Edward James Olmos. I've always respected him as an actor - from Blade Runner on, but especially after becoming enamored with the Sci-Fi Channel incarnation of Battlestar Galactica. With that said, I never realized that he was fairly heavily involved in social/civil rights until I saw him speak at the Dallas Comic Con last month in Dallas. 

I expected him to talk about his roles, with maybe some funny insights - but Olmos consistently took the crowd to deeper subjects including the way we perceive heroes in the United States, his speeches at the United Nations on race as well as thoughts on the Los Angeles riots in the 1990s.

On his acting, his passion for his various roles came shining through - through great stories on being an Actor and Director on Battlestar, getting Stand & Deliver developed and made - as well as extremely interesting stories about Miami Vice and Blade Runner (who knew that Olmos had impacted the direction of the movie relative to whether Deckard was a Replicant or not...)

All in all - pretty awesome Q&A. Video, audio and photos below. Please note - this is the first hour of an hour and a half Q&A. Video of the rest coming soon.

Live MP3/MP3s:
Intro
Blade Runner
Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar's Critical Acclaim
Battlestar at the United Nations
Teachers & Health Care
Stand & Deliver
Director On Battlestar
Future of Battlestar
Stand & Deliver Impact
Heroes in America

Video:


 

 

 

Labels: dallas comic con, edward jams olmos, live mp3s, richardson, video