Olmos famous

Edward James Olmos as Commander Adama in Battlestar Galactica.

Many actors are outspoken but few are the real deal like Edward James Olmos - he gets arrested for the causes he believes in.

Five years ago, the veteran actor - think Gaff the policeman in Blade Runner (1982), Lt. Martin Castillo in Miami Vice (1984), and most recently, Commander Adama in the new series Battlestar Galactica - was jailed for trespassing on US Navy land during a protest.

He's still an activist, but also divides his time between helping young Latinos in the community, directing films, and saving what's left of the human race from the wrath of the Cylons.

Are you a big fan of sci-fi?

Oh yes, going right back to my Blade Runner days.

The new series of Battlestar Galactica is less light-hearted than the original. Why the more serious approach?

It's just that the material is taken more seriously, that's all. The amount of humour that you can find in the situations is limited, especially if you start from the beginning like we did, with [the decimation of the human race].

The storyline takes longer to unravel. Why?

What they've done, which is very interesting, and something that has been carried over from some of the most recent television, is that there's three storylines - the A line, the B line, and the C line. The A line takes you from the beginning through to the end of the last episode. In this case it's us looking for earth, and another planet to live on. The B story is a story that runs over two or three episodes. The C storyline is the story that resolves itself in one episode. If you can keep the A storyline in focus at all times then you've won. The decimation of the human species has been total. There's less than 50,000 people left. So, guess what? Good luck.

Looking back to your Blade Runner days, how have things changed in sci-fi?

Basically I don't think anything has recaptured Blade Runner. I think [Battlestar Galactica] is the closest we've come to reproducing a dramatic piece of work in this genre. I think [George] Lucas has done some great storytelling with his Star Wars trilogy, and then of course there are people who like Star Trek and the original Battlestar Galactica, but this is quite a bit more intense. This is closer to Blade Runner than it is to Star Trek and Star Wars. Star Wars is quite humorous, this is darker.

And with the introduction of a character like Six [a Cylon who has taken a human form] it's a little more sexy, too?

I think Six is the epitome of where we are going with cloning. I think there's a couple of clones we're going for right away and they are the military model, and the sexual model. That's the sadness of it. Humankind use sexuality to its fullest and we're very vulnerable because of it. As you get into the later episodes you see how poignant the relationship between the Cylons and humans becomes and what ends up happening is unbelievable. The last episode is quite original, to say the least.

What memories do you have of Miami Vice?

Pretty fond ones. Miami is a beautiful, beautiful city and working on the programme was extraordinary because I had total creative control over my character. I had a non-exclusive contract so at the same time I did films like Stand and Deliver [which he got an Oscar nomination for]. It was a wonderful artistic era for me because I was doing theatre at the same time, too.

You're known as a staunch activist. Tell us a bit about when you were arrested.

I was placed in a Federal Penitentiary in Puerto Rico for 20 days.

It was for trespassing on US Navy land, is that right?

It was after a protest against bomb testing [by the USA] on Viewues, a little island off Puerto Rico. I think I'm known more as an activist than an actor [he laughs]. My activism has been very well received because of the intensity of what we do and people appreciate that commitment.