Trying to find a nationality for William Adama is hard.

Yes, we know he's Caprican with some Tauron ancestry, but the once Latino actor is now being played by a ... Sicilian?

Luke Pasqualino has been tapped by Syfy as the star of its new backdoor pilot, "Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome." He will play a young William Adama, a young fighter pilot who will later lead a ragtag fleet to Earth.

The move was a surprise to some, but not to all. Rumors had circulated the past couple weeks that Nico Cortez, the actor who played Adama in a similar time period in "Battlestar Galactica: Razor," had been passed over for the role. As early as Monday, Airlock Alpha's Twitter feed suggested that Cortez was not going to get the role.

There had been some speculation Syfy would go with a more experienced and well-known actor to lead the series, a la Edward James Olmos in the parent series, and Eric Stoltz in the prequel spinoff "Caprica."

Yet, many people have likely never heard of Pasqualino until recently, when MTV said it was worried some of the scenes in its British import "Skins" could be considered by some as child exploitation. Pasqualino was a star of the original series MTV adapted. Before that, he made his screen debut less than three years ago in the British family production "Stingers Rule!"

He lated appeared in the British series "Casualty" and "Miranda" before landing on "Skins."

Joining Pasqualino is Ben Cotton, who will play Adama's sidekick Coker, one of the original commanders of the Galactica. Cotton most recently appeared in The CW series "Hellcats." He does have some genre credits, however, including "Riese," "Harper's Island," "Kyle XY," and as the "terrified man" in "Battlestar Galactica: Razor."

Cotton also played Dr. Kavanagh in six episodes of "Stargate: Atlantis," and even played Atreus in two episodes of "Caprica."

Filming is expected to begin next month in Vancouver, utilizing virtual sets and location shoots.

The pilot could air as early as fall, with a potential series pickup available for 2012.

The story for "Blood & Chrome" is from Michael Taylor, David Eick, Bradley Thompson and David Weddle -- all veterans of "Battlestar Galactica." Taylor originally adapted the story into a 10-part Web series, that is now being translated into a telemovie.

The series is set 10 years into the first Cylon War, some 30 years following "Caprica."