Starbuck (Battlestar Galactica (1978))
| Character | |
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| Name: | Starbuck |
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| Fandom: | Battlestar Galactica (1978) |
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Starbuck is a character in Battlestar Galactica (1978).
He was portrayed by Dirk Benedict.
The character has a suave demeanor, a liking for cigars, and had a reputation as a ladies' man, not unlike the character Benedict portrayed on The A-Team: Templeton "Faceman" Peck.
Comments by the Actor
From a January 1980 interview with :
PO: Did you look upon "Battlestar Galactica" as just a job?
DB: Oh, no. Nothing is ever just a job. But I didn't get the part because I was a science fiction reader. No, I think it had to do with the fact that I could pretend to be a young man who enjoys his life, likes cigars and women and doesn't want to work too hard and wants to have a good time. A very dependable person in times of peril and flies all over the universe. I'm describing Starbuck in "Battlestar Galactica".
PO: Are you also describing yourself?
DB: Yeah, sure. There are elements of that in me, that is, I'm much more a reflective than Starbuck and not such a social being as he was.
PO: Well, you could never have done that on television. It would have gone over everybody's head.
DB: Yeah, I don't think there's a lot of room for that. Although Richard Hatch's character (Apollo) was very concerned, had a very strong social sense and right and wrong.and doing the moral thing and being responsible. He's the kind of young man who would get married, have children, become the commander. My character, I always saw him as always getting demoted, get in trouble, he wasn't ambitious.
[...]
PO: with all the publicity surrounding Galactica do you think that you will be typecast for a long time as Starbuck?
DB: Well, that will take care of itself. I won't be known as Starbuck simply because Starbuck won't be around and I will. If I was doing it over a five or six year period it may be a problem. His identity would be stronger than mine. I am no longer motivated to be the greatest actor in the world. I want to play basically myself in future films. I want to play a positive, healthy human being who enjoys his life.[1]