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In the very first episode of the '00s reboot of Battlestar Galactica, one of the show’s central characters gets told that she has terminal cancer — which was, unsurprisingly, a concern for the actor who’d been offered the role. How the show’s creator responded to those concerns was what made actor Mary McDonnell sign onto the series for the long run, she’s revealed.

Speaking about her experience signing on to play President Laura Roslin in the series, McDonnell told the crowd at the Battlestar Galactica Cast Spotlight panel at Rose City Comic Con 2025, that what convinced her to join the series was a meeting with series creator and showrunner Ronald D. Moore.

“I was offered the role, and I said, ‘Well, this is brilliant, but if I'm going to be traveling to Vancouver, whatever, I need to meet these people,  because it's going to be a lot with the kids that I have.’ So we're sitting two days later at a breakfast, and it was Ron, it was [executive producer] David Eick, and it was [director] Michael Rymer. Michael Rymer and David Eick are going nuts talking about the show, because they've been with it for months. I'm listening. I'm listening. I'm listening. They got into a healthy debate about something, and Ron, very quietly, leans over to me and he says, 'Do you have a question that I might answer?' I said, 'Yeah, you know - my first scene, Laura Roslin's first scene, she's diagnosed with terminal cancer, so... Is this a short job?’”

Responding to the crowd’s laughter, she admitted, “I seriously didn't know, because they'll negotiate me for a season, but that doesn't mean you're going to be there.”

McDonnell said that Moore “looked at me like with these doe eyes, he's got the most beautiful eyes, and he goes, 'Oh, it never even occurred to me. I've been with her for so long. Oh, no. She's with us until we find Earth.' And I said, 'But how?' He said, 'I'm not sure.' But he gave his word, and he found ways to keep her alive, and none of it was gratuitous and none of it was false. Just his kindness and quiet brilliance, just in that one moment, [I thought] I gotta work with them. I’d do anything for that man.”

Seeing fellow panel guest Edward James Olmos’s reaction to that last line, McDonnel quickly added, “Well. As an actress.”

“She never said that about me,” Olmos deadpanned in response.

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