Here's a few minutes of video of Jamie Bamber most recently "Apollo"/"Lee Adama" of Battlestar Galactica talking to teevee gossip reporter Kristen at the TV critics press tour. Bamber does make some observations about the final half season of BSG, but understandably, seemed much more enthused about his brand new project: Law & Order: London in which he'll play "a cop."
Bamber described the writing of the last of the Battlestar Galactica series in superlatives, however. He disclosed that the last scenes he filmed were with the second camera unit, sans other BSG actors, using extras. He describes the scenes as "running around shooting things."
When asked if he'd return for a Battlestar Galactica mini-series, he emphatically shook his head, "no," going on to explain that he feels that the story of his character has finished being told. Kristen picked up on this and asked if his BSG character is killed off but he would not confirm or deny.
Though Katee Sackoff has often been the brunt of criticism for her portrayal of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace, I've always enjoyed the way she can realistically plumb the depths of emotion as an actress as well as her character's fearlessness and selflessness towards her crewmates.
Bamber's Apollo, OTOH, has often been whiny and sullen--two traits that I have trouble enjoying play out onscreen. Part of the problem surely, was how his character was written: resentful son who was never "good enough," with the shadow of his father, Admiral Adama looming large over him. Again, being brutally honest my opinion of Bamber is that he never really "wore" the character well. He seemed uncomfortable in the role. Hardest for me in re: this actor was his generic American accent. I understand that it must be quite difficult to drop his European accent--plus he has his mixed bag of dialect influences: His father--an American attorney out of Detroit, his mother, an Irish actress, his first seven years of life growing up in France, and the UK as his home (more or less) since. But Bamber's accent was dry of any regional inflection at all and it always distracted me when he'd hit a particular word or phrase that sounded forced and very unnatural with the result that it took me as the viewer out of the scene. As a classically trained actor, one would think this would be the very last impression Bamber would want to give. But there you are.
I doubt that Jamie Bamber would agree with this but I think the pinnacle of his television career has been reached. I mean, he's very enthused about yet another spin-off of: Law & Order: London???
I sincerely do wish him well but I think he hasn't yet gotten the perspective that Battlestar Galactica was the best television he'll ever do--even though Lee "Apollo" Adama wasn't the best rendered character on the series.
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