Below is highlights from the Q&A panel at Serenity Forever, a convention by Starfury held in London from 13th to 15th September 2013, with Aaron Douglas, Leah Cairns & Stephanie Jacobsen.

Aaron Douglas: Let’s start with you (Leah) finding your room.

Leah Cairns: When my best friend and i checked in, she’s also Canadian,we where told we were in room 1017. When you are North American, that means you are on the tenth floor.So we got into the elevator and my best friend is looking at the elevator buttons, ‘Oh there is only buttons for three floors, how do we get to the tenth floor? So i’m like maybe being on the tenth floor means you’re special so you put your card in the slot and it just takes you to the tenth floor. She then goes ‘Oh yeah! That’s it.’ When we got to the room and we open the curtain and look out the window and there’s a Starbucks in the hotel, you can see the umbrella for a Starbucks table and we look and it’s right there and well…

Aaron: What your’e wondering is that we should be 105 feet high.

Leah: (laughing) and then we look at the airplanes landing on the ground in front of us. It still hasn’t clicked so we get back to the elevator and go down to floor zero. When we went back in the elevator there’s an American guy who looks at us. He asks us ‘What floor are you going to?’ i say ‘the tenth.’ He goes’ the tenth?’ and i say ‘yes, oh right that’s OK we got our special card.’ He goes to the second floor and he looks at us and goes ‘Good luck getting on the tenth floor girls.’ I thought that’s just weird so i follow him as he walks out and see the rooms 2001-2030 that way and then i was like ‘OMG! and i got it right away and started laughing. My best friend is like ‘What’s so funny? How do i get on the tenth floor? I’m like ‘were not on the tenth floor.’ This morning while i was waiting for the elevator and the doors to open,  this guy says ‘see’ and his wife goes ‘well i didn’t know, she said room 1020, i thought we were on the tenth floor.’

Aaron: so the special card you got is the special ed card?

Leah: I want to look for the Americans and say to them ‘OMG the view from the tenth floor is amazing.’

Aaron: It’s also invisable. When you stand outside there’s three floors and then i don’t know, it just keeps going. It’s actually ten floors down, it’s dug into the ground. Good grief, good thing you’re cute.

Leah: I just wrapped up shooting on ‘Interstellar’ by Christopher Nolan I signed confidentially agreements so there’s not much I can say.

Aaron: You’re just a big giant tease, aren’t you?

Leah: I am. Basically what I can talk about is what’s already on the internet, nobody even has character names yet.

Aaron: You play an elderly Korean man don’t you?

Leah: Ssshhhh. It’s the sequel to Cloud Atlas. It’s a sci-fi movie and it’s about a wormhole. It’s gonna be awesome.

Q: What’s it like to work with Christopher Nolan and is there a director you would like to work with in the future?

Leah: After working with Christopher Nolan, I would like to work with him again in the future. The guy is a genuis. He was 3 and a half days ahead of schedule by the time we wrapped up the first 3 weeks of shooting. On my very first day I was supposed to be in the last scene and I was on set and in rehearsal at 10.30am in the morning. He knows exactly what he wants, he’ll have people firing question after question and he’d have an answer for every single one. I think he might be a little bit of a method Director, he’s in the mode, mellow, calm, creative and he’s just unbelievable.

Q: What’s your favourite story from working on Battlestar Galactica?

Aaron: This is my favourite story too. When they put a microphone on you and then they run them through your clothes, a wire through your belt or down on your boot. I learned on that day that’s its important, even if you don’t wear underwear in life, it’s important to wear underwear to work and here’s why. I’m wearing my orange overall coveralls, and they have to put a microphone on me. They clip it on and they run it through the vest and all they way down to my boot. So i’m standing and there’s probably around a hundred people there since i’m the last one on set, the sound guy say’s ‘i need to drop a wire down your pants.’  As i’m talking to other people on set and he drops the wire, he’s down on one knee and then i stop talking mid sentence. I’m like that shouldn’t have hit something, that shouldn’t have hit something warm and flesh like. I turn and look down and the sound guy is like this (shocked expression) so i go ‘whoops, hang on, i’ll just do that up.’ All these people start to look in our direction,then Edward James Olmos says’ Douglas just cold cocked the sound guy.’ He quit the show shortly thereafter.

Q:What attracted you to the show?

Leah: As a fan what got me was the music. I wasn’t in the mood to watch the pilot but as soon as i heard the intro music i was like ‘what is going on?’ I spend 4 hours or however long the pilot was watching it.

Aaron: The look, the reality, the characters are flawed, the ship is flawed, it’s dark and bleak. I just found it fascinating.

Stephanie: I loved that it was so apologetic, that was my favourite thing about it. It just did what it wanted and it meant it.

Q: What is the sandwich story?

Aaron:  This was when i first started hating Eddie In the mini series when i confront Admiral William Adama. We shoot some coverage then go for lunch. When we come back from lunch and get ready to rehearse. This is my first day on set and i’m terrified. I don’t know what’s going on and it was the first time i worked with Eddie. He get’s right in my face, he opens his mouth (he ate this burnt hair cat shit sardine sandwich and he didn’t brush his teeth) and my pores are screaming. I didn’t have to save for weeks after that. I can’t do anything, my eye’s are watering and i’m like don’t throw up, don’t throw up, they’re gonna fire you if you mess up. Then he pauses and then says’ Welcome to the show.’

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