BSG excellence, I give you: Our community's 3rd exclusive actor interview! Leo Chiang is a self-described background performer in BSG, often seen hanging out in Galactica's rec room with the other pilots. Over the past few seasons he's become a fan favorite, and last month he was kind enough to take questions from members of our community!
(We had a long list and pretty much had to just take the first chunk of questions, so please forgive us if yours didn't make it.) :)

Without further ado:

What sort of direction are you given in regards to your character's motivation in scenes?

Lol, I'm an overfeatured background performer. The only direction I get is to be quiet.

How did you prepare for you role, did you talk to any military people or pilots?

I did a few months as an air cadet in the Canadian Air Force many years ago, until they wanted me to cut my hair (yes, I used to have long hair). Also, I come from a long line of career military men. I am the first generation that has not done any military service. When you grow up with your dad polishing guns in the kitchen some of that rubs off on you. The agency I am with (www.dc5talent.com) also specializes in police and military roles.

Dude! We love you in the background scenes. Are they ever going to GIVE YOU ANY LINES? :)

I yell out "Chromedome" in season 3 episode 6 (Torn) in response to giving Sharon a new call sign. That's about it, otherwise I do a lot of cool nodding and grunting and stuff. I'd love to get an opportunity to develop my character further.

What's the most challenging part of playing this role? Is it a rewarding challenge?

Believe it or not it's actually pretty tough to be in a scene where I'm the only one NOT talking and yet I have to respond to the conversations around me in a convincing manner. You guys see a short cut but some of those scenes takes hours and many, many takes to complete. I hope I'm pulling it off alright. Sometimes I wish I could talk just to make things easier and more natural. It's pretty rewarding to be able to work on your favorite show and be part of a pretty old legacy.

What's an average day on the BSG set like for you?

If it's an early call-time I grab breakfast (great caterers on the show!) then I grab my wardrobe. Then I grab a coffee from crafty and wait to be called to set where we do take after take of me doing the aforementioned head nodding and grunting. Then we grab lunch and I try to squeeze back into my costume and try to look like I'm not sucking in my gut. Wednesdays are Hamburger Day where they break out the grill a couple of hours after lunch. Mmm, my stomach rules my world. Do you realize how much I save on groceries working in this industry?

Was that you betting on Hotdog in the Starbuck vs Hotdog boxing match? If so, why Hotdog and not Starbuck?

Actually no, I'm not too sure why I didn't get the call for that episode. Maybe I was attached to another show at the time. I know the other guy though, he's a buddy of mine, he's a buff guy but quite a bit shorter than me. I'd probably still be cheering for Hotdog to get back at Starbuck for being with Anders, lol. Plus, I like to root for the underdog.

Which BSG actor do you enjoy being on set with the most?

Man, tough question. They're all great, and I'm not just saying that. Although I was closest to Grace Park because we had already known each other from another show. During season 1 I chatted a lot with Grace and Sam Witwer (Crashdown), he's a real comedian that guy. Leah Cairns (Racetrack) is really sweet and supportive and always has time for a friendly chat. Also, I'm in a lot of scenes with Bodi Olmos (Hotdog) and Sebastian Spence (Narcho), great guys both! Otherwise, I'm pretty separate and stay in the background tent.

Do you hang out with any of the other actors when you're not filming? You seem like a party guy, are you a big party guy?

Hehe, I really try to keep my professional and personal life separate. I'm also at the age where partying is pretty low on my list of priorities. Coming up on my 3rd annual 29th birthday now. I like to entertain at home a lot though.

Are your tattoos real?

Over 40 hours of painful realism.

What do your tattoos mean? They look wicked. >:-)

The left side is dedicated to my family. If you look real close my family name (Chinese character) is on my upper arm and is being protected by a tiger. The koi on my chest means my family's success and perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds. The band in mid-bicep is the ancient Chinese character for Longevity/long-life. The right side is for my culture/heritage. Typical Chinese dragon on the chest with his body curled around my arm and a dragon band to finish it off. I purposely cut the sleeves at mid-bicep so that I can wear a t-shirt and no one would know I was tattooed. The back are various symbols for joy, bliss and good luck . . . protective symbols. My abdomen is actually 5 characters drawn to look like one, it's part of an ancient Chinese idiom that says time "Tells A Person's Heart." The whole idiom is "Like a long journey tests a horse's stamina, so does time tell a person's heart".

What kind of stuff are you into when you're not working? What can you tell us about your clothing line (EXITGEAR.com)?

I work a lot. In my down time I enjoy relaxing and I rent a lot of movies. Exit Gear is my neglected clothing line that someday would like the time and resources to sell in stores. I started Exit Gear years ago to capitalize on the growing mixed martial arts genre, I'm a big Ultimate Fighter fan.

Not so much a question -- but a HUGE Thanks for doing this! YAY! Hey!

Yay and thank you all for being supportive!

Salty seems to hang around Starbuck quite a lot.. do you think he has a crush on her?

Hmm, would be interesting to find out. I think my character would like a tough girl who can take care of herself.

Do you have a favorite episode of the series so far? Are you a fan of SciFi shows in general or is Battlestar Galactica not something you would probably watch if you weren't on it?

I like any episode with a lot of action scenes, lol. The guys have really done some amazing things with the CGI work. I've been a fan of the original series since I was a wee lad. I remember having one of the original die-cast Viper model toys. Had to stick the stickers on it myself. Die-cast! Not one of those cheap plasticky you see nowadays! I love BSG, would love it even if I didn't work on it so much. I'm a huge sci-fi geek. My next goal is to be an extra on Star Trek and move back in with my parents. I'll have Magic: The Gathering parties in their basement.

If you ever get bigger parts in the series, will you subtly nudge the writers to call you Salty?

Heh, I'll take anything at this point. I'll be happy if they make me a ballerina if it means I actually become a regular cast member.

Which fan-given call sign do you prefer? Salty? or Dragon? Also, do you have a call sign assigned to you in BSG already? If so, I'm guessing "fuzzy" :)

The fact that fans would go out of their way to create a name for me and create great fan fiction more than amazes and humbles me. Currently I have no official name, so, if they do decide to name me, I hope they do honor the fans by picking one of those call signs.

How would one have the opportunity to be an extra on BSG? Or help out in any way?

Get a background agent, move to Vancouver and tell your agent to bug the hell out of the background casting agent for BSG.

If the writers told you they were going to kill your character off, would you point to the support for him on the internet or just accept it? What if they made you a Cylon?

I've survived going without sleep for 5 days while under attack every 33 minutes. I've survived a missile exploding in the hangar bay. I've survived an exploding Doral. I've survived radiation poisoning. I've survived starvation. I've survived drinking nothing but Ambrosia. I've survived despite losing all my money in Triad (mostly to Starbuck) and I've survived numerous engagements with the cylons. If they kill me off I sure hope it's a worthy one. It would suck if I died of tetanus. Being a cylon would be great! It would guarantee me as being on the show till the end of time!

I'm sure this has been asked before, and I'm sure you can't answer this: are you a cylon? BUT, maybe you can answer this: do YOU know IF you are a cylon or not?

Cannot answer.

Any spoiler hints you can give us about where the rest of season three is going? I'm guessing you can't tell us but thought I'd ask anyways. Thank you for doing this, I LUV YOU!!!

Cannot answer, but luv you too!

Battlestar Galactica has one of the most diverse casts on television. Asian men are underrepresented on TV, so in a way you're one of the few faces the community has. Any experiences or opinions about working as a minority in the industry?

Quite honestly no, of course I'll probably never work on a show about Vikings or medieval Britain, but being Asian has never been much of an issue. Although I wish Jet Li, Jackie Chan or Chow Yun Fat would come here and make more Asian gangster flicks. I'd be working non-stop!

If the writers were planning a Salty-focused episode where you finally got your day in the sun, and they asked you what you'd like to be doing in that episode, what would you tell them? What would your dream Salty episode be like? Who would be Salty's love interest?

Ooh, good question. I think I would be so overwhelmed I'd just go with the flow. Besides, the writers have a much bigger focus when actually planning the show's story arc. So I'm sure my opinions wouldn't matter. I would love to see my character actually do some fighting, either in a Viper or hand to hand. Would love to do a sword fight too, lol. Love interest!?! Geez, let's take baby steps and let my character talk more before jumping some poor woman.

We love your character and thanks for doing this interview! Are we going to see you in any upcoming non-BSG related shows or movies? Do you have an official website?

My website is under construction (kinda like my life, hehe) but I starred as Rocko Lee in an independent film called "Sam and Jessie", my first comedic role. I'm one of Attila's hunnish soldiers in "Night at the Museum", in theatres now. I'm always playing soldier, SWAT or cop in numerous locally shot films and tv shows.

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I want to offer a huge thanks to Leo for taking the time for us, and thanks to the community members who submitted questions for this interview. :) To check out our other Battlestar interviews and features, please visit the community info page.

~ Grant, Battlestar-Blog.com