Attention Deficit Delirium

At right, Torresani's saintly halo shows on the red carpet at the 2010 Syfy Upfront.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

For years we’ve caught glimpses of Alessandra Torresani through guest roles in high profile television series like JAG, Bones and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Now she’s carrying her own show, starring as Zoe Graystone in Syfy’s Caprica, playing the brilliant young woman who, after her death and transformation into an avatar, will ultimately inhabit the first Cylon consciousness nearly six decades prior to the events of Battlestar Galactica.

Yet how much do we really know about the young actress? ADD snagged a few tidbits at last week’s Syfy Upfront to learn more about Torresani.


You have hinted that your character Zoe has a rocky road ahead. Obviously the Caprica showrunners do not always give the cast a heads up as to what is going to be happening from week to week. Does being left hanging like that alter your performance?
Definitely. There would be days where they would not tell us [anything] until literally we got right on set. Sometimes they would give us advance notice — “This is where we think we’re going with the character” — [but] it’s a free-for-all. They’ll just give it to us, and we have to take what we get.





Is it fun going back and forth between being Cylon and being human?
It’s fun! I also think that the visual arts team that we have made it a lot easier. It’s been great.

How does this compare with other roles that you have done?
I love it. I love our method of working. We’ve got the best cast and crew.

Were you a sci-fi fan before you started working on Caprica?
No, this is new to me.

What preconceptions of the genre did you have beforehand, and how have they changed?
It’s all changed. I love sci-fi now. I understand it, and it’s so much deeper than just space dramas. There’s a lot more to it.

Toressani at Big Apple Comic Con, Oct. 2009.
(Photo credit: Luigi Novi.)

Outside of sci-fi, what’s your guilty pleasure?
Mad Men.

What do you love about that show?
The men. The clothes. And the drama. And the sex. It’s all so great, that show.

What do you think your fans would be surprised to learn about you?
That I’m kind of funny. I try to be funny, and I try to be very relatable. There are a lot of actors out there that aren’t so fun to be around.

Do you interact with your fans a lot through social media?
Yeah, I love it. I’m convinced I’m going to meet my soulmate at a convention. We’ll see what happens.



Related Posts:

Inside The 50th Annual Monte-Carlo Television Festival




“Caprica” Producers: No Frakking Regrets





Ron Moore (l) and David Eick with Alessandra Torresani
at the 2010 Syfy Channel Upfront.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

I recently spoke with Caprica executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick on the red carpet at this week’s 2010 Syfy Channel Upfront. You can read my Caprica story on AOL here, but there were some extra bits left over that make for a nice feature for ADD.

So here are Moore and Eick discussing their shows, their cultural impact and last year’s controversial Battlestar Galactica finale.


How much of an impact do you think that Battlestar Galactica and Caprica have had on modern sci-fi television?
Ron Moore: That’s really hard to say. I don’t know.
David Eick: We were so busy cribbing from others that it’s been hard to keep track of who we may have begat. Our touchstones were the greats: [Robert] Heinlein, Philip K. Dick and the movies of Ridley Scott, not just the science fiction ones. I think we were fortunate to figure out a way to apply some of that aesthetic to a modern TV show. I haven’t been able to pay attention enough to what else is on out there to see what we may have inspired.
Ron Moore: To me, the biggest and most important impact is that Salma Hayek had a “Frak” T-shirt when she was on 30 Rock. That was a major score because that’s the one they put in the time capsule.

Isn’t it ironic that one’s cultural impact can come down to one word?
Ron Moore: You know what? However you can get there.

Moore with "Caprica" cast member Sasha Roiz.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Ron, I saw you speak last year at the New York Television Festival and reminisce about your later years with the Star Trek franchise and how formulaic it got. How hard is it to stay as original as possible with your storytelling on Caprica, especially after four seasons of Battlestar, and to keep the mythology fresh?
Ron Moore: I think you’re always trying to avoid clichés just as a storyteller. I think within the Battlestar universe the smartest thing we did was we developed Caprica while Battlestar was still going, so we were able to make sure that we carved enough blank space for the back story on Galactica to give ourselves a lot of room. So as a consequence there are not huge plot grids that we have to keep tying into. The continuity is not so densely packed that we have to make all this stuff line up. It feels very free, that Caprica can be whatever it wants to be.

As opposed to Lost, where as the story keeps getting bigger, you have to keep checking to make sure the continuity is accurate.
Ron Moore: That’s a very different set of…
David Eick: That was a good, cautionary tale.

Moore and Eick at ease on the red carpet.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Many fans found the Battlestar ending to be controversial. What did you think of the fans’ reaction?
David Eick: We were just talking about this. I’ll say this because I didn’t actually write it, and he did, so I could speak about him in the third person. I’m really proud of it. It’s the best possible resolution given what we had set up, and I think if anybody’s longing for something different it’s only because what had been set up was so rich and had such depth and meaning that they just didn’t want it to end. So I’m very happy with what my friend here did with the script. I think it’s the best version of any that could have been conceived.
Ron Moore: I’m very happy with it. I’m very settled with it. I was very happy with it when we wrote it, shot at and saw it, and that’s the end of the show. People can take from it what they will, but I’m very pleased with it.



Last night I attended the annual Syfy Channel Upfront, where the stars chatted up the media on the red carpet, executives made their important presentation to advertisers and everybody got to party afterward. I covered the event both for AOL TV and for ADD, so you’ll be seeing those stories posted in the near future.

This year’s Upfront took place at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, where the Tim Burton exhibit is currently being held (and which Syfy is a proud sponsor of). It was a great location for this sneak peek into Syfy’s forthcoming year, not only because of the chance to see the Burton artwork but also because of the large space where the party was held afterward. Syfy President Dave Howe, Blake Callaway (SVP, Brand and Integrated Marketing) and Chris Czarkowski (VP, Sales, USA and Syfy) kept the official presentation moving along fast and furious with good wit, and they were quite accessible afterward, as were the stars. The channel also displayed a self-deprecating sense of humor by showing a clip of Stephen Colbert making fun of their name change from Sci Fi to Syfy. Good call. Tracy Morgan sent a video message announcing he will now be executive producer as well as the host of Scare Tactics, and he excused his absence due to his “fear of modern art”.

Here’s a photo gallery of the event. Stories forthcoming!



Warehouse 13 agents Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly enjoy a break from object hunting.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Eureka co-stars Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Colin Ferguson feel at ease in the spotlight.
They are just glad that the sky is not falling at the moment.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Sanctuary star Amanda Tapping faces the mighty WWE.
Hey, if she can take on a vampire squid, she can take on anyone.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Professional Ghost Hunters Kris Williams (l) and Amy Bruni. They ain't 'fraid of no ghosts.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Caprica executive producers Ronald D. Moore (l) and David Eick
have plenty of reasons to be happy these days.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Caprica's Alessandra Toressani (c) and Esai Morales (r) charm the press.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

WWE NXT "rookie" David Otunga in a happy mood. You wouldn't like him when he's angry.
Or maybe you would.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Caprica's Sasha Roiz (c) and Stargate Universe's Ming-Na (r) are all smiles.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Beguiling Caprica castmates Magda Apanowicz (l) and Alessandra Torresani.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Caprica star Esai Morales tells the WWE to bring it.
He's clearly not aware of their new Cylon champion.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Media, stars and advertisers gather for the annual company presentation.
There were plenty more people behind the camera.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Syfy President Dave Howe addresses the throng and reveals that his favorite character in the Tim Burton exhibition upstairs is Stain Boy. Oh yeah, and there are some cool shows on Syfy you should watch.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

A better view of Dave Howe, looking chipper after his big speech.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Eureka's sheriff Colin Ferguson (l) chats with Luke Fontneau from Warner Bros.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Among the throng at the post-presentation party.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Sleek projections hover above the crowd at MoMA.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Contrary to what you might be thinking, Ming-Na and Amanda Tapping
are not discussing Stargate mythology.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Eddie McClintock cozies up to Kris Williams and Amy Bruni
only seven hours before he has to be back on set in Toronto.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Haven star Emily Rose enjoying a good time before filming begins next month.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Alessandra Toressani hams it up with CBS Watch! magazine deputy editor Jim Colucci (l) and Sirius Satellite Radio host Frank De Caro (r).
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Colin Ferguson chats with Inner Space.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Dave Howe (l) and Destination Truth host Josh Gates enjoy rare, in-person quality time.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Three women get prepped on how to pose for the Matrix-style images
being shot in the Syfy photo booth.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

More projections, including one from the photo booth below.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

The Syfy crowd packed MoMA.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

A rare respite for the caterers.
(Photo © 2010 by Bryan Reesman.)

Ron Moore refuses to "tech the tech" anymore. (Photo ©2009 by Bryan Reesman.)

As keynote speaker for the recent New York Television Festival “Development Day,” Battlestar Galactica and Caprica creator Ronald D. Moore addressed many different aspects of creating and sculpting the new incarnation of BSG. He also discussed how he broke into the business and the eight years he spent working as a writer and producer on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. The best and funniest moment during the 55-minute discussion emerged when one fan asked Moore why the decision was made in Battlestar to use technology that was similar to, and in some cases behind, our own. His response to the question was illuminating not only in that the audience learned how good the esteemed writer was at doing impersonations, but also how ridiculous sci-fi gets when it becomes diluted by Hollywood formula and how it inspired him to build a better show.

Ron Moore on the reason to not let technology overshadow the characters on Battlestar Galactica:
“That was in the original inception of the show, and that was really a reaction against Star Trek. It’s easy for me to bash Star Trek because I lived and breathed it so long, but I loved it, so let’s make that clear. I don’t hate Star Trek by any means, but I got very frustrated with the amount of technobabble I had to write on it. It became the solution to so many stories and plotlines. You would just be writing these endless pages… It was so mechanical that we had science consultants who would just come up with the words for us. If you look at those scripts you’ll see that.

"We're tired of you teching around. Write a script with a good ending."

Picard would say: ‘Commander La Forge, tech the tech to the warp drive.’

Geordi: ‘Captain, the tech is over teching!’

‘Well, the auxiliary tech to the tech, Mr. La Forge.’

‘No, Captain, I’ve tried to tech the tech, but it won’t work!’

And then Data pops in and says: ‘Captain, there is a theory that if you tech the other tech…’

It’s a rhythm and it works anyplace. It’s not about anything except going through this dance of how they tech their way out of it. It became so frustrating and so annoying, I just swore I was never going to write those scenes anymore. I just decided from the outset [of Battlestar] that I wanted a phone to look like a phone and wanted a retro technology. I justified it in the story because they had this back story with the Cylons — the technology had rebelled and they had gone backwards. I thought it was interesting to go that route and make the technology relatable in the same way that their coats and ties were relatable as well.”

"Hey, I was making a living. What the tech else was I supposed to do?" (Photo ©2009 by Bryan Reesman.)