1
00:00:03,589 --> 00:00:09,011
[Captain Kirk, echoing]
Space: the final frontier.

2
00:00:09,094 --> 00:00:11,305
[Gates McFadden]
For well over 50 years,

3
00:00:11,388 --> 00:00:15,642
a fearless crew of pioneers
have faced the unknown...

4
00:00:16,643 --> 00:00:17,478
Out there.

5
00:00:17,561 --> 00:00:20,022
[McFadden] ...on an endless quest,
looking for stars.

6
00:00:20,105 --> 00:00:20,939
Thataway.

7
00:00:21,023 --> 00:00:22,483
[McFadden]
But not up there in space.

8
00:00:22,566 --> 00:00:24,401
More that direction.

9
00:00:24,485 --> 00:00:29,615
[McFadden] Down here in Sector 001,
otherwise known as Hollywood,

10
00:00:29,698 --> 00:00:32,075
where you'll find every species
in the galaxy.

11
00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:33,619
You see, I'm an actor.

12
00:00:33,702 --> 00:00:36,497
Every actor in town
worked on those shows.

13
00:00:36,580 --> 00:00:37,998
[McFadden]
And this is the story.

14
00:00:38,081 --> 00:00:39,917
- Not of the captains...
-Aye, Captain.

15
00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,669
[McFadden] ...or the ships they commanded
but of the first officers...

16
00:00:42,753 --> 00:00:44,546
-Fire.
-[McFadden] ...crew...

17
00:00:44,630 --> 00:00:46,089
It was a great part to get to play.

18
00:00:46,173 --> 00:00:47,424
[McFadden]
...the occasional doctor...

19
00:00:47,508 --> 00:00:48,383
That's odd.

20
00:00:48,467 --> 00:00:49,885
[McFadden]
Actually, that's me.

21
00:00:49,968 --> 00:00:52,262
And of course,
there were many, many aliens.

22
00:00:52,346 --> 00:00:55,349
[all screaming]

23
00:00:55,432 --> 00:00:56,767
[McFadden]
From the original series...

24
00:00:56,850 --> 00:00:58,185
Captain! [laughs]

25
00:00:58,268 --> 00:01:00,854
[McFadden] ...to the movies
and every TV series since.

26
00:01:00,938 --> 00:01:01,980
Engage.

27
00:01:02,064 --> 00:01:05,192
Yes! It was one
of those great actor moments.

28
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It was horrifying.

29
00:01:06,735 --> 00:01:09,071
[McFadden]
Star Trek means so much to so many.

30
00:01:09,154 --> 00:01:11,490
You're Brad Pitt, mate,
and they all want a piece of you.

31
00:01:11,573 --> 00:01:13,283
You get Trekkies from birth to death.

32
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[McFadden] And be it the big bucks...

33
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or SAG minimum...

34
00:01:16,703 --> 00:01:18,705
Co-workers were a pain in the ass.

35
00:01:18,789 --> 00:01:20,916
[McFadden] ...it's the actors
who bring Star Trek to life.

36
00:01:20,999 --> 00:01:22,459
I fake for a living. It's what I do.

37
00:01:22,543 --> 00:01:24,002
-[groans]
-[squawks]

38
00:01:24,086 --> 00:01:25,796
[McFadden]
From the series regulars...

39
00:01:25,879 --> 00:01:30,384
I was hired to play this character
on the pilot and that was it.

40
00:01:30,467 --> 00:01:32,469
[McFadden]
...bit parts, guest spots...

41
00:01:32,553 --> 00:01:33,512
Guest stars.

42
00:01:33,595 --> 00:01:38,642
And I played Rain Robinson
in Star Trek: Voyager in 1997.

43
00:01:38,725 --> 00:01:40,185
[clapperboard claps]

44
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[McFadden]
So beam aboard and hold on tight

45
00:01:42,855 --> 00:01:46,441
as we boldly meet the actors
of Star Trek.

46
00:01:49,444 --> 00:01:53,991
And you can see it all from here
in The Center Seat.

47
00:01:57,244 --> 00:01:59,663
During stardate 1950s,

48
00:01:59,746 --> 00:02:03,250
mankind had long been looking up
at the stars...

49
00:02:03,333 --> 00:02:05,752
and quickly back down again
toward movie screens...

50
00:02:05,836 --> 00:02:06,920
That is correct, sir.

51
00:02:07,004 --> 00:02:10,382
[McFadden] ...fascinated by
an unknown fictional universe

52
00:02:10,465 --> 00:02:12,009
out of reach from science

53
00:02:12,092 --> 00:02:14,803
but well within the grasp
of our imaginations.

54
00:02:14,887 --> 00:02:18,974
We have come to visit you
in peace and with goodwill.

55
00:02:19,057 --> 00:02:20,809
[McFadden]
So for a young actor back then,

56
00:02:20,893 --> 00:02:24,146
making it big
sometimes meant shooting for the stars.

57
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I think they're all dead.

58
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I was always interested in science fiction
and I had worked in science fiction

59
00:02:29,401 --> 00:02:33,280
all the way back to 1950,
Zombies of the Stratosphere.

60
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[McFadden] Instead of plummeting
through the stratosphere

61
00:02:36,283 --> 00:02:38,493
and back to earth with a thud,

62
00:02:38,577 --> 00:02:41,455
Leonard Nimoy was destined
for far greater heights.

63
00:02:41,538 --> 00:02:43,665
I was working pretty good at the time.

64
00:02:43,749 --> 00:02:47,794
My career was moving along nicely.

65
00:02:47,878 --> 00:02:51,298
[McFadden] So when an ex-World War II
fighter pilot turned airline pilot

66
00:02:51,381 --> 00:02:55,677
turned LAPD officer
named Gene Roddenberry

67
00:02:55,761 --> 00:02:58,096
turned his hand to scriptwriting,

68
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well, Leonard Nimoy's
ears didn't exactly prick up.

69
00:03:02,976 --> 00:03:05,604
"He's going to produce a pilot.
You might be cast in it.

70
00:03:05,687 --> 00:03:07,564
It might be sold
and it might go on the air."

71
00:03:07,648 --> 00:03:09,441
You know, it was all those maybes.

72
00:03:09,524 --> 00:03:12,235
[McFadden] And if it was going to happen,
they'd probably need a...

73
00:03:12,319 --> 00:03:13,153
-Captain?
-Yes, sir.

74
00:03:13,236 --> 00:03:19,034
Shatner, I think the one big film that
he got was Judgment at Nuremberg

75
00:03:19,117 --> 00:03:22,621
and everything, his career
pointed right to him becoming,

76
00:03:22,704 --> 00:03:26,458
uh, you know, the next movie star.

77
00:03:26,541 --> 00:03:27,417
Okay, Judge.

78
00:03:27,501 --> 00:03:30,629
I would have kept him away from television
if I were his agent.

79
00:03:30,712 --> 00:03:34,633
But as it turns out,
look at this long, long, long career.

80
00:03:34,716 --> 00:03:36,093
Head Warp Factor One.

81
00:03:36,176 --> 00:03:39,638
And there's just a magnetism to him
in his portrayal

82
00:03:39,721 --> 00:03:42,349
that I think is really key
to the success of the show.

83
00:03:42,432 --> 00:03:44,267
[McFadden]
But they could not do it alone.

84
00:03:44,351 --> 00:03:46,853
Regarding the casting,
the easiest place to go

85
00:03:46,937 --> 00:03:49,398
was people that we
were both familiar with

86
00:03:49,481 --> 00:03:51,525
that we had both used
on The Lieutenant.

87
00:03:51,608 --> 00:03:54,194
My first television thing I did,

88
00:03:54,277 --> 00:03:58,198
the producer-director
was Gene Roddenberry.

89
00:03:58,281 --> 00:04:01,326
I was just like, "Hey, let's go!"
You know?

90
00:04:01,410 --> 00:04:03,412
[McFadden]
And boldly go they did.

91
00:04:03,495 --> 00:04:05,038
It was an interracial show

92
00:04:05,122 --> 00:04:07,416
of equal people doing equal things.

93
00:04:07,499 --> 00:04:08,792
Transmission has been cut off.

94
00:04:08,875 --> 00:04:14,548
I was the first African American actress
in a leading role on television.

95
00:04:14,631 --> 00:04:18,427
[McFadden] But in Hollywood,
opportunities to play an iconic character

96
00:04:18,510 --> 00:04:21,013
like this
are few and far between.

97
00:04:21,096 --> 00:04:25,600
It's the luck of the draw
for freelance actors.

98
00:04:25,684 --> 00:04:27,644
You never know
what's coming down the pike.

99
00:04:27,728 --> 00:04:31,898
This business is so extraordinary
in terms of the serendipity,

100
00:04:31,982 --> 00:04:33,442
in terms of the coincidence.

101
00:04:33,525 --> 00:04:36,653
I know this saying.
It was invented in Russia.

102
00:04:36,737 --> 00:04:39,531
Three years before Star Trek ,
I was brought in to read

103
00:04:39,614 --> 00:04:42,659
for a role of a Russian student
who is defecting.

104
00:04:42,743 --> 00:04:44,995
It was a show called Mr. Novak.

105
00:04:45,078 --> 00:04:47,164
"You Americans live
in a world of dreams."

106
00:04:47,247 --> 00:04:48,582
I remember that was one of the lines.

107
00:04:48,665 --> 00:04:51,460
Three years later,
I get the call for Star Trek .

108
00:04:51,543 --> 00:04:53,378
It makes me homesick.

109
00:04:53,462 --> 00:04:55,338
Just like Russia.

110
00:04:55,422 --> 00:04:57,799
More like the Garden of Eden, Ensign.

111
00:04:57,883 --> 00:05:01,344
Of course, Doctor. The Garden of Eden
was just outside Moscow.

112
00:05:01,428 --> 00:05:03,096
You know, he looked like a Beatle,
but that was okay.

113
00:05:03,180 --> 00:05:05,891
[McFadden]
Be it the original series or today,

114
00:05:05,974 --> 00:05:07,392
actors need gigs,

115
00:05:07,476 --> 00:05:09,394
and Star Trek had plenty.

116
00:05:09,478 --> 00:05:13,899
As an agent, I thought that Star Trek
was a great starting point

117
00:05:13,982 --> 00:05:15,442
for a lot of people,

118
00:05:15,525 --> 00:05:18,403
and often it would be
their first television job.

119
00:05:18,487 --> 00:05:20,363
I always thought that I would come to LA

120
00:05:20,447 --> 00:05:23,033
and be on a great cop show
like NYPD Blue,

121
00:05:23,116 --> 00:05:25,077
but then I started booking Star Trek .

122
00:05:25,160 --> 00:05:26,119
That was my first gig.

123
00:05:26,203 --> 00:05:27,746
[McFadden]
The same was true for Sarah Silverman.

124
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You know, I was taking it really seriously
and I took a...

125
00:05:30,874 --> 00:05:33,376
I went to an acting coach.

126
00:05:33,460 --> 00:05:35,462
Go back down the hall,
take a left at Mars,

127
00:05:35,545 --> 00:05:36,588
right at Haley's Comet.

128
00:05:36,671 --> 00:05:38,757
I got to say really serious lines like...

129
00:05:38,840 --> 00:05:40,050
What the hell?

130
00:05:40,133 --> 00:05:42,260
And "Say hello to Saturn for me."

131
00:05:42,344 --> 00:05:44,763
[McFadden]
Not just the shows, movies too.

132
00:05:44,846 --> 00:05:47,766
Star Trek was my first job as an actor.

133
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What?

134
00:05:48,767 --> 00:05:50,310
It was the most integral part
of my career

135
00:05:50,393 --> 00:05:52,604
because it not only
put my foot in the door,

136
00:05:52,687 --> 00:05:54,439
it shoved me through the door.

137
00:05:54,523 --> 00:05:55,357
Thank you, sir.

138
00:05:55,440 --> 00:05:56,983
[McFadden]
It was Star Trek.

139
00:05:57,067 --> 00:05:59,736
Once you get in, you never get out.

140
00:05:59,820 --> 00:06:01,321
I was so happy to have a job.

141
00:06:01,404 --> 00:06:03,657
It's a very unstable industry
and when you get on a show,

142
00:06:03,740 --> 00:06:05,575
you never know if it's gonna go.

143
00:06:05,659 --> 00:06:09,663
Star Trek is a very unique animal
in that way

144
00:06:09,746 --> 00:06:11,581
because this is, like,
the one rare occurrence

145
00:06:11,665 --> 00:06:14,251
where you know that
if you're signing a seven-year contract,

146
00:06:14,334 --> 00:06:15,544
you're probably going seven years.

147
00:06:15,627 --> 00:06:18,421
Holy cow, I don't know if
I'm gonna be alive in seven years.

148
00:06:18,505 --> 00:06:20,674
It's a nice little income coming in
for seven years,

149
00:06:20,757 --> 00:06:23,385
and that's precisely what I wanted to do
at that time in my career.

150
00:06:23,468 --> 00:06:26,471
And suddenly I'm looking at these houses
that I've passed every day

151
00:06:26,555 --> 00:06:28,348
for years and years and years
and going,

152
00:06:28,431 --> 00:06:29,724
"Might get one of those."

153
00:06:29,808 --> 00:06:30,684
Always the optimist.

154
00:06:31,977 --> 00:06:35,605
A Mercedes came down the road,
"Might drive one of those."

155
00:06:35,689 --> 00:06:38,275
[McFadden] But before you can
live long in a prosperous fashion,

156
00:06:38,358 --> 00:06:39,693
you need to get cast,

157
00:06:39,776 --> 00:06:42,737
and the gatekeeper
in the Star Trek universe...

158
00:06:42,821 --> 00:06:45,157
Well, no, it wasn't Gene Roddenberry.

159
00:06:45,240 --> 00:06:46,241
It's this guy.

160
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I was casting director on Star Trek
for 15 years,

161
00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,206
throughout most
of the four different TV series

162
00:06:53,290 --> 00:06:54,416
and three movies.

163
00:06:54,499 --> 00:06:56,751
[McFadden]
The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine,

164
00:06:56,835 --> 00:07:01,131
Voyager, Enterprise, Generations,
First Contact, and Insurrection.

165
00:07:01,214 --> 00:07:05,594
My job was to cast every speaking role
in each episode,

166
00:07:05,677 --> 00:07:10,932
and every year there were
four or 500 actors cast on the shows.

167
00:07:11,016 --> 00:07:13,143
[McFadden]
But before you try to calculate

168
00:07:13,226 --> 00:07:17,314
just how many faces Ron Surma
must have seen over those years,

169
00:07:17,397 --> 00:07:18,648
he did cheat a little.

170
00:07:18,732 --> 00:07:21,610
Once you kind of get in the door,
you're in that world.

171
00:07:21,693 --> 00:07:22,819
You're on their radar.

172
00:07:22,903 --> 00:07:27,032
I've done more different characters
in the Star Trek franchise

173
00:07:27,115 --> 00:07:28,408
than any other actor.

174
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In fact, somebody told me it was
in any episodic franchise in television.

175
00:07:33,747 --> 00:07:35,582
[McFadden]
So he may have been Ron's favorite,

176
00:07:35,665 --> 00:07:38,710
but he wasn't exactly his number one.

177
00:07:38,793 --> 00:07:40,003
Make it so, Number One.

178
00:07:40,086 --> 00:07:43,089
The first thing I auditioned
for was Riker in that show,

179
00:07:43,173 --> 00:07:46,718
and they had me in
maybe three times to read for him.

180
00:07:46,801 --> 00:07:48,261
Didn't get him.

181
00:07:48,345 --> 00:07:50,055
[McFadden]
Nope, this guy did.

182
00:07:50,138 --> 00:07:51,890
I'm here. [laughs]

183
00:07:51,973 --> 00:07:54,517
[McFadden]
Jonathan Frakes' portrayal of Riker,

184
00:07:54,601 --> 00:07:57,103
though some said a little stiff
in the beginning...

185
00:07:57,187 --> 00:07:59,356
And I'm trying not to smile...

186
00:07:59,439 --> 00:08:02,609
[McFadden] ...soon became
a relaxed and beloved member

187
00:08:02,692 --> 00:08:04,236
of The Next Generation crew.

188
00:08:04,319 --> 00:08:05,570
Our lives were changed.

189
00:08:05,654 --> 00:08:08,740
[McFadden] So it's no wonder
that getting an audition for Star Trek

190
00:08:08,823 --> 00:08:12,160
could be the biggest moment
of some actors' careers.

191
00:08:12,244 --> 00:08:13,578
No pressure.

192
00:08:13,662 --> 00:08:15,497
Walk in the door
and there are five or six other guys

193
00:08:15,580 --> 00:08:18,291
that kinda look just like you.

194
00:08:18,375 --> 00:08:21,461
And he's more famous
and a bit better looking. [laughs]

195
00:08:21,544 --> 00:08:24,506
As I waited outside,
this minivan pulled up

196
00:08:24,589 --> 00:08:30,303
and the door slid open
and out came this leg

197
00:08:30,387 --> 00:08:34,307
and in full Seven of Nine regalia,
it was Jeri Ryan.

198
00:08:34,391 --> 00:08:37,352
And I thought in that moment,

199
00:08:37,435 --> 00:08:39,312
"This is what they want.

200
00:08:39,396 --> 00:08:42,983
I mean, who am I kidding?
I'm not gonna get this part."

201
00:08:43,066 --> 00:08:46,069
You would know in the first minute

202
00:08:46,152 --> 00:08:48,530
if they had a chance
of getting the part or not.

203
00:08:48,613 --> 00:08:50,198
[McFadden]
With not long to impress,

204
00:08:50,282 --> 00:08:53,034
some actors bend over backwards
for the job.

205
00:08:53,118 --> 00:08:55,245
At the very last minute, I decided...

206
00:08:55,328 --> 00:08:57,622
There was a chair there,
so I got in the chair,

207
00:08:57,706 --> 00:08:59,207
I turned around upside down,

208
00:08:59,291 --> 00:09:02,794
I threw my legs over,
and I did the audition upside down.

209
00:09:02,877 --> 00:09:06,715
[British accent] So I went in
and I'm doing the audition like this.

210
00:09:06,798 --> 00:09:09,301
You know, with a bit of an English,
you know, accent.

211
00:09:09,384 --> 00:09:11,428
You know, like, kind of Cockney-ish.

212
00:09:11,511 --> 00:09:13,263
[normal voice]
One of the producers come over to me

213
00:09:13,346 --> 00:09:15,807
and says to me with a very stern face,

214
00:09:15,890 --> 00:09:20,520
he goes,
"There are no accents in Star Trek ."

215
00:09:20,603 --> 00:09:22,731
You're not from this province, are you?

216
00:09:22,814 --> 00:09:24,316
And neither are you.

217
00:09:24,399 --> 00:09:26,192
And I cranked it up as far as I could

218
00:09:26,276 --> 00:09:27,527
'cause I thought there's...

219
00:09:27,610 --> 00:09:31,614
"I'm not leaving anything on the table
when I walk out of here"

220
00:09:31,698 --> 00:09:34,200
'cause I really wanted...
I really wanted to get it.

221
00:09:34,284 --> 00:09:35,493
[McFadden]
Don't worry, he did.

222
00:09:35,577 --> 00:09:36,411
Yes, sir.

223
00:09:36,494 --> 00:09:38,288
[McFadden]
Sometimes it's a grind.

224
00:09:38,371 --> 00:09:40,123
So I had a couple of auditions.

225
00:09:40,206 --> 00:09:42,250
Which I think I came in four times.

226
00:09:42,334 --> 00:09:44,961
It was another audition among many.

227
00:09:45,045 --> 00:09:47,505
You were brought in for,
like, six auditions.

228
00:09:47,589 --> 00:09:53,303
I auditioned, uh, seven times
over six weeks.

229
00:09:53,386 --> 00:09:54,637
And now you want to try it again?

230
00:09:54,721 --> 00:09:57,307
You have to make
an immediate impact in the room.

231
00:09:57,390 --> 00:09:59,893
[McFadden] And sometimes
you need a little luck.

232
00:09:59,976 --> 00:10:01,019
I guess so.

233
00:10:01,102 --> 00:10:03,938
I went in there, Avery says,

234
00:10:04,022 --> 00:10:07,108
"You were the only person
that gave me a hug in the audition."

235
00:10:08,860 --> 00:10:11,529
"You know, you said 'Dad'"
and he gave me a hug.

236
00:10:11,613 --> 00:10:13,073
[chuckles]

237
00:10:13,156 --> 00:10:16,409
And that was a smart move
as the young Cirroc.

238
00:10:16,493 --> 00:10:19,621
[McFadden] And then sometimes
you just have to wing it.

239
00:10:19,704 --> 00:10:24,667
I had never seen the series,
so I went, "Hi, I'm Gates," you know.

240
00:10:24,751 --> 00:10:28,129
"Is there a part
you want me to audition for?"

241
00:10:28,213 --> 00:10:30,423
And they said,
"Well, there's three women's parts.

242
00:10:30,507 --> 00:10:32,133
Just pick whichever one you wanna do."

243
00:10:32,217 --> 00:10:36,346
And I picked the one
that I thought was the funniest.

244
00:10:36,429 --> 00:10:40,266
And it was about the last funny scene
I ever saw for the character.

245
00:10:40,350 --> 00:10:43,228
These aren't the remains
of the ambassador.

246
00:10:43,311 --> 00:10:45,814
[McFadden]
But it's not just the main characters.

247
00:10:45,897 --> 00:10:48,817
A big part of Star Trek
is the supporting cast.

248
00:10:48,900 --> 00:10:50,026
All that water.

249
00:10:50,110 --> 00:10:51,736
When I went in to read,
the producers would say,

250
00:10:51,820 --> 00:10:53,446
"No, we want him to be meaner."

251
00:10:53,530 --> 00:10:54,906
[groans]

252
00:10:54,989 --> 00:10:57,200
I kept telling them,
"I don't agree."

253
00:10:57,283 --> 00:10:58,910
It's a shame.

254
00:10:58,993 --> 00:11:03,498
I remember thinking in my mind,
"Oh, man, I'm either gonna get this job

255
00:11:03,581 --> 00:11:07,210
or I'm never gonna
work in this town again." [laughs]

256
00:11:08,044 --> 00:11:09,796
Some of the best auditions you get,

257
00:11:09,879 --> 00:11:13,091
you'll ever do, don't go anywhere,

258
00:11:13,174 --> 00:11:14,968
and some of the ones
you don't think twice about,

259
00:11:15,051 --> 00:11:16,219
suddenly the next thing you know...

260
00:11:16,302 --> 00:11:19,055
-[screaming]
-[gasps]

261
00:11:20,682 --> 00:11:25,687
[McFadden] John Billingsley, who played
Dr. Phlox on the series Enterprise ,

262
00:11:25,770 --> 00:11:29,607
made an interesting actor's choice
for his audition.

263
00:11:29,691 --> 00:11:33,194
I punctuated the scenes
with occasional squawks.

264
00:11:33,278 --> 00:11:36,239
I thought perhaps in moments of
rapture or joyous transport, he would...

265
00:11:36,322 --> 00:11:37,657
[squawks]

266
00:11:37,740 --> 00:11:39,284
And I auditioned
and they seemed to like it

267
00:11:39,367 --> 00:11:40,910
and they brought me back
and I squawked

268
00:11:40,994 --> 00:11:42,704
and they brought me back again
and I squawked

269
00:11:42,787 --> 00:11:44,539
and we had the first table read
and I squawked,

270
00:11:44,622 --> 00:11:46,332
and all the time I'm thinking,
"Am I a bird? I don't know.

271
00:11:46,416 --> 00:11:47,792
They're not making me look like a bird."

272
00:11:47,876 --> 00:11:48,960
[squawks]

273
00:11:49,043 --> 00:11:51,546
I happened to be there when
he was gonna shoot his first scene,

274
00:11:51,629 --> 00:11:56,050
which was the scene he'd auditioned with,
and he went... [squawks]

275
00:11:56,134 --> 00:11:57,302
And you just heard this.

276
00:11:57,385 --> 00:12:00,847
And bear in mind, he's done this
through all the auditions that he's had.

277
00:12:00,930 --> 00:12:01,764
[squawks]

278
00:12:01,848 --> 00:12:06,478
And you just heard this, "Cut, cut, cut!"

279
00:12:07,687 --> 00:12:10,773
"Are you... me?" [laughs]

280
00:12:10,857 --> 00:12:12,692
[McFadden]
Or as John himself remembers it...

281
00:12:12,775 --> 00:12:14,819
"John, quit... around!"

282
00:12:14,903 --> 00:12:16,738
Which is how I knew I wasn't a bird.

283
00:12:16,821 --> 00:12:20,533
[McFadden] Of course, some characters
have been more successful

284
00:12:20,617 --> 00:12:22,785
in developing a trademark sound.

285
00:12:22,869 --> 00:12:26,706
[roars]

286
00:12:27,957 --> 00:12:30,251
That is how the Klingon lures a mate.

287
00:12:30,335 --> 00:12:34,214
When I called my agent,
and the producers say, "Look, you know,

288
00:12:34,297 --> 00:12:36,799
we wanna see him
for the part of a Klingon

289
00:12:36,883 --> 00:12:39,052
'cause we're gonna put
a Klingon on the bridge,"

290
00:12:39,135 --> 00:12:40,345
and I went, "Wow, what a great idea."

291
00:12:40,428 --> 00:12:43,264
Do not approach me unannounced,
especially when I'm eating.

292
00:12:43,348 --> 00:12:45,183
[McFadden]
Worf became a series regular

293
00:12:45,266 --> 00:12:47,769
and an integral part
of The Next Generation crew.

294
00:12:47,852 --> 00:12:49,062
I am a Klingon.

295
00:12:49,145 --> 00:12:52,607
[McFadden] And it worked out so well
that he later became a series regular

296
00:12:52,690 --> 00:12:54,817
on Deep Space Nine as well.

297
00:12:54,901 --> 00:12:56,945
-Because when they call you...
-[phone rings]

298
00:12:57,028 --> 00:12:58,613
...they want you,

299
00:12:58,696 --> 00:13:01,616
and it gives you a position of power

300
00:13:01,699 --> 00:13:05,662
that we don't have as actors
99% of the time.

301
00:13:05,745 --> 00:13:06,746
[McFadden]
He's not wrong.

302
00:13:06,829 --> 00:13:09,999
Most of us are lucky
if we just get one big break.

303
00:13:15,046 --> 00:13:17,966
[McFadden]
Every Star Trek actor has their story.

304
00:13:18,049 --> 00:13:21,177
I have been a Star Trek fan
as long as I can remember.

305
00:13:21,261 --> 00:13:23,721
[McFadden] And often with
a personal connection to the show.

306
00:13:23,805 --> 00:13:28,268
When I was growing up,
my brother and I watched the original,

307
00:13:28,351 --> 00:13:31,938
and it really did speak to us

308
00:13:32,021 --> 00:13:34,649
because it was dealing
with a lot of great stuff

309
00:13:34,732 --> 00:13:37,652
and a lot of wonderful actors
and they took chances.

310
00:13:37,735 --> 00:13:39,571
One of the main reasons I loved it

311
00:13:39,654 --> 00:13:41,990
is because I was in love
with this guy named Bob.

312
00:13:42,073 --> 00:13:45,451
And every week when the TV show was on,
I got to go to Bob's house

313
00:13:45,535 --> 00:13:49,789
and make out with him on the sofa
without his mother objecting,

314
00:13:49,872 --> 00:13:51,291
while we were watching Star Trek.

315
00:13:51,374 --> 00:13:53,585
[F. Murray Abraham]
I had a history with Star Trek

316
00:13:53,668 --> 00:13:55,253
as so many of us did from television.

317
00:13:55,336 --> 00:13:56,462
I mean, it was a part of my life.

318
00:13:56,546 --> 00:14:00,383
And I looked at it, it sounded like fun,
it sounded like a good idea.

319
00:14:00,466 --> 00:14:03,678
And my kids said, "You better do it,"
so that was that.

320
00:14:03,761 --> 00:14:07,265
[McFadden] Movie star Whoopi Goldberg
had her reasons too.

321
00:14:07,348 --> 00:14:12,937
Before Nichelle Nichols, we didn't exist
anywhere in science fiction.

322
00:14:13,021 --> 00:14:17,025
So I want to carry that female woman...

323
00:14:17,108 --> 00:14:19,611
Of course, female woman, crazy.

324
00:14:19,694 --> 00:14:22,238
Carry that woman thing forward,

325
00:14:22,322 --> 00:14:25,658
so some little girl looks up
and sees me and says,

326
00:14:25,742 --> 00:14:29,412
"Oh, phew, we are there."

327
00:14:29,495 --> 00:14:34,542
A few molecules off and poof,
it's all gone, all of it.

328
00:14:34,626 --> 00:14:37,754
Well, as a matter of fact,
in 1977 in high school,

329
00:14:37,837 --> 00:14:42,425
my friends and I
did a reel-to-reel video of Star Trek .

330
00:14:42,508 --> 00:14:47,472
When the other kids wanted to play
Star Wars or A-Team or Knight Rider,

331
00:14:47,555 --> 00:14:50,183
I was like, "Can we play Star Trek ?
I wanna be Mr. Spock."

332
00:14:50,266 --> 00:14:51,309
[McFadden]
Who doesn't?

333
00:14:51,392 --> 00:14:52,226
[screaming]

334
00:14:52,310 --> 00:14:54,812
[McFadden] But there are a lot more aliens
than just Vulcans

335
00:14:54,896 --> 00:14:56,814
in the Star Trek universe.

336
00:14:56,898 --> 00:14:57,982
When I got the phone call, they're like,

337
00:14:58,066 --> 00:14:59,609
"Yeah, so they want you
to play a Ferengi."

338
00:14:59,692 --> 00:15:01,527
And I'm like, "What's a Ferengi?"

339
00:15:01,611 --> 00:15:05,365
Ferengi as a species was started
in Next Generation ,

340
00:15:05,448 --> 00:15:06,949
and I was fortunate enough to be

341
00:15:07,033 --> 00:15:10,119
one of the four actors
who played that original,

342
00:15:10,203 --> 00:15:11,704
those original four Ferengi.

343
00:15:11,788 --> 00:15:16,542
We will accuse the humans
of preparing to ambush us.

344
00:15:16,626 --> 00:15:18,795
Ah.

345
00:15:18,878 --> 00:15:20,672
I had no idea what a Cardassian was.

346
00:15:20,755 --> 00:15:23,341
You know, if you told me
it was a form of a pastrami sandwich,

347
00:15:23,424 --> 00:15:27,303
you know, I would have said, "Oh okay,
I'm playing a pastrami sandwich."

348
00:15:27,387 --> 00:15:30,306
[McFadden]
So how do you play an alien?

349
00:15:30,390 --> 00:15:32,892
I'm still asking myself to this day,

350
00:15:32,975 --> 00:15:34,811
"How do you play a Vulcan?"

351
00:15:34,894 --> 00:15:37,689
"Is it burlesque?
Do you go over the top?

352
00:15:37,772 --> 00:15:41,442
Are they really weird?
You know, do you do a voice?

353
00:15:41,526 --> 00:15:42,652
Can you be funny?"

354
00:15:42,735 --> 00:15:45,697
[McFadden] All they really had to do
was look in a mirror.

355
00:15:45,780 --> 00:15:49,325
"I don't have to play alien.
I am an alien."

356
00:15:49,409 --> 00:15:51,452
[McFadden]
Because no amount of acting talent

357
00:15:51,536 --> 00:15:54,580
can turn this face into this one.

358
00:15:54,664 --> 00:15:56,499
Such is the power of makeup.

359
00:15:56,582 --> 00:15:58,042
-Makeup?
-[McFadden] That's right.

360
00:15:58,126 --> 00:15:59,293
Special effects makeup.

361
00:15:59,377 --> 00:16:03,047
I looked in the mirror and I thought,
"Oh, my God, this is extraordinary."

362
00:16:03,131 --> 00:16:06,384
And so I immediately got the character
and what to do with him.

363
00:16:06,467 --> 00:16:10,388
You know, you're a work of art.
You're made into something.

364
00:16:10,471 --> 00:16:13,766
You don't have to practically do anything.
It's all done.

365
00:16:13,850 --> 00:16:16,269
It kind of makes the character.

366
00:16:16,352 --> 00:16:19,564
You know, when you look the way
you imagined yourself looking,

367
00:16:19,647 --> 00:16:21,399
it works.

368
00:16:21,482 --> 00:16:24,193
[McFadden] And the man
who made it work is Michael Westmore.

369
00:16:24,277 --> 00:16:29,866
I was the makeup supervisor and designer
on Star Trek: Next Generation,

370
00:16:29,949 --> 00:16:34,746
Deep Space Nine,
Voyager, Enterprise, four of the movies.

371
00:16:34,829 --> 00:16:38,708
Anything that Star Trek touched
over the 18 years, I was there.

372
00:16:38,791 --> 00:16:42,462
He was a huge part
of the success of our show.

373
00:16:42,545 --> 00:16:44,922
Every week,
he had to come up with something,

374
00:16:45,006 --> 00:16:48,718
some alien race
that nobody had ever seen before,

375
00:16:48,801 --> 00:16:50,928
and create magic,

376
00:16:51,012 --> 00:16:51,929
and that's what he did.

377
00:16:52,013 --> 00:16:54,640
[McFadden] But the real magic happens
when there's a collaboration

378
00:16:54,724 --> 00:16:57,477
between the makeup artists
and the actor.

379
00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,854
So I get this lovely roll of Qatai.

380
00:16:59,937 --> 00:17:04,317
Go down to the Westmore habitat
on Paramount

381
00:17:04,400 --> 00:17:09,405
and on the makeup shelf
were a series of masks, faces, and heads.

382
00:17:09,489 --> 00:17:12,575
I look up and I see, da-da-da...

383
00:17:12,658 --> 00:17:15,620
the lions face.

384
00:17:15,703 --> 00:17:16,662
Slightly damaged.

385
00:17:16,746 --> 00:17:18,122
I went, "I love that."

386
00:17:18,206 --> 00:17:20,416
And he went, "Okay, let's try that,"

387
00:17:20,500 --> 00:17:23,127
tried it and looked in the mirror

388
00:17:23,211 --> 00:17:27,548
and I began immediately
to resonate with the mask.

389
00:17:27,632 --> 00:17:33,471
I understood the value of the makeup
through that four-and-a-half-hour process

390
00:17:33,554 --> 00:17:37,600
because after we had finished with it,
I was in that character.

391
00:17:37,683 --> 00:17:39,519
While they're putting it on,
I'd be sitting there

392
00:17:39,602 --> 00:17:45,608
looking in the mirror, going, "Well,
why did this character evolve this way?"

393
00:17:45,691 --> 00:17:47,944
The Cardassians
have this big neck thing

394
00:17:48,027 --> 00:17:49,737
and I'd look at that and think,

395
00:17:49,821 --> 00:17:54,867
"Man, these guys must have
been really uptight for some millennium

396
00:17:54,951 --> 00:17:56,828
and they're finally getting
these things in their neck

397
00:17:56,911 --> 00:17:59,539
just from straining
from how much they hate everybody,

398
00:17:59,622 --> 00:18:00,957
you know, for so long."

399
00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:04,460
[McFadden] But this wasn't a shortcut
to finding your inner alien.

400
00:18:04,544 --> 00:18:06,629
Uh, it was horrifying.

401
00:18:06,712 --> 00:18:11,133
[McFadden] So horrifying, in fact,
that many actors said...

402
00:18:11,217 --> 00:18:12,718
-No.
-I will not do it.

403
00:18:12,802 --> 00:18:17,139
There were often times where I
would get an appointment for a client

404
00:18:17,223 --> 00:18:21,269
and they would refuse to go in because
they knew that it did involve makeup.

405
00:18:21,352 --> 00:18:22,895
It's a lot to get used to.

406
00:18:22,979 --> 00:18:28,609
My call time in the makeup trailer
was 1:00 AM,

407
00:18:28,693 --> 00:18:34,448
and we all assembled on the set
at 7:00 AM to begin work.

408
00:18:34,532 --> 00:18:36,242
[McFadden]
And if that isn't tiring enough,

409
00:18:36,325 --> 00:18:38,286
there are other problems too.

410
00:18:38,369 --> 00:18:40,955
So we had to make molds of my ears.

411
00:18:41,956 --> 00:18:43,958
And I'm a little bit claustrophobic.

412
00:18:44,041 --> 00:18:45,877
I just...
There is something about it.

413
00:18:45,960 --> 00:18:47,712
I'm very claustrophobic.

414
00:18:47,795 --> 00:18:50,673
If you have claustrophobia problems,

415
00:18:50,756 --> 00:18:53,009
think twice before
taking a job on Star Trek .

416
00:18:53,092 --> 00:18:55,595
I think I had three calls

417
00:18:55,678 --> 00:18:58,931
prior to shooting
with prosthetics and with makeup.

418
00:18:59,015 --> 00:19:01,434
And by this time,
I was starting to get a little...

419
00:19:01,517 --> 00:19:03,769
I was starting to get a little nervous
about what I was in for.

420
00:19:03,853 --> 00:19:05,855
[McFadden]
Well, perhaps with good reason.

421
00:19:05,938 --> 00:19:11,444
The initial mold,
you're completely isolated.

422
00:19:11,527 --> 00:19:13,988
And the only way you can breathe,
the only way you can breathe,

423
00:19:14,071 --> 00:19:17,199
is through two tiny straws
that are stuck up in your nostrils,

424
00:19:17,283 --> 00:19:19,785
which stick out of the plaster of Paris.

425
00:19:19,869 --> 00:19:25,833
As it settles, you can feel it
constricting your face

426
00:19:25,917 --> 00:19:30,004
and you can feel that you're
becoming dependent on these two straws.

427
00:19:30,087 --> 00:19:32,632
And I was like... [screaming]

428
00:19:32,715 --> 00:19:35,885
And they're putting this stuff on
and I'm... [screaming]

429
00:19:35,968 --> 00:19:37,970
I'm just, like, going crazy,

430
00:19:38,054 --> 00:19:41,599
and the one guy is standing next to me,
holding me.

431
00:19:41,682 --> 00:19:43,267
You know, he said,
"It's okay, it's okay."

432
00:19:43,351 --> 00:19:48,648
[sighs] I still find gold in my,
you know, various pores.

433
00:19:48,731 --> 00:19:51,108
[McFadden]
Even the great Vulcan himself

434
00:19:51,192 --> 00:19:53,653
raised an eyebrow
when it came to makeup.

435
00:19:53,736 --> 00:19:56,405
The process, makeup process,
did not get easier.

436
00:19:56,489 --> 00:19:58,658
It became more difficult, actually.

437
00:19:58,741 --> 00:20:02,036
Not only the ears,
the eyebrows were very complicated too

438
00:20:02,119 --> 00:20:05,039
because I shaved the outer half
of my own eyebrows

439
00:20:05,122 --> 00:20:08,376
and Freddy put on hair by hair every day.

440
00:20:08,459 --> 00:20:11,170
You know, 2:00 in the morning,
I'm tearing my nose off.

441
00:20:11,253 --> 00:20:13,381
But I've got... [laughs]

442
00:20:13,464 --> 00:20:18,219
I've got marks from that first year or so

443
00:20:18,302 --> 00:20:20,680
when I didn't wanna take the 20 minutes,

444
00:20:20,763 --> 00:20:24,433
so I learned very quickly to...

445
00:20:24,517 --> 00:20:28,562
not quickly enough
to avoid damage to my nose.

446
00:20:28,646 --> 00:20:30,982
[McFadden] And if that wasn't enough
skin off your nose,

447
00:20:31,065 --> 00:20:33,192
there are even worse things to face.

448
00:20:33,275 --> 00:20:37,655
People who didn't drink water
would seize up

449
00:20:37,738 --> 00:20:40,157
in the sense that
it would get harder and harder

450
00:20:40,241 --> 00:20:43,619
to keep lines in your head
because you would be dehydrated.

451
00:20:43,703 --> 00:20:46,831
I remember we filmed a scene
and they said, "Okay, that's perfect.

452
00:20:46,914 --> 00:20:48,332
We're just gonna bump in
a little bit closer

453
00:20:48,416 --> 00:20:52,336
and we're gonna do it again,"
and I said, "What are we doing?"

454
00:20:52,420 --> 00:20:54,296
The said, "The exact same scene.
You've got it."

455
00:20:54,380 --> 00:20:56,340
And I said, "Oh, you're gonna
have to give me the script."

456
00:20:56,424 --> 00:20:59,427
I had no idea where we were,
what we were doing.

457
00:20:59,510 --> 00:21:03,139
And then one of the associate producers,
I think it was David Livingston,

458
00:21:03,222 --> 00:21:04,598
stepped in and said,
"We gotta get him out of that suit.

459
00:21:04,682 --> 00:21:06,308
We gotta get him out of here.
He's unraveling."

460
00:21:06,392 --> 00:21:10,146
So you're locked into this rubber mask.

461
00:21:10,229 --> 00:21:12,314
At one point they say,
"What's going on there?

462
00:21:12,398 --> 00:21:13,566
There's something."

463
00:21:13,649 --> 00:21:18,029
And I have had a collection
of sweat so bad,

464
00:21:18,112 --> 00:21:20,573
it's pooled and pushed the latex out
back here.

465
00:21:20,656 --> 00:21:24,410
So they lance it. [laughs]

466
00:21:24,493 --> 00:21:29,123
And this just wash of warm water
goes down my back,

467
00:21:29,206 --> 00:21:32,585
and it's just one of the joys
of show business.

468
00:21:32,668 --> 00:21:35,713
[McFadden] These dedicated actors
are either suffering for their art

469
00:21:35,796 --> 00:21:37,131
or talking out of their...

470
00:21:37,214 --> 00:21:38,049
Butt.

471
00:21:38,132 --> 00:21:40,342
[McFadden] But in Matt Malloy's case,
both are true.

472
00:21:40,426 --> 00:21:43,012
They show me the thing,
this foam thing,

473
00:21:43,095 --> 00:21:44,597
that they mount on your head.

474
00:21:44,680 --> 00:21:47,349
I said, "It looks like a baby's ass,"
and they said,

475
00:21:47,433 --> 00:21:52,104
"Oh, the original had been a dip
of a baby's ass."

476
00:21:52,188 --> 00:21:54,065
[baby crying]

477
00:21:55,816 --> 00:21:59,028
[speaking alien language]

478
00:21:59,111 --> 00:22:04,116
I mean, it really did look like a butt,
you know, I mean, a talking butt.

479
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:08,162
And doing scenes, I'm thinking,
"How can they take this seriously?"

480
00:22:08,245 --> 00:22:11,040
But yet it was absolutely compelling.

481
00:22:11,123 --> 00:22:12,666
They were very careful about that,

482
00:22:12,750 --> 00:22:14,710
to let me know
what it was gonna look like.

483
00:22:14,794 --> 00:22:15,628
It looked good.

484
00:22:15,711 --> 00:22:19,048
By the way,
they showed me the derivation of it.

485
00:22:19,131 --> 00:22:24,053
It came from insects and creatures,
live creatures,

486
00:22:24,136 --> 00:22:25,971
that they borrowed things from.

487
00:22:26,055 --> 00:22:27,973
I thought that was really smart.

488
00:22:28,057 --> 00:22:30,518
The characters who were alien

489
00:22:30,601 --> 00:22:34,396
really look like
they could have occurred in nature.

490
00:22:34,480 --> 00:22:39,193
[McFadden] But if actors had a call
of nature while in costume, good luck.

491
00:22:39,276 --> 00:22:43,364
Going to the bathroom was an issue.

492
00:22:43,447 --> 00:22:48,285
Bathroom breaks didn't happen
unless we got almost completely undressed.

493
00:22:48,369 --> 00:22:50,704
That was the only way that occurred,

494
00:22:50,788 --> 00:22:54,834
and there were enough of us that it
slowed things down every once in a while.

495
00:22:54,917 --> 00:22:57,294
We had to kind of take
a good 15, 20 minutes

496
00:22:57,378 --> 00:22:59,630
so everybody could get undone,
they could head out,

497
00:22:59,713 --> 00:23:05,094
head back in, get hooked back up again,
and go back to work. [laughs]

498
00:23:05,177 --> 00:23:06,846
Well, I had a bathroom buddy.

499
00:23:06,929 --> 00:23:12,017
Bathroom buddy, bathroom buddy,
please meet Tosk in the men's room.

500
00:23:12,101 --> 00:23:15,354
And he would be on his knees
in front of me

501
00:23:15,437 --> 00:23:18,941
in front of my crotch,
unhooking my suit

502
00:23:19,024 --> 00:23:20,526
with me in this lizard mask.

503
00:23:20,609 --> 00:23:22,111
-[zipper unzips]
-[McFadden] For some,

504
00:23:22,194 --> 00:23:25,656
all this was
understandably just too much.

505
00:23:25,739 --> 00:23:26,782
Wash!

506
00:23:26,866 --> 00:23:28,617
[McFadden]
As was the case for one actor.

507
00:23:28,701 --> 00:23:33,330
At one point while he was about to shoot
and he stood up,

508
00:23:33,414 --> 00:23:35,583
he took his wig off,

509
00:23:35,666 --> 00:23:39,044
he walked out
to the front gate of Paramount,

510
00:23:39,128 --> 00:23:41,422
threw the wig in the garbage can.

511
00:23:41,505 --> 00:23:42,882
He just left.

512
00:23:42,965 --> 00:23:46,677
They found one of the ears
in a trash bin outside the stage.

513
00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:50,055
[McFadden] But with acting,
you can't walk the walk

514
00:23:50,139 --> 00:23:52,016
until you've talked the talk.

515
00:23:58,522 --> 00:24:02,401
[McFadden] Getting into character
on Star Trek isn't always easy.

516
00:24:02,484 --> 00:24:07,281
And if the horrors of the makeup chair
or the ill-fitting costumes aren't enough,

517
00:24:07,364 --> 00:24:10,159
wait until you actually have to speak.

518
00:24:10,242 --> 00:24:13,204
I'm at home, just running it, running it,
running it, just saying it out loud,

519
00:24:13,287 --> 00:24:15,706
over and over and over again
while washing dishes, cooking,

520
00:24:15,789 --> 00:24:16,749
doing something like that,

521
00:24:16,832 --> 00:24:19,168
just so that when
we finally get there to shoot it,

522
00:24:19,251 --> 00:24:22,296
that it, as Shakespeare would say,
runs trippingly off the tongue.

523
00:24:22,379 --> 00:24:25,216
It was tough
and you only have a couple of shots at it

524
00:24:25,299 --> 00:24:27,843
and you've got long speeches
and what have you.

525
00:24:27,927 --> 00:24:30,137
You have to give the impression
that you're having a good time.

526
00:24:30,221 --> 00:24:34,099
We would receive the episode,
the new episode, the night before.

527
00:24:34,975 --> 00:24:39,813
So if you had a 6:00 call,
that means you were studying your scenes

528
00:24:39,897 --> 00:24:41,941
maybe into 2:00, 3:00 in the morning.

529
00:24:42,024 --> 00:24:44,109
[McFadden]
Well, we all had different techniques.

530
00:24:44,193 --> 00:24:47,029
My words, my words, my words, my lines.

531
00:24:47,112 --> 00:24:49,240
If I didn't really need
to read the whole script

532
00:24:49,323 --> 00:24:52,952
and I knew exactly what
Reed was doing in his said scenes,

533
00:24:54,161 --> 00:24:55,120
I didn't read 'em.

534
00:24:55,204 --> 00:24:57,206
No, I didn't. I read them.
I actually did read them.

535
00:24:57,289 --> 00:24:58,791
And then sometimes you'd show up

536
00:24:58,874 --> 00:25:01,794
and the scene that
you were working on that same night

537
00:25:01,877 --> 00:25:02,878
had been rewritten.

538
00:25:02,962 --> 00:25:04,672
[McFadden]
And we're not talking your average,

539
00:25:04,755 --> 00:25:07,049
run-of-the-mill dialogue rewrites.

540
00:25:07,132 --> 00:25:10,469
Not everyone is fluent
in the language of Star Trek.

541
00:25:10,552 --> 00:25:14,014
Star Trek seemed
to consistently call for theater actors,

542
00:25:14,098 --> 00:25:18,978
Shakespearean actors in particular
because the language is not comfortable

543
00:25:19,061 --> 00:25:21,939
and had to be kind of highfalutin
and stand a little straighter

544
00:25:22,022 --> 00:25:24,149
and all that sort of stuff
in order to do it,

545
00:25:24,233 --> 00:25:26,694
and that had to do with
having a theater background.

546
00:25:26,777 --> 00:25:31,657
You have some really good actors
who are doing things like Star Trek,

547
00:25:31,740 --> 00:25:33,784
if there are any like Star Trek.

548
00:25:33,867 --> 00:25:35,369
Yeah, 'cause we're used to language.

549
00:25:35,452 --> 00:25:39,039
[McFadden]
However, unlike the Bard's rich prose,

550
00:25:39,123 --> 00:25:42,626
the words of Trek are sometimes
a little less meaningful.

551
00:25:42,710 --> 00:25:45,254
They were just gobbledygook to me.

552
00:25:45,337 --> 00:25:46,547
I want you to install a bypass

553
00:25:46,630 --> 00:25:49,216
between the main phaser array
and the secondary generators.

554
00:25:49,300 --> 00:25:51,385
I also want to run
the main deflector pathway

555
00:25:51,468 --> 00:25:52,803
through the warp power grid

556
00:25:52,886 --> 00:25:55,264
and the auxiliary conduits
through the lateral relays.

557
00:25:55,347 --> 00:25:57,558
In some ways,
it's almost like verse

558
00:25:57,641 --> 00:26:02,396
in that there is a lot of,
yes, technical...

559
00:26:02,479 --> 00:26:03,314
What? Uh...

560
00:26:03,397 --> 00:26:04,356
Technobabble.

561
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,610
Vent a couple of LN2 exhaust conduits
along the dorsal emitters.

562
00:26:08,694 --> 00:26:09,945
I could not get in on the day.

563
00:26:10,029 --> 00:26:11,780
Make it look like
we're in serious trouble.

564
00:26:11,864 --> 00:26:13,741
It's the only line that I remember.

565
00:26:13,824 --> 00:26:16,785
"Vent a couple of LN2 exhaust conduits
around the dorsal emitters."

566
00:26:16,869 --> 00:26:17,870
[man] Understood.

567
00:26:17,953 --> 00:26:21,832
I've gotta say something about the...
[sighs] I don't know.

568
00:26:21,915 --> 00:26:25,336
The cumulus or the whatever the hell.

569
00:26:25,419 --> 00:26:27,129
It's all that static-discharging gas.

570
00:26:27,212 --> 00:26:29,006
I kept screwing up my lines.

571
00:26:29,089 --> 00:26:30,341
May I speak, sir?

572
00:26:30,424 --> 00:26:31,550
I was doing this elevator scene.

573
00:26:31,633 --> 00:26:34,928
I remember I had an opportunity
where I could look different.

574
00:26:35,012 --> 00:26:36,805
[McFadden]
Well, not that different.

575
00:26:36,889 --> 00:26:39,558
I don't think it was a robe.
I think it was a top.

576
00:26:39,641 --> 00:26:40,476
[McFadden] Of course.

577
00:26:40,559 --> 00:26:43,354
[Kirstie Alley] And I was on my way
somewhere as a civilian

578
00:26:43,437 --> 00:26:46,732
and I had some idea in my mind,
which I have with every script.

579
00:26:46,815 --> 00:26:48,067
I don't know why I've always done this.

580
00:26:48,150 --> 00:26:50,652
Like, I probably need
to flirt with Shatner,

581
00:26:50,736 --> 00:26:52,780
you know, with Kirk, a little.

582
00:26:52,863 --> 00:26:57,576
I wanted to wear my hair down
because I was waiting for my moment

583
00:26:57,659 --> 00:26:59,495
to be glamorous.

584
00:26:59,578 --> 00:27:02,206
But every time
I'd walk out of the elevator,

585
00:27:02,289 --> 00:27:03,916
right before it would open,

586
00:27:03,999 --> 00:27:06,543
Bill would go like,
"Line line, line, line line."

587
00:27:06,627 --> 00:27:10,089
Now I'm going to go.
I'm like... [gasps]

588
00:27:10,172 --> 00:27:11,340
Deer in headlights.

589
00:27:11,423 --> 00:27:12,466
You're bothered.

590
00:27:12,549 --> 00:27:13,884
And I was ready to cry.

591
00:27:13,967 --> 00:27:15,928
And I kept coming out
and I kept blowing the line,

592
00:27:16,011 --> 00:27:18,680
and then he'd go, "All right,
now this time you're gonna do it.

593
00:27:18,764 --> 00:27:20,224
Line, line, line, line."

594
00:27:20,307 --> 00:27:21,683
Oh, I wanted to kill him!

595
00:27:21,767 --> 00:27:22,684
It's a test of character.

596
00:27:22,768 --> 00:27:23,685
And then Nick took me aside.

597
00:27:23,769 --> 00:27:25,729
He goes, "If you get it, good.
If you don't, you don't."

598
00:27:25,813 --> 00:27:26,730
And of course I got it.

599
00:27:26,814 --> 00:27:29,483
Who's been holding up the damn elevator?

600
00:27:29,566 --> 00:27:30,943
I think it was Garrett Wang that told me.

601
00:27:31,026 --> 00:27:32,861
He said, "Oh, just be glad your character
is not in engineering

602
00:27:32,945 --> 00:27:34,446
'cause they get hammered
with the technobabble."

603
00:27:34,530 --> 00:27:35,739
Can I help you?

604
00:27:35,823 --> 00:27:37,950
Uh, unless you can reroute
the plasma regulator

605
00:27:38,033 --> 00:27:42,204
to silo off the relay junction,
then, uh, no.

606
00:27:42,287 --> 00:27:44,039
And then the very next script
that came out,

607
00:27:44,123 --> 00:27:46,792
I'm asking Chakotay
for an assignment in engineering.

608
00:27:46,875 --> 00:27:48,961
I was like, "Oh, God, here we go!"

609
00:27:49,044 --> 00:27:50,337
It was one of the banes of my existence,

610
00:27:50,421 --> 00:27:53,674
was writing some of the technology
and the tech talk of the show.

611
00:27:53,757 --> 00:27:55,717
A tetryon beam is approaching, Captain.

612
00:27:55,801 --> 00:27:59,763
We'll have to infuse it
with a class-four, uh, whatever, you know.

613
00:27:59,847 --> 00:28:02,015
There were just too many arguments
in the writers room,

614
00:28:02,099 --> 00:28:05,310
yelling at each other about
what warp drive could and could not do.

615
00:28:05,394 --> 00:28:06,270
[McFadden]
But if you thought...

616
00:28:06,353 --> 00:28:11,150
It's based on an FTL nanoprocessor
with 25 bilateral kelilactirals,

617
00:28:11,233 --> 00:28:15,821
with twenty of those being slaved
into the primary heisenfram terminal.

618
00:28:15,904 --> 00:28:18,240
Now, you do know what
a bilateral kelilactiral is?

619
00:28:18,323 --> 00:28:19,616
[McFadden]
...would be hard to memorize.

620
00:28:19,700 --> 00:28:21,952
And of course you have to learn Klingon
and so...

621
00:28:22,035 --> 00:28:23,245
[imitating Klingon]

622
00:28:23,328 --> 00:28:24,580
[speaking Klingon]

623
00:28:27,708 --> 00:28:29,293
It's written out
and then they have

624
00:28:29,376 --> 00:28:32,212
the phonetic pronunciations
underneath it as well.

625
00:28:32,296 --> 00:28:37,134
So fortunately, that grad school
phonetics class came in handy quite a bit.

626
00:28:37,217 --> 00:28:40,888
[speaking Klingon]

627
00:28:40,971 --> 00:28:46,143
It was incredible. They made up
this entire language that worked.

628
00:28:47,144 --> 00:28:50,647
I had one word and it seemed
to be very important and it was...

629
00:28:50,731 --> 00:28:51,732
[speaks Klingon]

630
00:28:51,815 --> 00:28:54,526
Which I think means
"Let's get the hell out of here"

631
00:28:54,610 --> 00:28:55,819
or something like that.

632
00:28:55,903 --> 00:29:00,199
Somebody sent me
a hardbound edition of Hamlet

633
00:29:00,282 --> 00:29:04,161
that had been translated
into Klingon, which was astonishing.

634
00:29:04,244 --> 00:29:08,457
You know, just the idea of translating
Hamlet into French makes my head explode.

635
00:29:08,540 --> 00:29:11,084
So it's one of my prized possessions.
It's just...

636
00:29:11,168 --> 00:29:12,753
It's really, really something.

637
00:29:12,836 --> 00:29:15,964
I had to sing a song
in Klingon, Klingonese.

638
00:29:16,048 --> 00:29:21,386
[singing in Klingon]

639
00:29:21,470 --> 00:29:23,764
I cannot remember it,
so don't ask me.

640
00:29:23,847 --> 00:29:25,849
[singing in Klingon]

641
00:29:29,645 --> 00:29:32,022
[singing in Klingon]

642
00:29:34,983 --> 00:29:36,985
[singing in Klingon]

643
00:29:40,531 --> 00:29:42,991
[singing in Klingon]

644
00:29:48,539 --> 00:29:49,831
-[man] Awesome.
-[laughs]

645
00:29:49,915 --> 00:29:50,791
[man] In English?

646
00:29:50,874 --> 00:29:55,587
"Let's go kick some ass." [laughs]

647
00:29:55,671 --> 00:29:59,216
[McFadden] No matter the alien race,
from Andorian to Xindi,

648
00:29:59,299 --> 00:30:02,886
all Star Trek actors
must master the script,

649
00:30:02,970 --> 00:30:04,137
whatever the language.

650
00:30:04,221 --> 00:30:07,558
You gotta know every line verbatim.

651
00:30:07,641 --> 00:30:10,978
They don't want you to change
an "and" or an "or" or a...

652
00:30:11,061 --> 00:30:12,187
Dabo?

653
00:30:12,271 --> 00:30:14,106
You gotta know it cold.

654
00:30:14,189 --> 00:30:16,066
-You're in pain, Seven.
-[sighs]

655
00:30:16,149 --> 00:30:17,234
I can help you.

656
00:30:17,317 --> 00:30:19,903
[McFadden] But surely
there was a little improvisation?

657
00:30:19,987 --> 00:30:22,281
No, no, no, no.
You can't improvise with the text.

658
00:30:22,364 --> 00:30:26,159
Yeah, you don't. You don't, uh,
paraphrase on Star Trek. [laughs]

659
00:30:26,243 --> 00:30:27,869
I ad-libbed.

660
00:30:27,953 --> 00:30:29,371
No, I'm kidding.
-[man] Yeah.

661
00:30:29,454 --> 00:30:31,039
Say the wrong thing, Torg!

662
00:30:31,123 --> 00:30:32,416
[groans]

663
00:30:32,499 --> 00:30:35,085
[McFadden]
It seemed that the real overlords

664
00:30:35,168 --> 00:30:37,629
of the Star Trek universe
weren't the Klingons...

665
00:30:37,713 --> 00:30:38,880
[speaking Klingon]

666
00:30:38,964 --> 00:30:41,300
[McFadden]
...the Borg, or Q.

667
00:30:41,383 --> 00:30:42,593
Moi?

668
00:30:42,676 --> 00:30:44,261
[McFadden]
Well, is he really a baddie?

669
00:30:44,344 --> 00:30:45,637
Did you ever watch the show?

670
00:30:45,721 --> 00:30:48,181
At our first meeting,
you seized my vessel.

671
00:30:48,265 --> 00:30:50,434
You condemned all humans as savages.

672
00:30:50,517 --> 00:30:52,019
[McFadden] Good point.

673
00:30:52,102 --> 00:30:53,395
It's the writers.

674
00:30:53,478 --> 00:30:56,857
Basically, it's "This is how it's written,
this is what we want, deliver it."

675
00:30:56,940 --> 00:31:00,652
Star Trek is the only show
I have ever worked on where

676
00:31:00,736 --> 00:31:06,867
if you used a synonym for a word,

677
00:31:06,950 --> 00:31:09,870
they would cut,
the script guy would come over

678
00:31:09,953 --> 00:31:15,626
and say, "You said 'cat'
and the line is 'kitty.'"

679
00:31:16,710 --> 00:31:21,048
[McFadden] Some actors had absolutely
no issue with the writers whatsoever.

680
00:31:21,131 --> 00:31:24,468
Probably the most vivid thing
I remember about the whole thing

681
00:31:24,551 --> 00:31:27,971
is that the first day
I was on the set for a half-hour

682
00:31:28,055 --> 00:31:31,266
and I was in bed with Deanna Troi.

683
00:31:31,350 --> 00:31:35,270
I rather like that I'm more difficult
to read than your other men.

684
00:31:35,354 --> 00:31:38,565
I don't know who put that together.
[chuckles]

685
00:31:38,649 --> 00:31:39,816
But it worked for me.

686
00:31:39,900 --> 00:31:41,818
[McFadden]
Some things worked well again and again,

687
00:31:41,902 --> 00:31:46,865
and that wasn't lost on the crew
who'd spent years sitting uncomfortably...

688
00:31:46,948 --> 00:31:50,535
In dark corners, you know,
on hard, wooden apple boxes.

689
00:31:50,619 --> 00:31:53,372
[McFadden] And be it the set
of Enterprise, Voyager,

690
00:31:53,455 --> 00:31:54,623
or the original series,

691
00:31:54,706 --> 00:31:59,044
it's the crew who most noticed
the writers repeat themselves.

692
00:31:59,127 --> 00:32:02,047
He says, "Yeah, every character gets
killed and then they bring them back."

693
00:32:03,590 --> 00:32:04,841
He's brain dead.

694
00:32:06,176 --> 00:32:07,469
Commander.

695
00:32:07,552 --> 00:32:11,556
I said, "Really? I didn't know that.
What else can you tell me?"

696
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:15,477
"Well, I'm sure you're gonna do an episode
where your age a lot

697
00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:16,687
and then they bring you back."

698
00:32:16,770 --> 00:32:19,690
[The Doctor] Commander Chakotay
is suffering bone decalcification,

699
00:32:19,773 --> 00:32:24,820
tissue necrosis, decreased visual acuity,
all classic signs of aging.

700
00:32:24,903 --> 00:32:29,241
"And there'll probably be an episode
where you fall in love with an alien."

701
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:32,994
[McFadden] Despite the...

702
00:32:33,078 --> 00:32:33,912
Apple boxes.

703
00:32:33,995 --> 00:32:36,081
[McFadden]
...the crew were also quite comfortable

704
00:32:36,164 --> 00:32:37,499
in letting an actor know

705
00:32:37,582 --> 00:32:40,210
when the writers had put
the writing on the wall.

706
00:32:40,293 --> 00:32:43,588
"So sorry to hear about
what's happening to your character."

707
00:32:43,672 --> 00:32:45,507
I said, "Why, what's happening
to my character?"

708
00:32:45,590 --> 00:32:48,552
And he said,
"Oh, uh, maybe I better not tell you."

709
00:32:48,635 --> 00:32:51,012
And I went in to Ron,
I said, "Ron, do I die?"

710
00:32:51,096 --> 00:32:52,264
Yes.

711
00:32:52,347 --> 00:32:57,060
And he says, "Oh, I just didn't
have the heart to tell you.

712
00:32:57,144 --> 00:32:58,019
Who told you that?"

713
00:32:58,103 --> 00:33:00,147
"It doesn't matter, doesn't matter."

714
00:33:00,230 --> 00:33:01,732
[McFadden]
And if your character does die,

715
00:33:01,815 --> 00:33:04,359
think twice about taking a memento home

716
00:33:04,443 --> 00:33:07,571
because as they say,
you can't take it with you.

717
00:33:07,654 --> 00:33:11,116
You cannot take anything off the set.

718
00:33:11,199 --> 00:33:12,451
You would be in major trouble.

719
00:33:12,534 --> 00:33:14,327
Any of their brand,
any of the Star Trek brand,

720
00:33:14,411 --> 00:33:15,996
they protected.

721
00:33:16,079 --> 00:33:19,499
They had a checklist.
They came back for your wardrobe.

722
00:33:19,583 --> 00:33:21,918
[McFadden]
Well, a few things slipped through.

723
00:33:22,002 --> 00:33:24,921
There they are. Look at those.
Look at those dusty old pair of boots.

724
00:33:25,005 --> 00:33:26,548
[McFadden]
With props and costumes

725
00:33:26,631 --> 00:33:29,217
going for thousands
on the collector market...

726
00:33:29,301 --> 00:33:32,512
I did keep one other thing, but I sold it.

727
00:33:32,596 --> 00:33:36,308
I had a friend that got a good hunk
of the console years ago,

728
00:33:36,391 --> 00:33:39,311
and I think he got about 40 grand for it.

729
00:33:39,394 --> 00:33:42,189
[McFadden] ...the producers
had to crack down on the bit parts:

730
00:33:42,272 --> 00:33:43,190
taking bits.

731
00:33:43,273 --> 00:33:44,566
When I was doing these things,

732
00:33:44,649 --> 00:33:47,194
I never thought
of asking to take anything.

733
00:33:47,277 --> 00:33:48,820
[McFadden]
Well, Mark Rolston did.

734
00:33:48,904 --> 00:33:53,366
So I asked and got
the most resounding, like,

735
00:33:53,450 --> 00:33:54,743
"Don't you dare."

736
00:33:54,826 --> 00:33:56,286
[McFadden]
Richard Herd dared.

737
00:33:56,369 --> 00:34:00,957
Very difficult learning how to chat away
with the Klingon teeth,

738
00:34:01,041 --> 00:34:03,585
which I saved,
and sometimes I chased

739
00:34:03,668 --> 00:34:08,840
my wife Patricia around the bedroom
with my Klingon teeth. [laughs]

740
00:34:08,924 --> 00:34:11,009
[McFadden]
And Scott MacDonald dared.

741
00:34:11,092 --> 00:34:15,263
This is a prop

742
00:34:15,347 --> 00:34:18,266
from the set of Enterprise.

743
00:34:18,350 --> 00:34:20,477
When I played Commander Dolim,

744
00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:25,565
there was a scene where
the Xindi reptiles were eating mice

745
00:34:25,649 --> 00:34:28,819
as they discussed their plans
to take over the universe.

746
00:34:28,902 --> 00:34:30,904
And the pièce de résistance...

747
00:34:31,947 --> 00:34:36,868
This is an unbelievable thing to have.

748
00:34:36,952 --> 00:34:39,788
I don't know that
very many actors have these.

749
00:34:39,871 --> 00:34:42,374
[McFadden] But while some requests
were thoroughly denied...

750
00:34:42,457 --> 00:34:44,042
"Don't you dare."

751
00:34:44,125 --> 00:34:47,087
[McFadden] The biggest props
go to showrunner Brannon Braga,

752
00:34:47,170 --> 00:34:48,129
who was dating...

753
00:34:48,213 --> 00:34:50,298
-A Borg babe.
-[McFadden] That'd be this Borg babe.

754
00:34:50,382 --> 00:34:51,842
[sighs] I'm bored.
Let's do something fun.

755
00:34:51,925 --> 00:34:56,388
[McFadden] And thusly, Jeri Ryan had her
dreams of taking part of the set home...

756
00:34:56,471 --> 00:34:57,597
-Sweet dreams.
-[McFadden] ...fulfilled.

757
00:34:57,681 --> 00:34:58,807
Yeah, I have my alcove.

758
00:34:58,890 --> 00:35:01,935
I figured, you know, four years
of that makeup and that costume,

759
00:35:02,018 --> 00:35:04,187
the least I can do
is get my alcove to bring home.

760
00:35:04,271 --> 00:35:05,105
[man] Was it hard to get it?

761
00:35:05,188 --> 00:35:07,732
Uh...

762
00:35:07,816 --> 00:35:09,818
-How hard was it to get the alcove?
-[man] Yeah.

763
00:35:09,901 --> 00:35:11,736
Uh, to my recollection, not at all.

764
00:35:11,820 --> 00:35:15,740
I was, you know, dating Brannon Braga,
so he had a little extra pull, probably.

765
00:35:15,824 --> 00:35:17,993
[McFadden]
He'd need all the pull he could get.

766
00:35:18,076 --> 00:35:21,830
It was hard to deliver
'cause it's such a huge thing.

767
00:35:21,913 --> 00:35:23,957
[horn honks]

768
00:35:24,040 --> 00:35:26,626
[McFadden]
Be it hours in the makeup chair,

769
00:35:26,710 --> 00:35:29,045
finding ways to nick props from the set,

770
00:35:29,129 --> 00:35:32,257
or lifting heavy set pieces
into your girlfriend's apartment,

771
00:35:32,340 --> 00:35:37,470
only a few actors have attained
the one role that steals the show.

772
00:35:41,683 --> 00:35:45,604
[McFadden] On any Star Trek show,
it's important to know who's at the helm.

773
00:35:45,687 --> 00:35:46,605
Take us in.

774
00:35:46,688 --> 00:35:49,816
We had fine directors
and we had directors,

775
00:35:49,900 --> 00:35:53,987
really, really well-known directors
in television,

776
00:35:54,070 --> 00:35:56,573
seeking to do Star Trek.

777
00:35:56,656 --> 00:36:00,619
And you know, all actors, here's
what they wanna know about the director.

778
00:36:02,037 --> 00:36:03,121
"Is he crazy?

779
00:36:03,204 --> 00:36:05,498
How crazy?

780
00:36:05,582 --> 00:36:07,042
Am I going to live?"

781
00:36:07,125 --> 00:36:10,420
[McFadden] Armin Shimerman, appearing
as one of the first ever Ferengi...

782
00:36:10,503 --> 00:36:13,131
If he moves, kill him.

783
00:36:13,214 --> 00:36:15,550
[McFadden]
Sounds like he had a crazy one.

784
00:36:15,634 --> 00:36:20,931
The director, uh, was giving us
all sorts of bizarre directions.

785
00:36:21,014 --> 00:36:23,183
[all grunting]

786
00:36:23,266 --> 00:36:25,977
I got this one!

787
00:36:26,061 --> 00:36:29,981
And in fact,
my first four years as Quark

788
00:36:30,065 --> 00:36:34,235
was to try and eradicate
the mistakes I made as Letek.

789
00:36:34,319 --> 00:36:37,572
Because I'm a people person.

790
00:36:37,656 --> 00:36:41,493
[McFadden] But perhaps
trying to avoid having a crazy director,

791
00:36:41,576 --> 00:36:45,705
many of the actors themselves
stepped behind the lens.

792
00:36:45,789 --> 00:36:49,209
And the tradition of
Star Trek actors becoming directors

793
00:36:49,292 --> 00:36:52,545
extends all the way back
to the great Spock himself.

794
00:36:52,629 --> 00:36:54,464
People would often say to me,
"You should be directing."

795
00:36:55,590 --> 00:37:00,220
[chuckles] The fact is, I was...
I was insulted.

796
00:37:00,303 --> 00:37:03,181
I thought, "Are these people telling me
there's something wrong with my acting?"

797
00:37:03,264 --> 00:37:04,557
[laughs]

798
00:37:04,641 --> 00:37:06,142
[McFadden]
But it wasn't a bad idea

799
00:37:06,226 --> 00:37:10,397
because as of the end of Star Trek II ,
Spock was dead

800
00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:16,194
and Leonard Nimoy was resurrected
as a feature film director.

801
00:37:16,277 --> 00:37:19,155
In all, 15 cast members directed

802
00:37:19,239 --> 00:37:22,283
over the hundred episodes
and films.

803
00:37:22,367 --> 00:37:23,493
So I threw my hat in the ring.

804
00:37:23,576 --> 00:37:25,245
Obviously I had done
a bunch of episodes.

805
00:37:25,328 --> 00:37:27,497
By then, I was really into it.
I was really psyched.

806
00:37:27,580 --> 00:37:30,000
They took a chance.
I thought, "Here we go."

807
00:37:30,083 --> 00:37:32,085
And then that movie
was a huge success

808
00:37:32,168 --> 00:37:34,713
and made a lot of money
and everybody liked it.

809
00:37:34,796 --> 00:37:36,214
I loved him

810
00:37:36,297 --> 00:37:41,928
when he was my first officer
on the Enterprise.

811
00:37:42,012 --> 00:37:43,221
Take us out of orbit, Ensign Crusher.

812
00:37:43,304 --> 00:37:47,434
I love him when he directs me
on Star Trek and on Leverage.

813
00:37:47,517 --> 00:37:52,272
I love him when I call him
because I need advice.

814
00:37:52,355 --> 00:37:55,442
[McFadden] But not all actors
make great directors at first.

815
00:37:55,525 --> 00:37:57,318
My first day of shooting was a disaster.

816
00:37:57,402 --> 00:38:00,572
We had this huge set and the first set-up,

817
00:38:00,655 --> 00:38:03,158
I think it was, like,
took about eight hours.

818
00:38:03,241 --> 00:38:05,452
So the first day,
I immediately fell a day behind.

819
00:38:05,535 --> 00:38:07,370
[all grunting]

820
00:38:07,454 --> 00:38:09,914
[Andrew Robinson]
And Berman and Ira hated the episode.

821
00:38:09,998 --> 00:38:11,958
You've never been right about anything.

822
00:38:12,042 --> 00:38:15,336
Then they took me in the office and
they made me go frame by frame by frame

823
00:38:15,420 --> 00:38:17,672
because I was contracted
to direct two more.

824
00:38:17,756 --> 00:38:20,133
And Berman said,
"If you weren't under contract,

825
00:38:20,216 --> 00:38:22,886
I just wouldn't let you direct anymore,"
essentially. [laughs]

826
00:38:22,969 --> 00:38:27,057
Now step aside, Toran, and allow me
to finish this sorry business.

827
00:38:27,140 --> 00:38:29,976
[McFadden] It seemed like everybody
had the chance to direct.

828
00:38:30,060 --> 00:38:31,352
[Robinson]
Well, Avery directed.

829
00:38:31,436 --> 00:38:32,937
"Hmm, I don't know if I can see him

830
00:38:33,021 --> 00:38:34,647
directing this kind of stuff."

831
00:38:34,731 --> 00:38:36,232
I don't care if the odds are against us.

832
00:38:36,316 --> 00:38:39,152
Well, I was completely wrong.
He was a wonderful director.

833
00:38:39,235 --> 00:38:41,738
Such a great actor's director.

834
00:38:41,821 --> 00:38:44,949
All the males were allowed to direct,
whoever wanted to.

835
00:38:45,033 --> 00:38:46,618
[McFadden]
But as for me...

836
00:38:46,701 --> 00:38:50,038
Did I have to campaign hard
to direct an episode?

837
00:38:51,206 --> 00:38:52,957
What do you think? Yeah.

838
00:38:53,041 --> 00:38:56,127
It took until my seventh year to get it

839
00:38:56,211 --> 00:39:00,465
and they gave me this
kind of scary, spooky episode,

840
00:39:00,548 --> 00:39:02,801
which was very un- Star Trek in a way.

841
00:39:05,553 --> 00:39:08,139
I was so grateful that I got that script.
I really was.

842
00:39:08,223 --> 00:39:09,933
I had so much fun with it.

843
00:39:10,016 --> 00:39:13,144
[McFadden] As one of the first women
to direct Star Trek,

844
00:39:13,228 --> 00:39:18,733
I hope that I had some small role in
opening the door to other women directors.

845
00:39:18,817 --> 00:39:21,611
And now Hanelle Culpepper
is leading the way

846
00:39:21,694 --> 00:39:23,571
with the Star Trek: Picard series,

847
00:39:23,655 --> 00:39:27,534
becoming the first female director
to launch a new Star Trek series.

848
00:39:28,576 --> 00:39:30,995
But back in front of the camera,

849
00:39:31,079 --> 00:39:34,290
it wasn't until year 2371

850
00:39:34,374 --> 00:39:37,627
that a woman was finally put in charge.

851
00:39:37,710 --> 00:39:39,963
Voyager had a female captain.

852
00:39:40,046 --> 00:39:41,589
What can I do for you?

853
00:39:41,673 --> 00:39:44,592
[McFadden] And with Kate Mulgrew
commanding the ship,

854
00:39:44,676 --> 00:39:47,846
Voyager was on course
for seven more years of Star Trek.

855
00:39:47,929 --> 00:39:50,849
But audiences were hardly
bowled over in the beginning.

856
00:39:50,932 --> 00:39:54,602
The ratings kept going lower and lower,
and I think if you talk to the fans,

857
00:39:54,686 --> 00:39:56,646
they would blame it on the writing.

858
00:39:56,729 --> 00:40:00,024
[McFadden]
So those writers wrote in a new character.

859
00:40:00,108 --> 00:40:01,943
People saying it's a blatant attempt
to up the ratings,

860
00:40:02,026 --> 00:40:04,696
well, yeah, that's why
they added the new character.

861
00:40:04,779 --> 00:40:07,574
The ratings were lagging.
The show was tanking.

862
00:40:07,657 --> 00:40:11,661
[McFadden] And as they say,
all publicity is good publicity.

863
00:40:11,744 --> 00:40:15,456
We took a lot of criticism that we were,
you know, cheapening the show

864
00:40:15,540 --> 00:40:18,251
and we're turning
into Baywatch in space.

865
00:40:18,334 --> 00:40:21,671
Like, we got a lot of crap
from the Deep Space Nine writers,

866
00:40:21,754 --> 00:40:23,715
who thought we were kind of selling out

867
00:40:23,798 --> 00:40:26,092
and bringing a bimbo
onto the ship and all,

868
00:40:26,176 --> 00:40:27,719
which frankly, kind of sexist.

869
00:40:27,802 --> 00:40:30,513
And I see the way your pupils dilate
when you look at my body.

870
00:40:30,597 --> 00:40:34,934
Some of the members of cast
thought that all the publicity

871
00:40:35,018 --> 00:40:40,607
that this new character was going
to be getting was sort of due them.

872
00:40:40,690 --> 00:40:41,691
It was a mild shock.

873
00:40:41,774 --> 00:40:43,193
[Vaughn Armstrong] There was
a little conflict there, you know,

874
00:40:43,276 --> 00:40:47,197
and usually when the cameras go off,
there's some banter,

875
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:52,285
either work-wise or, uh,
just to make things comfortable.

876
00:40:52,368 --> 00:40:56,664
And I look to one of them
in between the scenes

877
00:40:56,748 --> 00:40:59,209
and she's staring at the board up here.

878
00:40:59,292 --> 00:41:03,504
I looked over here
and she's staring up at the board too.

879
00:41:03,588 --> 00:41:07,634
I thought, "Well,
I probably shouldn't interrupt them.

880
00:41:07,717 --> 00:41:13,473
They must be, you know, just staying
in a frame of mind that they need to."

881
00:41:13,556 --> 00:41:15,600
Come to find out
they could not stand each other.

882
00:41:15,683 --> 00:41:18,895
You came here hoping to stop me.
You will fail.

883
00:41:20,021 --> 00:41:22,398
Turn this ship around. That's an order.

884
00:41:22,482 --> 00:41:25,360
Your orders are irrelevant.
I'm no longer under your command.

885
00:41:25,443 --> 00:41:27,820
[McFadden]
Jeri Ryan's character, Seven of Nine,

886
00:41:27,904 --> 00:41:30,031
proved to be a fan favorite,

887
00:41:30,114 --> 00:41:32,867
and ratings did begin to climb
after her arrival.

888
00:41:32,951 --> 00:41:34,035
Take off your clothes.

889
00:41:34,118 --> 00:41:34,953
Uh...

890
00:41:35,036 --> 00:41:35,870
[McFadden] However...

891
00:41:35,954 --> 00:41:37,789
Coming into an existing show
midway through is never easy.

892
00:41:37,872 --> 00:41:39,123
It's never gonna be easy.

893
00:41:39,207 --> 00:41:42,710
And when the attention shifts
because there's somebody new

894
00:41:42,794 --> 00:41:47,715
and the publicity machine is going crazy
and they're making this huge push,

895
00:41:47,799 --> 00:41:49,008
that's not gonna be easy.

896
00:41:49,092 --> 00:41:50,009
It's just not.

897
00:41:50,093 --> 00:41:53,638
But it was a very difficult four years.
It was very tense.

898
00:41:53,721 --> 00:41:54,639
It was not...

899
00:41:54,722 --> 00:41:56,516
I don't, unfortunately,
I don't look back...

900
00:41:56,599 --> 00:41:58,559
As many laughs as I had

901
00:41:58,643 --> 00:42:02,480
and as much as I adored
working with all of them, I don't...

902
00:42:02,563 --> 00:42:05,942
I can't look back on that four-year period
with this wonderful, glowing memory

903
00:42:06,025 --> 00:42:07,986
because it was so difficult.

904
00:42:08,069 --> 00:42:11,489
It was so tense and difficult,
so that's unfortunate.

905
00:42:11,572 --> 00:42:14,701
I'm sorry that I can't look back on it
with better memories.

906
00:42:24,377 --> 00:42:25,837
Set a course.

907
00:42:25,920 --> 00:42:27,463
[McFadden] When Voyager 's last episode...

908
00:42:27,547 --> 00:42:28,506
For home.

909
00:42:28,589 --> 00:42:31,050
[McFadden]
...screened May 23rd, 2001,

910
00:42:31,134 --> 00:42:35,054
the fifth successful series
of the Star Trek franchise was over.

911
00:42:38,433 --> 00:42:40,852
But fans didn't have to wait long at all.

912
00:42:40,935 --> 00:42:41,978
[announcer] Enterprise.

913
00:42:42,061 --> 00:42:45,648
[McFadden] Because the promos
were already rolling out for the next one.

914
00:42:46,649 --> 00:42:51,321
Star Trek: Enterprise was to be
the sixth series in the franchise.

915
00:42:51,404 --> 00:42:52,238
However...

916
00:42:52,322 --> 00:42:56,075
They kind of flooded the market
with the three different series

917
00:42:56,159 --> 00:42:56,993
at the same time.

918
00:42:57,076 --> 00:42:58,077
[announcer 1] Star Trek: Voyager.

919
00:42:58,161 --> 00:42:59,579
[announcer 2] Deep Space Nine.

920
00:42:59,662 --> 00:43:01,831
You know, every time they
turn on the television, there it was.

921
00:43:01,914 --> 00:43:03,791
-Are you sure?
-[Hawkins] Damn sure.

922
00:43:03,875 --> 00:43:06,252
I remember taking the phone call
about the show ending

923
00:43:06,336 --> 00:43:11,883
and we were gonna have the big class photo
outside the gates of Paramount.

924
00:43:11,966 --> 00:43:15,261
And I'm standing with Brannon Braga,
the chief guy.

925
00:43:15,345 --> 00:43:20,058
And I saw Brannon turn around
and he looked at this... [laughs]

926
00:43:20,141 --> 00:43:23,186
...this hairy looking thing
called the Tellarite,

927
00:43:23,269 --> 00:43:25,897
standing there with the sun
glancing off his nose.

928
00:43:25,980 --> 00:43:27,857
And we all just looked at it.

929
00:43:27,940 --> 00:43:31,944
He just went, "Yeah, it's time."

930
00:43:32,028 --> 00:43:37,617
[laughs]

931
00:43:37,700 --> 00:43:38,743
[man] That's funny.

932
00:43:38,826 --> 00:43:39,786
Ah...

933
00:43:39,869 --> 00:43:41,079
[man] That's good.
-Ah.

934
00:43:42,163 --> 00:43:45,500
[McFadden] And with that,
for the first time in 18 years,

935
00:43:45,583 --> 00:43:48,586
there would be no new Star Trek episodes.

936
00:43:48,669 --> 00:43:51,839
So it's like, "Okay, let's take a break."

937
00:43:51,923 --> 00:43:54,717
And now, ten years, ten years later...

938
00:43:56,260 --> 00:43:58,346
[McFadden]
It all started again.

939
00:43:58,429 --> 00:44:01,724
And actors once again
began looking for work.

940
00:44:01,808 --> 00:44:03,518
When I heard
they were doing a new Star Trek

941
00:44:03,601 --> 00:44:06,187
and Star Trek: Discovery ,
I just begged my agent.

942
00:44:06,270 --> 00:44:08,606
I just said,
"I would love to meet the producers.

943
00:44:08,689 --> 00:44:10,608
I'd love to see if there's
anything that I might be right for."

944
00:44:10,691 --> 00:44:13,069
I say bring it on.

945
00:44:13,152 --> 00:44:15,113
And they said,
"How about Harry Mudd?

946
00:44:15,196 --> 00:44:18,032
It's a couple of episodes,
might recur more."

947
00:44:18,116 --> 00:44:20,743
And I was like, "Yes!"

948
00:44:20,827 --> 00:44:25,873
It was one of those great actor moments
of like, "Oh, this is delicious!"

949
00:44:25,957 --> 00:44:27,667
And I will have my revenge.

950
00:44:29,460 --> 00:44:31,921
Also, I'm gonna kill you
as many times as possible.

951
00:44:32,004 --> 00:44:35,967
[McFadden] However, Rainn Wilson
was in an unusual position,

952
00:44:36,050 --> 00:44:38,511
along with some other
new Star Trek actors,

953
00:44:38,594 --> 00:44:43,558
in that he was playing a role that already
had a long history with the series.

954
00:44:43,641 --> 00:44:45,476
I don't believe it.

955
00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,604
I went back and watched
the original Mudd episodes

956
00:44:48,688 --> 00:44:51,149
and saw what he was doing.

957
00:44:51,232 --> 00:44:53,860
You should refer to me
as Mudd the First.

958
00:44:53,943 --> 00:44:56,571
It was very similar to playing
Dwight on The Office,

959
00:44:56,654 --> 00:45:00,533
where I was inheriting a role
from a previous actor.

960
00:45:00,616 --> 00:45:06,372
So that's a great place to be in 'cause
you get to steal what they do really well

961
00:45:06,456 --> 00:45:08,833
and then you get to add your own mojo.

962
00:45:08,916 --> 00:45:12,378
[McFadden] In recent years,
mojo is flying everywhere.

963
00:45:12,462 --> 00:45:17,175
J.J. Abrams' three Star Trek films
made big bucks at the box office

964
00:45:17,258 --> 00:45:20,595
by recasting characters
from the original series.

965
00:45:20,678 --> 00:45:24,265
It's not easy for all those actors
to step into those roles. Not easy.

966
00:45:25,224 --> 00:45:27,935
Treacherous. It's a treacherous step.

967
00:45:28,019 --> 00:45:30,771
Very flattering to me
that the character is strong enough

968
00:45:30,855 --> 00:45:33,107
to be carried on
by somebody else successfully.

969
00:45:33,191 --> 00:45:35,234
I think it's great,
and he's a very good actor,

970
00:45:35,318 --> 00:45:38,404
very intelligent actor,
so I'm very happy about it.

971
00:45:39,447 --> 00:45:41,032
Oh, I think she's marvelous.

972
00:45:41,115 --> 00:45:44,452
She told me,
"I was so nervous when I got this role."

973
00:45:44,535 --> 00:45:46,621
And I said, "Why? You're so good."

974
00:45:46,704 --> 00:45:51,000
And she said,
"I thought you would hate me."

975
00:45:52,251 --> 00:45:54,754
And I said, "I do,
you're just too damn good."

976
00:45:54,837 --> 00:45:56,422
You know, so... [laughs]

977
00:45:56,506 --> 00:45:59,926
[McFadden] We even saw a reprise
of Star Trek 's greatest villain.

978
00:46:00,009 --> 00:46:01,427
Khan!

979
00:46:01,511 --> 00:46:04,180
[McFadden]
As we know, originally played by...

980
00:46:04,263 --> 00:46:05,097
Ricardo Montalban.

981
00:46:05,181 --> 00:46:06,098
[laughs]

982
00:46:06,182 --> 00:46:10,478
[McFadden] ...both in the '60s and '80s,
but in 2013's Into Darkness...

983
00:46:10,561 --> 00:46:11,979
You exploit my savagery.

984
00:46:12,063 --> 00:46:14,232
[McFadden]
...Benedict Cumberbatch took on the role.

985
00:46:14,315 --> 00:46:15,816
Shall we begin?

986
00:46:15,900 --> 00:46:17,818
[McFadden] And even though
his pecs were nowhere to be seen,

987
00:46:17,902 --> 00:46:20,863
his acting muscles were on full display.

988
00:46:20,947 --> 00:46:24,492
My name is Khan.

989
00:46:24,575 --> 00:46:27,870
Here's the English accent.
They told me I can't have one.

990
00:46:27,954 --> 00:46:28,788
Look at him!

991
00:46:28,871 --> 00:46:30,998
[McFadden]
Well, whether you like it or not,

992
00:46:31,082 --> 00:46:34,544
there is a place where
every Star Trek actor can go

993
00:46:34,627 --> 00:46:38,798
and be praised for their part
in a TV show like no other.

994
00:46:38,881 --> 00:46:42,051
For an actor, Star Trek is the gift
that keeps on giving.

995
00:46:43,427 --> 00:46:48,307
After you've done your Star Trek episodes,
you can do conventions.

996
00:46:48,391 --> 00:46:53,020
[McFadden] And as unique as they are,
Star Trek conventions are not a new thing.

997
00:46:53,104 --> 00:46:57,775
We did a convention
almost immediately that the show was over.

998
00:46:57,858 --> 00:47:00,278
[McFadden]
And they are still here in some kind of...

999
00:47:00,361 --> 00:47:01,195
Well...

1000
00:47:01,279 --> 00:47:02,280
What's the word I'm looking for?

1001
00:47:02,363 --> 00:47:05,116
I mean, it just generates
again and again and again.

1002
00:47:05,199 --> 00:47:07,994
The best fans in the whole world...

1003
00:47:08,077 --> 00:47:09,662
...are Star Trek fans.

1004
00:47:09,745 --> 00:47:13,541
[McFadden]
And Star Trek fans live for Star Trek.

1005
00:47:13,624 --> 00:47:16,419
You suddenly realize

1006
00:47:16,502 --> 00:47:20,131
how much they give a damn.

1007
00:47:20,214 --> 00:47:22,758
[McFadden] But in some cases,
Star Trek actors live

1008
00:47:22,842 --> 00:47:25,177
because of Star Trek fans
and the conventions.

1009
00:47:25,261 --> 00:47:28,139
It's still a huge part of my life,

1010
00:47:28,222 --> 00:47:30,099
and a big part of that is the fandom

1011
00:47:30,182 --> 00:47:33,394
and going all over the world
doing conventions.

1012
00:47:33,477 --> 00:47:37,440
That's a whole new world
that's opened up for me, uh,

1013
00:47:37,523 --> 00:47:40,192
signing Harry Mudd photos now.

1014
00:47:40,276 --> 00:47:41,485
-[camera shutter clicks]
-Ugh.

1015
00:47:41,569 --> 00:47:44,614
I have signed so much in this world.

1016
00:47:44,697 --> 00:47:47,491
I mean, you know, and the fact
that anybody wants

1017
00:47:47,575 --> 00:47:50,286
another of my signatures,
I just can't believe it.

1018
00:47:50,369 --> 00:47:51,621
[camera shutter clicking]

1019
00:47:51,704 --> 00:47:55,499
Nobody really recognizes me
unless I do this. [laughs]

1020
00:47:55,583 --> 00:47:57,043
[camera shutter clicking]

1021
00:47:57,126 --> 00:48:00,671
My situation is always
people come up to the table

1022
00:48:00,755 --> 00:48:03,883
and they look at the pictures
and then they look at me

1023
00:48:03,966 --> 00:48:06,302
and then they look at the pictures
and then they look at me.

1024
00:48:06,385 --> 00:48:10,222
So I sit there kind of dealing
in that sort of uncomfortable stew.

1025
00:48:10,306 --> 00:48:12,350
Actor ego stuff, I guess.
I don't know.

1026
00:48:12,433 --> 00:48:13,851
[McFadden]
Aw. Cheer up, guys.

1027
00:48:13,934 --> 00:48:16,062
It was depressing at first.

1028
00:48:16,145 --> 00:48:19,231
But they really want to meet you.

1029
00:48:19,315 --> 00:48:20,858
And it's...

1030
00:48:20,941 --> 00:48:23,694
for some of them,
the high point of their life.

1031
00:48:23,778 --> 00:48:26,614
It's not difficult to make somebody's day
when you're in this position.

1032
00:48:26,697 --> 00:48:29,784
It's really nice and it's nice
to be able to make somebody smile.

1033
00:48:29,867 --> 00:48:32,620
[McFadden]
Not everyone's approach is so altruistic.

1034
00:48:32,703 --> 00:48:36,415
I mean, the minute you walk in that hotel,
you're Brad Pitt, mate,

1035
00:48:36,499 --> 00:48:37,875
and they all want a piece of you.

1036
00:48:37,958 --> 00:48:41,629
If you're not careful, you can wind up
thinking you're Jesus Christ.

1037
00:48:41,712 --> 00:48:44,882
[chorus sings]

1038
00:48:44,965 --> 00:48:47,259
It was maybe too enjoyable.

1039
00:48:47,343 --> 00:48:50,096
I'm going to have
to remind myself every day...

1040
00:48:52,223 --> 00:48:54,433
...that we didn't come out here
to play God.

1041
00:48:54,517 --> 00:48:56,727
God, I remember my first convention.

1042
00:48:56,811 --> 00:49:01,399
Pushed open the bathroom door
and there's two Klingons standing there.

1043
00:49:01,482 --> 00:49:02,817
[laughs]

1044
00:49:02,900 --> 00:49:07,279
And when they saw Malcolm Reed walking in,
they were like... [imitates Klingon]

1045
00:49:07,363 --> 00:49:09,657
And I'm like, "All right, lads."

1046
00:49:09,740 --> 00:49:11,701
So I nip around the corner for a pee.

1047
00:49:11,784 --> 00:49:14,662
I can hear them whispering.

1048
00:49:14,745 --> 00:49:17,957
Presumably about me.

1049
00:49:19,083 --> 00:49:19,917
Well, that's obvious, sir.

1050
00:49:20,000 --> 00:49:22,378
Because it was in Klingon.

1051
00:49:22,461 --> 00:49:23,504
[laughs]

1052
00:49:23,587 --> 00:49:25,673
[imitates Klingon]

1053
00:49:25,756 --> 00:49:29,301
Well, as far as the perks of the show, um,

1054
00:49:29,385 --> 00:49:31,762
some of them I won't go into
because I'm married now.

1055
00:49:31,846 --> 00:49:33,848
No, I'm not talking about groupies. Um...

1056
00:49:33,931 --> 00:49:35,266
[man] They exist?

1057
00:49:35,349 --> 00:49:38,811
Sort of. I mean, yeah,
I won't say they don't exist.

1058
00:49:38,894 --> 00:49:41,063
Well, you know, when I was single, um...

1059
00:49:42,106 --> 00:49:43,482
Yes, you could find, uh...

1060
00:49:43,566 --> 00:49:47,027
You could have a nice, charming evening.

1061
00:49:47,111 --> 00:49:49,238
I can see the attraction.

1062
00:49:49,321 --> 00:49:50,906
Some women find those necks sexy.

1063
00:49:52,450 --> 00:49:53,492
-[laughs]
-[man] That's awesome.

1064
00:49:58,956 --> 00:50:01,500
[McFadden]
For all that Star Trek brought us,

1065
00:50:01,584 --> 00:50:04,628
the laughs, the tears, the pointy ears,

1066
00:50:04,712 --> 00:50:08,924
there's one thing that all of us
lucky enough to have been part of it

1067
00:50:09,008 --> 00:50:10,718
are the most proud of.

1068
00:50:10,801 --> 00:50:14,013
I was pleased with the fact
that we were dealing with issues

1069
00:50:14,096 --> 00:50:17,975
that had a socio-political reference
and relevance.

1070
00:50:18,058 --> 00:50:19,852
[Nichelle Nichols]
Gene set it all up, he did it,

1071
00:50:19,935 --> 00:50:21,729
and this is what we're going to do.

1072
00:50:21,812 --> 00:50:24,899
And you've got the script
and you read the script and you go...

1073
00:50:24,982 --> 00:50:27,485
We'll start to live the way
the Führer meant us to live.

1074
00:50:27,568 --> 00:50:31,322
"Is he kidding?
They'll never let him get away with it."

1075
00:50:31,405 --> 00:50:32,823
[Michael Dorn]
There was an episode where the guy

1076
00:50:32,907 --> 00:50:34,241
was black on one side
and white on the other.

1077
00:50:34,325 --> 00:50:38,245
I mean, I mean,
you'd have to be an idiot not to get that.

1078
00:50:38,329 --> 00:50:40,790
[D.C. Fontana] We were one
of the few shows that could approach

1079
00:50:40,873 --> 00:50:44,084
the question of the Vietnam War
'cause nobody else could.

1080
00:50:44,168 --> 00:50:46,587
There's nothing good in war
except its ending.

1081
00:50:46,670 --> 00:50:51,717
We could call it something else
and still have it be about the war.

1082
00:50:51,801 --> 00:50:53,469
And nobody ever said a word to us.

1083
00:50:53,552 --> 00:50:54,386
Spock.

1084
00:50:54,470 --> 00:50:57,264
[Rick Worthy] There was so much happening
racially and politically in the world.

1085
00:50:57,348 --> 00:51:00,935
And then you turn on your TV
and then there's this white fellow

1086
00:51:01,018 --> 00:51:03,813
and this lovely Black woman
and they have a kiss.

1087
00:51:03,896 --> 00:51:05,606
[McFadden]
But not just any kiss.

1088
00:51:05,689 --> 00:51:11,028
This was the very first interracial kiss
on television, so it was a big deal.

1089
00:51:11,111 --> 00:51:13,239
It wasn't a big deal to me.

1090
00:51:13,322 --> 00:51:14,323
[laughs]

1091
00:51:14,406 --> 00:51:15,491
Jesus!

1092
00:51:15,574 --> 00:51:16,659
Let's get on with it.

1093
00:51:16,742 --> 00:51:19,787
-[man] Did Shatner wanna do it?
-Oh, yeah. Are you kidding?

1094
00:51:19,870 --> 00:51:22,665
[cheers and applause]

1095
00:51:23,749 --> 00:51:24,625
Genius.

1096
00:51:24,708 --> 00:51:30,005
That's why, for me,
Star Trek has endured for 55 years

1097
00:51:30,089 --> 00:51:34,593
because everybody got the message
that we are the same.

1098
00:51:34,677 --> 00:51:39,473
It doesn't matter whether we're Black,
white, Hispanic, green, blue,

1099
00:51:39,557 --> 00:51:42,560
half-Black, half-white,
we're all the same.

1100
00:51:42,643 --> 00:51:45,187
[Brannon Braga]
Gene's vision, he was very clear.

1101
00:51:45,271 --> 00:51:49,692
The humans of the 24th century
didn't have war, disease,

1102
00:51:49,775 --> 00:51:52,236
poverty, hunger.

1103
00:51:52,319 --> 00:51:53,571
Gone.

1104
00:51:53,654 --> 00:51:55,823
Religion too for that matter.

1105
00:51:55,906 --> 00:51:57,950
A secular, enlightened society.

1106
00:51:59,076 --> 00:52:04,540
For us in this country, it's sort of
the idealization of American values

1107
00:52:04,623 --> 00:52:06,917
and, you know, how we see ourselves.

1108
00:52:07,001 --> 00:52:11,088
People of color
and how people all over the world

1109
00:52:11,171 --> 00:52:13,924
can see themselves in the future

1110
00:52:14,008 --> 00:52:18,429
with important parts
and important jobs in life,

1111
00:52:18,512 --> 00:52:21,932
and everybody's represented.

1112
00:52:22,016 --> 00:52:27,229
It's not just a fun TV show
and it's not just a good TV show,

1113
00:52:27,313 --> 00:52:28,480
it's just...

1114
00:52:28,564 --> 00:52:29,982
It's special.

1115
00:52:31,025 --> 00:52:33,694
Gene Roddenberry was just amazing.

1116
00:52:34,945 --> 00:52:37,698
And I never forgave him for dying.

1117
00:52:37,781 --> 00:52:42,828
It was like someone you depend on

1118
00:52:42,912 --> 00:52:47,541
to keep bringing
the beauty of the world to be.

1119
00:52:49,293 --> 00:52:50,294
Mm.

1120
00:52:53,255 --> 00:52:56,425
Well, I really think that's,
in large part,

1121
00:52:56,508 --> 00:52:59,720
what the success of Star Trek
as a franchise is.

1122
00:52:59,803 --> 00:53:01,430
Saving the galaxy.

1123
00:53:01,513 --> 00:53:03,933
It's because
it's an optimistic view of the future,

1124
00:53:04,016 --> 00:53:06,060
and I think that's what
people want to grab onto.

1125
00:53:06,143 --> 00:53:07,227
I think that we need that.

1126
00:53:08,354 --> 00:53:14,151
As long as we as a species have something
to learn, Star Trek will be relevant.

1127
00:53:14,234 --> 00:53:20,032
To have created in this culture
something that is as iconic

1128
00:53:20,115 --> 00:53:22,618
as the show,
that lasts as long as the show,

1129
00:53:22,701 --> 00:53:24,662
that involves as many people as it has,

1130
00:53:24,745 --> 00:53:26,246
is quite extraordinary.

1131
00:53:26,330 --> 00:53:32,044
So it's a testament to the adventure
that Roddenberry wanted to create.

1132
00:53:32,127 --> 00:53:36,632
Star Trek reflects
in its various characters

1133
00:53:36,715 --> 00:53:39,093
different portions of the human condition.

1134
00:53:39,176 --> 00:53:42,054
[McFadden] And it's the actors
who brought those characters to life

1135
00:53:42,137 --> 00:53:44,306
that we need to thank most of all.

1136
00:53:44,390 --> 00:53:47,101
You are sort of part of a legacy,

1137
00:53:47,184 --> 00:53:53,148
and there are legions of people
that have been on the road

1138
00:53:53,232 --> 00:53:55,567
and the journey before you.

1139
00:53:55,651 --> 00:53:58,862
Most people are pretty proud
to be in Star Trek.

1140
00:53:59,863 --> 00:54:03,117
You know, of any other show in the world
that you could have gotten on,

1141
00:54:03,200 --> 00:54:05,369
a pretty cool one to have gotten on.

1142
00:54:05,452 --> 00:54:09,331
It was awesome, you know,
to be a part of something that is iconic.

1143
00:54:09,415 --> 00:54:13,460
I was a Star Trek fan who was
in a Star Trek series as a series regular.

1144
00:54:13,544 --> 00:54:16,005
I had won the lottery.

1145
00:54:17,464 --> 00:54:20,509
[Robinson] Being a part Star Trek ,
I'm not exaggerating here,

1146
00:54:20,592 --> 00:54:22,011
it really did change my life.

1147
00:54:22,094 --> 00:54:23,345
It opened up.

1148
00:54:23,429 --> 00:54:27,016
I thought
what was going to be one episode

1149
00:54:27,099 --> 00:54:29,476
ended up being literally a life,

1150
00:54:29,560 --> 00:54:32,062
certainly a career-changing experience.

1151
00:54:32,146 --> 00:54:34,023
[McFadden]
I've been so fortunate.

1152
00:54:34,106 --> 00:54:37,985
The whole energy of the show,
the cast, the fans,

1153
00:54:38,068 --> 00:54:40,571
actually, I should be so lucky.

1154
00:54:40,654 --> 00:54:43,323
That's kind of trite and sentimental,
but whatever.

1155
00:54:43,407 --> 00:54:44,825
[man] No, it's good.
No, it's the way you feel.

1156
00:54:44,908 --> 00:54:49,580
And I love everybody. And you know,
I love Dr. Crusher.

1157
00:54:49,663 --> 00:54:54,376
My experience on Star Trek
is it would be hugely ungrateful of me

1158
00:54:54,460 --> 00:54:57,713
to have any kind
of negative thoughts about it at all.

1159
00:54:57,796 --> 00:55:00,799
It's been a great blessing.

1160
00:55:02,176 --> 00:55:05,679
I mean, I got a picture of me
with a ray gun, for God's sake, you know.

1161
00:55:05,763 --> 00:55:06,889
[Keating]
Those years changed my life.

1162
00:55:06,972 --> 00:55:10,601
They continue to, you know,
define my life in many ways.

1163
00:55:10,684 --> 00:55:14,980
Seven of Nine was a gift as an actor.
She really was.

1164
00:55:15,064 --> 00:55:16,273
In every way, this character was.

1165
00:55:16,356 --> 00:55:18,442
This gave me a career.

1166
00:55:18,525 --> 00:55:20,110
And you couldn't...

1167
00:55:20,194 --> 00:55:22,237
I couldn't have asked
for a richer role to play.

1168
00:55:22,321 --> 00:55:27,284
Star Trek is the most important thing
I've done in my career.

1169
00:55:28,368 --> 00:55:33,248
The best, best part of having
been part of the Star Trek experience

1170
00:55:33,332 --> 00:55:34,958
are the people I've gotten to know.

1171
00:55:35,042 --> 00:55:41,006
It was a gift to be able to be with
those people all those hours every day.

1172
00:55:41,090 --> 00:55:42,966
We laughed all the time.

1173
00:55:43,050 --> 00:55:47,012
We're still, to a person,
really close friends

1174
00:55:47,096 --> 00:55:49,139
all these years later.

1175
00:55:49,223 --> 00:55:50,057
They're family.

1176
00:55:50,140 --> 00:55:56,146
And that was really
the greatest gift of all.

1177
00:55:56,230 --> 00:55:59,316
I'm really proud
that I got to participate

1178
00:55:59,399 --> 00:56:03,153
because, you know, you don't get
to say that with a lot of stuff.

1179
00:56:03,237 --> 00:56:06,406
This is one thing that, you know,

1180
00:56:06,490 --> 00:56:10,911
I always am lit when I think...

1181
00:56:10,994 --> 00:56:13,497
No, that didn't sound right. Hmm...

1182
00:56:13,580 --> 00:56:16,166
I always light up. [laughs]

1183
00:56:16,250 --> 00:56:19,628
[McFadden] To be an actor
in the Star Trek legacy is an honor,

1184
00:56:19,711 --> 00:56:23,257
and as one
of the 8,000-and-counting actors

1185
00:56:23,340 --> 00:56:26,009
who've become part of sci-fi lore,

1186
00:56:26,093 --> 00:56:28,720
there's one truth that can't be ignored.

1187
00:56:28,804 --> 00:56:33,350
[Armin Shimerman]
I wonder sometimes whether playing Quark

1188
00:56:33,433 --> 00:56:36,478
was a detraction from my career.

1189
00:56:36,562 --> 00:56:41,483
Because Star Trek ,
although very popular around the world,

1190
00:56:41,567 --> 00:56:44,027
it's not very popular in Hollywood,

1191
00:56:44,111 --> 00:56:49,616
that it is a lesser franchise
in most producers',

1192
00:56:49,700 --> 00:56:52,703
studio heads' minds.

1193
00:56:53,954 --> 00:56:57,708
The list of actors or actresses
who have won awards

1194
00:56:57,791 --> 00:57:02,754
like Emmys or Oscars
from working in a science-fiction project

1195
00:57:02,838 --> 00:57:06,049
is a very short list, very short list.

1196
00:57:06,133 --> 00:57:11,096
It is simply not recognized
by members of the Academy

1197
00:57:11,180 --> 00:57:16,768
as a level of work that calls for honors,

1198
00:57:16,852 --> 00:57:18,854
calls for being honored that way.

1199
00:57:18,937 --> 00:57:22,232
Technical honors, yes,

1200
00:57:22,316 --> 00:57:25,027
wonderful special effects,
wonderful sets, wonderful music,

1201
00:57:25,110 --> 00:57:27,446
and so forth,
but not for the actors.

1202
00:57:27,529 --> 00:57:29,531
Actors who work
in science fiction,

1203
00:57:29,615 --> 00:57:31,950
particularly then in those years,

1204
00:57:32,034 --> 00:57:34,828
are seen to be working
in a kind of a subgenre,

1205
00:57:34,912 --> 00:57:36,830
that it's something less than wonderful,

1206
00:57:36,914 --> 00:57:40,626
something less
than qualifies for honors,

1207
00:57:40,709 --> 00:57:42,544
and that's why actors avoided it.

1208
00:57:42,628 --> 00:57:46,965
I found a level of comfort doing it.

1209
00:57:47,049 --> 00:57:50,719
[McFadden] The great Leonard Nimoy
passed away in 2015.

1210
00:57:50,802 --> 00:57:53,722
I shall simply say... good luck.

1211
00:57:53,805 --> 00:57:57,184
[McFadden]
Having won neither an Emmy nor an Oscar.

1212
00:57:58,185 --> 00:58:03,273
And joining a list of acting legends
who will live forever on our TVs,

1213
00:58:03,357 --> 00:58:05,817
whenever we need them,

1214
00:58:05,901 --> 00:58:10,530
knowing they were part
of the most wonderful, celebrated,

1215
00:58:10,614 --> 00:58:14,493
long-running,
and important TV shows ever made.

1216
00:58:14,576 --> 00:58:16,620
You see, I'm an actor.

1217
00:58:16,703 --> 00:58:18,914
[McFadden] But for those of us
who love Star Trek,

1218
00:58:18,997 --> 00:58:24,670
in whichever series or timeline,
we owe Star Trek's original actor,

1219
00:58:24,753 --> 00:58:26,755
and all those who came after him,

1220
00:58:26,838 --> 00:58:27,965
a lot.

1221
00:58:28,048 --> 00:58:30,509
What I wanted to do
was make a living as an actor,

1222
00:58:30,592 --> 00:58:33,387
and I probably would have been happy
in a stock company somewhere in Kansas,

1223
00:58:33,470 --> 00:58:36,682
doing plays week after week,
playing different characters.

1224
00:58:38,183 --> 00:58:44,189
Instead, I was given a role that
took me on a wonderful, wonderful journey.

1225
00:58:45,816 --> 00:58:50,279
[McFadden] From Roddenberry's vision
to the writers who gave it life,

1226
00:58:50,362 --> 00:58:55,117
to the wizards who brought
this utopian world onto our TV sets...

1227
00:58:55,200 --> 00:59:01,039
The reruns now plays every day,
and in a way I have reached immortality

1228
00:59:01,123 --> 00:59:03,292
for at least another 50 years, maybe.

1229
00:59:03,375 --> 00:59:08,672
[McFadden] ...to the original actors
who showed up on set and made history.

1230
00:59:08,755 --> 00:59:11,591
And we really never knew what
was going to be in the future,

1231
00:59:11,675 --> 00:59:13,135
whether we had a future,

1232
00:59:13,218 --> 00:59:17,055
but this has been such
a momentous circumstance in my life.

1233
00:59:17,139 --> 00:59:21,226
It was really, uh, profoundly wonderful.

1234
00:59:21,310 --> 00:59:23,854
I'm Star Trek and Star Trek is me.

1235
00:59:26,315 --> 00:59:27,524
Couldn't ask for more.

1236
00:59:28,608 --> 00:59:31,194
[man] I imagine you wouldn't trade
your career for any other.

1237
00:59:31,278 --> 00:59:33,447
No, thank you.
No, thank you.

1238
00:59:33,530 --> 00:59:35,449
I'm a very, very lucky guy.

1239
00:59:40,454 --> 00:59:42,539
[theme music playing]