On April, 18th - 20th Leah Cairns was one of the "Battlestar Galactica" related guests at FedCon XVII in Bonn, Germany. FedCon is the biggest European convention and was attended by more than 5,000 people during the course of the weekend. Leah Cairns was accompanied by fellow "Battlestar Galactica" actors Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Nicki Clyne and Michelle Forbes and Steve Bacic.

FedCon started out seventeen years ago as a "Star Trek" centred convention and it still is. But since then the event has broadened its spectrum. This years convention obviously had a very strong focus on "Battlestar Galactica."

Leah Cairns did two Q&A panels at the convention, one on Friday afternoon and one on Saturday morning, the later accompanied by her dear friend Nicki Clyne. Furthermore a photo session was offered where fans could have their picture taken next to Leah Cairns or some other guest star. Of course Leah signed lots of autographs, too. Following are summaries of the two Q&A sessions. (German versions can be found on the German "Battlestar Galactica" fansite Caprica City here: Leah Cairns' panel on Friday and Leah Cairns' panel on Saturday).

Leah Cairns' panel on Friday

Leah Cairns started her panel with a short report about the many things she did in the week before the convention. For her it was a very exhausting week. It started with Leah attending the "Starfury - Serenity Complete" Convention in Heathrow (London), went on with working on the "Battlestar Galactica"-set in Vancouver and the day before FedCon she attended the premiere party for "88 Minutes", the thriller staring Leah Cairns besides Hollywood superstar Al Pacino.

Leah Cairns at FedCon XVII

Following Leah's introduction she opened the Q&A part of the panel. The first guy asking something was me and as I introduced myself as one of the Caprica City guys she said something like "Hi, guys! I am here for you!" And on a personal note: That sentence made my day and still is one of the moments defining this convention for me. I asked if she could tell about getting the role in "88 Minutes". Leah wanted to know if I already knew the story which of course I did, but the story was interesting and fun anyway. The story goes like this: The casting director wanted something special for the beginning of the movie. Knowing Leah Cairns was a dancer he asked her to do some interesting movements. But that was not enough for the casting director. So Leah suggested she could brush her teeth while doing some stretching. The casting director liked that one and it ended up being in the movie with Leah Cairns brushing her teeth, one leg high in the air, stark naked. Hadn't she got the role she would have at least demanded writing credits.

After this first story she spoke about Mark Sheppard, Romo Lampkin from "Battlestar Galactica". He, like Richard Hatch, had to stay in Vancouver so that shooting off the series could continue and the other actors could visit FedCon, but he was very said to see Mary McDonnell, Jamie Bamber, Nicki Clyne and Leah Cairns go. Leah delivered his greetings. So we do owe these two men a great debt of gratitude for they staid in Vancouver so that the others could go.

Next question, "Battlestar Galactica": What about the final Cylon? Leah reported that of course their was speculation about the final Cylon on set in Vancouver. She thinks the final cylon could be Ellen, the dead wife of Col. Tigh. Mark Sheppard on the other hand thinks it might be Kendra from "Razor". Being asked if she would like Racetrack being the final Cylon, Leah Cairns replied: "From an actors point of view it would be great. But as a fan of the show, I must say: No. That would be so anticlimactic."

The next fan on the microphone asked Leah to dance for the audience. She would have loved to do that but sometime shortly after the "Galactica 3" convention in Heathrow she hurt herself playing with her nephew so she was a little out of practice.

Next Leah Cairns was asked about her time in an Ashram. Essentially it was where she found her acting career so her fans should be thankful to that Ashram, I guess.

Back on the topic of "Battlestar Galactica" she was asked about the Raptor sets. The actress said: "The raptor pilots made it". They are subject to the viper pilots envy. Compared to the cockpit of a viper the raptor is huge. It was even further enlarged as it became clear that Tahmoh Penikett (Karl "Helo" Agathonn), who is a really big guy, would play a recurring role on the show. The trouble is: Now the cockpit of the utility craft is so big that while sitting in the pilots chair Leah is not always able to reach the control panels. So one has to be careful when shooting so this is not seen on screen.

Leah Cairns continued with the subject of future projects. She reported about a possible motion picture together with Kevin Sorbo which she was considering. It would be a sequel to "The Sword and the Sorcerer" produced in 1982. Of course at such an early stage she could tell nothing more about that project.

For many "Battlestar Galactica" actors and fans the iconic word "Frak" tends to slip into the vocabulary and Leah Cairns is no exception. After she used the word a number of times, FedCon's Master of Ceremonies Marc B. Lee asked her about the usage of that word. Leah reported that she, her father and Richard Hatch for example would use the word all the time. Once it went as far as calling her character on the show "Racefrak".

Leah Cairns at FedCon XVII on the Saturday night party

On to the most memorable running gag of this years FedCon. Every single "Battlestar Galactica" actress was asked whether she had seen Jamie Bamber naked. Leah Cairns was the first victim of the question and the only one answering with a "Yes!" She in fact saw Jamie Bamber naked on one occasion as he left a shower. But he is not the only "Battlestar Galactica" actor she saw naked. A fan asked if she saw any other actor naked and Leah told of Grace Park. But the guy asking had somebody else in mind: Paul Campbell, who plays Billy Keikeya on the show. Paul is a friend of Leah and was a guest at her wedding. The ceremony and party took place near some lake. So at some point a few guys decided that it would be a great idea to take a bath in that lake. Of course normally you don't bring swimming trunks to a wedding so they went naked. After the bath they decided to hurry back to the hotel - forgetting to put their clothes back on. In the hotel lobby Paul Campbell fell down and as he was getting up he showed his naked butt right to Leah's newly wed husband.

As told on numerous occasions on the convention the cast of "Battlestar Galactica" on set jokes around a lot. Leah told a story about the time when they filmed the Pegasus episodes. The scene to be shot was the first arrival of Admiral Cain on Galactica. Edward James Olmos was supposed to talk to Michelle Forbes, but all the shots were close ups of Michelle. Edward James Olmos normally spends a lot of time on his cell phone. The shooting starts and Olmos is away on the phone. But the director does not notice, since only Michelle is being filmed. When the time for Olmos comes to deliver his lines, James Callis does the most perfect Adama-impersonation one could imagine. After a while cast and crew burst into laughter and an angry director demands to know what the frak is wrong with those people. Suddenly he realizes that one of his main actors isn't even on set.

The next fan asked which actor was the most like his or her "Battlestar Galactica" character. In Leah Cairns' opinion this must be Aaron Douglas. She could imagine him forming a workers union even in real life. And the reverse question: Who the least? Leah thinks that had to be Tricia Helfer. In reality she is not like Six at all!

With the Q&A session coming to an end, one fan asked when Leah first realized that there is something like "Battlstar Galactica"-fandom. For Leah Cairns, her mother played a crucial part in that. One time her mother called her and siad: "Leah, you are in a thread!" "A what?" "A thread on the internet!" Her mother showed her the thread on the SciFi forum but the first entry Leah read was someone complaining about her nose. The next post was someone writing about her "buttering his muffin". So much for discovering fandom.

As typical for a TV show in it's last season one might wonder what props the actors want to take home with them once the series is finished. Leah Cairns definitely wants her spacecraft: "The raptor. The raptor mine!", was her laughing answer. She would put it in her backyard so sometime in the future the kids would have one of the coolest toys around.

Leah Cairns' Panel on Saturday, together with Nicki Clyne

Leah Cairns had her second panel at FedCon together with her dear friend Nicki Clyne. Their day started with surprising views: First Bruce Boxleitner running around in his bathrobe followed by a Klingon warrior in the elevator. That said, they started with the questions. "Who's your favourite actor on 'Battlestar Galactica'?" Nicki and Leah counted down from three to one and answered simultaneously: "James Callis".

The next question was repeated from yesterday's panel: Which actor is in real live the most like his charakter on the show? Nicki Clyne's answer was the same as Leah's: Aaron Douglas. If for example in a restaurant you did not get what you ordered Aaron Douglas would be the kind of guy to do something about it. And just as Leah, Nicki Clyne thinks that Tricia Helfer is absolutely not like Six. She is more of a cowgirl.

Leah Cairns and Nicki Clyne at FedCon XVII

Then someone asked whether there was fun and laughter on set. Both actresses agreed that they knew of no other show with so much laughter of camera. They speculated that this could be because "Battlestar Galactica" is such a dark series. Fact is, no actor takes the dark mood of "Galactica" home and no one needs to be locked up in some dark dungeon to prepare for the scenes.

One particular funny moment Leah Cairns recalled was when Paul Campbell, Edward James Olmos, Aaron Douglas and herself decided not to use the lines but instead only to say "Durka Durka". Or when all dialogue sounded like delivered by the sex therapist Dr. Ruth. And especially Aaron Douglas is known as a great prankster. He likes to hide little items in the various pockets of the costumes and sometime even imitates fart noises.

As Leah Cairns was asked the day before, Nicki Clyne had to answer whether she had seen Jamie Bamber naked: "I have some sad news... I didn't do my homework... I have yet to see Jamie Bamber naked."

Leah and Nicki were asked which their favourite "Battlestar Galactica"-moments would be. They agreed that Adama's speeches and Tigh's testimony in the last episode of Season Three are among the highlights.

The next fan wanted to know what roles the actresses auditioned for and did not get despite they really wanted them. Nicki Clyne was quite sure on that one: She said she would construct stories why she didn't want the role in the first place.

Leah Cairns told us she auditioned for "Still Live" and Morena Baccarin got the role. But that's not the worst of it. Much worse are the roles she didn't even auditioned for because she did not like the script. After a short pause to take a breath she listed: "Ugly Betty", "Lost", "Heroes"... Jokingly Leah explained that she now would audition for anything since she obviously does not know what shows can be successful. Nicki Clyne added that she did audition for "Heroes" but did not get the role.

Another convention fan favorite question: What other character on the show would you like to play? Leah Cairns and Nicki Clyne counted down again. 3, 2, 1... "Starbuck" - "Baltar". After a view surprised looks at each other they settled for Starbuck.

The next person on the microphone wanted to know which actor they consider to be the one with the most sex appeal. Again the countdown. "Eddie" - "Trucco" And again surprised looks. Leah Cairns confirmed: "Eddie. It does not matter whether with moustache or not. I take him as he comes."

After that Leah Cairns talked about "Kyle XY". Her character Emily Hollander will probably not be in the next season of that show. The network thought that the storyline evolving around MadaCorp was too violent and too mature so they omitted it. There seems to be no further place for Emily Hollander in "Kyle XY".

For Leah Cairns working with a German production crew on the movie "Helen" was also an interesting experience particularly when one of the crew told her: "I don't know what you make in Canada, but in Germany we make cinema."

Then we talked a little bit more about "Battlestar Galactica". What will you miss and what won't you miss? Leah Cairns explained: Definitely not the flight suits. They are too warm in summer and too cold in winter. Nicki Clyne continued she would miss the family feeling, so she wants to be invited to other cons to see them all again.

The last question for Leah concerned her scenes in "Battlestar Galactica". What would you change about them: "I wouldn't change any of my scenes. I would just put them back into the show"

Leah Cairns, Mirco Neubauer and Nicki Clyne at FedCon XVII

So what's left to say? Leah was the most wonderful convention guest one could imagine. She does very well in the Q&A sessions for she has lots interesting stories to tell and she knows how to tell them in an interesting way. She's kind and friendly in photo and autograph sessions and she even attends the convention parties. She seems to care for her fans a lot and not for a single moment it seemed as if it was work for her, which of course it is to some degree. For an event huge as FedCon this sure is some achievement, I think.

So this leaves just two words about the event: Frakking awesome! And two more about Leah Cairns: Frakking gorgeous!