Original subtitles

[Psychedelic music playing]

[Shatner] Space, the final frontier.

[Gates] For well over 50 years,

a fearless crew of pioneers have faced the unknown...

- Out there. - On an endless quest

looking for stars.

Thataway.

But not up there in space.

More, that direction.

Down here in sectors 001,

otherwise known as Hollywood.

Where you'll find every species in the galaxy.

You see, I'm an actor.

Every actor in town worked on those shows.

And this is the story, not of the captains...

Hi captain.

Or the ships they commanded,

- but of the first officers... - Fire.

Crew...

It was a great part to get to play.

The occasional doctor...

That's odd.

Actually, that's me.

And of course, there were many, many aliens.

[Screaming]

From the original series.

[Indistinct] [Laughing]

To the movies and every TV series since.

Engage.

Yes.

It was one of those great actor moments.

It was horrifying.

"Star Trek" means so much to so many.

You Brad Pitt me

and they all want a piece of you.

You get trekkies from birth to death.

And be at the big bucks, or sag minimum.

The co-workers were a pain in the ass.

It's the actors who bring "Star Trek" to life.

I fake for a living. That's what I do.

[Squawking]

From the series regulars...

I was hired to play this character on the pilot,

and that was it.

Big parts, guest spots...

Guest stars.

And I played rain Robinson in "Star Trek voyager" in 1997.

[Clapper board clicks]

So, beam aboard and hold on tight,

as we boldly meet the actors of "Star Trek."

And you can see it all from here in "the center seat."

During star date 1950s

mankind had long been looking up at the stars.

[Screaming]

And quickly backed down again toward movie screens...

That is correct, sir.

Fascinated by an unknown fictional universe,

out of reach from science,

but well within the grasp of our imaginations.

We have come to visit you in peace and with goodwill.

So, for a young actor back then,

making it big sometimes meant shooting for the stars.

I can't get it. It's jammed.

I was always interested in science fiction

and I had worked in science fiction

all the way back to 1950

when I, when I acted in a wonderful project,

which I thought was gonna send me into stardom.

Almost, falling a little short of stardom.

I thought, "this is it. I made it."

Leonard nimoy landed in the stratosphere,

starring in...

"Zombies of the stratosphere."

How about the others?

I think they're all dead.

And his career might well have suffered the same fate.

Didn't quite work out.

[Laughing]

[Ship rumbling and exploding]

Instead of plummeting through the stratosphere

and back to earth, with a thud,

Leonard nimoy was destined for far greater heights,

but not for 12 more years.

This fledgling Sci-Fi icon

cut his teeth on Hollywood's most prolific TV series...

- How old are you? - Eighteen.

- What's your name? - Julius carver.

In the 50s and 60s.

I was, I was working pretty good at the time.

My career was, was moving along nicely.

So when an ex world war two fighter pilot

turned airline pilot

turned LAPD officer named gene roddenberry

turned his hand to scriptwriting,

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

He is going to produce a pilot,

you might be cast in it, it might be sold,

and it might go on the air.

You know, it was all those maybes.

And if it was going to happen, they'd probably need a...

- Captain. - Yes, sir.

Shatner, I think the one big film that he got

was "judgment at nuremberg"

and everything, his career pointed right to him

becoming, you know, the next movie star.

Okay, judge.

I would have kept him away from television

if I were his agent.

But as it turns out,

look at his long, long, long career...

And warp factor 1.

Kirk was my childhood hero.

He made me want to be that man,

he made me want to act like that.

He, he was smart, he was courageous,

he had all these women.

And shatner just embodies that.

And there's just a magnetism to him and his portrayal

that I think is really key to the success of the show.

But they could not do it alone.

Regarding the casting, the easiest place to go

was people that we were both familiar with,

that we had both used in "the lieutenant."

My first television thing I did,

[yelling]

The producer director was gene roddenberry.

I was just like, "hey, let's go."

And boldly go they did.

It was an interracial show

of equal people doing equal things.

Transmission has been cut out.

I was the first African-American actress

in a, in a leading role on television.

But in Hollywood

opportunities to play an iconic character like this

are few and far between.

So, it's the luck of the draw for freelance actors.

You never know what's coming down the pike.

This business is so extraordinary

in terms of the serendipity, in terms of the coincidence.

I know this saying. It was invented in Russia.

Three years before "Star Trek"

I was brought in to read for a role of a Russian student

who was defecting.

It was a show called "Mr. Novak."

"You, Americans, live in a world of dreams."

I remember that was the one of the lines.

Three years later, I get a call for "Star Trek."

It makes me homesick.

Just like Russia.

More like the garden of Eden, ensign.

Of course, doctor.

The garden of Eden was just outside Moscow.

Now, he looked like a beetle, but that was okay.

Be it the original series or today, actors need gigs.

And "Star Trek" had plenty.

As an agent, I thought

that "Star Trek" was a great starting point

for a lot of people

and often it would be their first television job.

I always thought that I would come to la

and be on a great cop show like "NYPD blue."

But then I started booking "Star Trek."

That was my first gig.

The same was true for Sarah silverman.

You know, I was taking it really seriously

and I took a... I went to an acting coach.

Go back down the hall, take a left at Mars,

right at halley's comet.

I got to say really serious lines like...

What the hell?

And, "say hello to saturn for me."

Not just the shows. Movies too.

"Star Trek" was my first job as an actor.

What?

In was the most integral part of my career,

because it not only put my foot in the door,

it shoved me through the door.

Thank you, sir.

It was "Star Trek."

Once you get in, you never get out.

I was so happy to have a job.

It's a very unstable industry and when you get on a show,

you never know if it's gonna go.

"Star Trek" is a very unique animal in that way.

Because this is like the one rare occurrence

where you know

that if you're signing a seven-year contract,

you're probably going seven years.

Holy cow!

I don't know if I'm going to be alive in seven years.

It's a nice income coming in for seven years,

and that's what I wanted to do at that time in my career.

Suddenly I'm looking at these houses

that I've passed every day for years and years

and going, "I'll get one of those."

Always the optimist.

Mercedes came down the road.

"Might drive one of those."

But before you can live long in a prosperous fashion,

you need to get cast,

and the gatekeeper in the "Star Trek" universe

well, no, it wasn't gene roddenberry.

It's this guy.

I was casting director on "Star Trek" for 15 years

throughout most of the four different TV series

and three movies.

"The next generation," "deep space nine,"

"voyager," "enterprise," "generations,"

"first contact" and "insurrection."

My job was to cast every speaking role

in each episode.

We would probably see 10 to 15 actors for each roll.

And sometimes that didn't work.

And so the next day we'd see another five to ten.

And once in a while, you'd see another five to ten.

No small feat,

when you consider how many roles he had to fill.

And every year

there were four, 500 actors cast on the shows.

But before you try to calculate just how many faces

Ron surma must have seen over those years...

[Scoffs]

he did cheat a little.

Once you kind of get in the door,

you're in that world, you're on the radar.

I've done more different characters

in the "Star Trek" franchise than any other actor.

In fact, somebody told me

it was in any episodic franchise in television.

That's right,

Vaughn Armstrong was clearly one of Ron surma's favorites,

portraying 12 different characters

in 27 episodes of four different series.

So he may have been Ron's favorite.

But he wasn't exactly his number one.

Make it so, number one.

The first thing I auditioned for was riker in that show,

and they had been maybe three times to read for him.

Didn't get him.

Nope, this guy did.

I'm here. [Laughing]

Jonathan frakes, portrayal of riker,

though some said a little stiff in the beginning.

And I am trying not to smile.

Soon became a relaxed and beloved member

of "the next generation" crew.

But perhaps even more beloved than the character himself...

Was riker's beard.

Beard is an ancient and proud tradition.

Hmm.

After the first season's over,

I had a scraggy beard, and roddenberry said,

"what I'll do is, is I'll shape it,

and then it will be decorative, we will make it part of riker."

My beard is not an affectation.

And the beard would never be cut off again.

The black version of what I'm still carrying.

Beard or otherwise,

"the next generation" was a phenomenal success.

It was a whole other thing. Our lives were changed.

So it's no wonder that getting an audition for "Star Trek"

could be the biggest moment of some actors careers.

Going into read for a part on a huge show like "Star Trek"

is nerve-racking.

Most of the time you go in and pre read

and there are a dozen girls in the room with...

You know, in the waiting room.

I was quite nervous.

Walk in the door,

and there are five or six other guys

that kind of look just like you.

And he's more famous and a bit better looking.

As I waited outside, this minivan pulled up

and the doors slid open

and out came this leg.

And in full seven of nine regalia

it was Jerry Ryan.

And I thought in that moment, "that's what they want."

I mean, "who am I kidding? I'm not gonna get this part."

Leaving all insecurities in the waiting room,

we actors stand

before a collection of producers,

directors and casting agents.

You would know in the first minute

if they had a chance of getting the part or not.

With not long to impress

some actors bent over backwards for the job.

At the very last minute,

I decided... There was a chair there.

So I got in the chair, I turned around upside down.

I threw my legs over and I did the audition upside down.

So I went in and I'm doing the audition like this,

you know, with a bit of an English accent,

you know, kind of cockney-ish.

One of the producers comes over to me

and says to me with a very stern face.

He goes, "there are no accents in "Star Trek."

You're not from this province are you?

And neither are you.

I feel like by the time I got to that audition,

I was just in a groove of auditioning and...

And whatever happens, it's up to them and god.

And I just left it there.

I went in very wide awake, fully prepared

and I cranked it up as far as I could

because I thought there's...

I'm not leaving anything on the table...

[Chuckles] When I walk out of here,

because I really wanted to, I really wanted to get it.

Don't worry. He did.

Yes, sir.

Sometimes it's a grind.

So I had a couple of auditions.

Which I think I came in four times.

It was another audition among many.

You're brought in for like six auditions.

I auditioned seven times over six weeks.

And now you want to try it again?

You have to make

an immediate impact in the room.

And sometimes you need a little luck.

I guess so.

I went in there.

Avery says, "you were the only person

that gave me a hug in the audition."

You know, you said, "dad," and you gave me a hug.

[Laughs]

And that was a smart move as the young cirroc.

And then sometimes you just have to wing it.

I had never seen the series.

So I went, "hi, I'm gates," you know,

"is there a part you want me to, to audition for?"

And they said, "well, there's three women's parts.

Just pick whichever one you want to do."

And I picked the one that I thought was the funniest.

And it was about the last funny scene

I ever saw for the character.

These aren't the remains of the ambassador.

But it's not just the main characters.

A big part of "Star Trek" is the supporting cast.

All that water.

When I went into read,

the producers would say, "no, we want him to be meaner."

[Groans]

I kept telling them, "I don't agree."

It's a shame.

I remember thinking in my mind,

"oh man, I'm either going to get this job

or I'm never going to work in this town again." [Laughs]

[Exploding]

Some of the best auditions you get, you'll, you'll ever do,

don't go anywhere,

and some of the ones you don't think twice about

suddenly the next thing you know...

[Speaking denobulan]

John billingsley,

who played Dr. Phlox on the series "enterprise"

between 2001 and 2005

made an interesting actor's choice

for his audition.

I punctuated the scenes with occasional squawks

I thought perhaps in moments of rapture,

joyous transport he would... [Squawks]

And I auditioned and they seemed to like it.

And they brought me back and I squawked,

and they brought me back again and I squawked,

and we had the first table read and I squawked

and all the time I'm thinking, "am I a bird, I don't know.

They're not making me look like a bird."

[Squawks]

I happened to be there

when he was going to shoot his first scene,

which was the scene he'd auditioned with.

And he went... [Squawking]

And you just heard this

and bear in mind, he's done this

through all the auditions that he's had.

[Squawks]

And you just heard this, "cut! Cut!

God...

Are you [bleep] me?" [Laughs]

Or as John himself remembers it?

"John, quit [bleep] around!"

Just so I knew I wasn't a bird.

There were so many guys that were really worthy enough

to have their own shows and their own "Star Trek" series

because they were that good.

If you didn't have a strong, interesting character

opposite to the crew, why do we care?

We always had to have something

that was interesting about them.

And that's something interesting

was more often than not, but they were aliens.

Initially, I was up for the role of odo.

I did audition for a part in... on "deep space nine,"

I guess the character was odo.

And neither of them got it.

How soon can you be ready?

René auberjonois did.

I'm ready now.

And then they called me back

and then they wanted to audition me for garik.

And I was... that pissed me off.

And I said, "no, I'm not coming in."

You couldn't even begin to fathom what I'm capable of.

And Irene, my wife told me, "don't be idiot," you know,

"we still have rent to pay. And what's the big deal?"

So I went in, and I'm really glad that I did.

I do appreciate making new friends whenever I can.

And once you do get cast,

you're hoping your character becomes a series regular.

And I called my agent, and the producer said,

"look, we want to see him for the part of a klingon."

[Bell dings]

"Because we're going to put a klingon on the bridge."

And I went, "huh, what a great idea."

I'm worf, son of mogh. I have come to help you escape.

Beginning as a guest starring role...

Do not approach me unannounced,

especially when I'm eating.

Worf became a series regular and an integral part

of "the next generation" crew.

[Roaring]

That is how the klingon lures a mate.

And it worked out so well for Michael dorn,

that he later became a series regular

on "deep space nine" as well.

Because when they call you... [Phone rings]

they want you

and it gives you a position of power...

Yes.

That we don't have as actors 99% of the time.

Every "Star Trek" actor has their story.

I have been a "Star Trek" fan as long as I can remember.

And often with a personal connection to the show.

When I was growing up,

and my brother and I watched the original.

And it really did speak to us

because it was dealing with a lot of great stuff

and a lot of wonderful actors and they took chances.

I'll tell you I had a boyfriend who was such a trekkie

that I was only allowed to call him during commercials.

Who's sorry now.

But I would watch the show

so that I could be in touch with him.

Before "ds nine," I actually was not a trekkie.

Um, my husband was.

I'm watching my husband watch a "Star Trek" movie,

because the excitement on his face

or the little boy in him,

where he's glued to the screen.

There's this visual, and it's exciting to watch.

One of the main reasons I loved it

is because I was in love with this guy named Bob.

And every week when the TV show was on,

I got to go to Bob's house

and make out with him on the sofa

without his mother objecting

while we were watching "Star Trek."

I actually grew up in the house behind William shatner.

So it seems like it was always meant to be

a part of my life on some level.

My godfather was on an episode called "Plato's stepchildren."

I am losing Patience, captain.

And then I kind of got a sense

of there's a continuation of history going on here

and I need to sort of honor that.

Movie star whoopi goldberg had her reasons too.

Before nichelle Nichols

we didn't exist anywhere in science fiction.

So I want to carry that female woman...

Of course, female woman... Crazy.

Carry that woman thing forward.

So some little girl looks up and sees me

and says, "oh!" [Laughs]

We add a few molecules off and poof, it's all gone. All of it.

Be it destiny or a lifelong dream.

As a matter of fact, in 1977 in high school,

my friends and I did

a reel to reel video of "Star Trek."

When the other kids wanted to play "star wars"

or "a team" or "knight rider,"

I was like, "can we play 'Star Trek'?

I want to be Mr. Spock."

Interesting.

With such a storied history,

you'd think actors would be clamoring

to board this world famous franchise.

I don't watch the show.

My actor friends would say

"yeah, I'm going to audition for "deep space nine."

What the hell is that?

Another one you know, "next generation."..

I was totally confused.

It is obvious that we are in a situation here

which needs resolving.

I didn't know anything about it. I just knew the role was great.

Because it was like a lot of lines.

And it was also about whales. And so I wanted the role.

I mean, it just clicked in and I became possessive

and went for it.

Your friend was messing up my tanks

and messing up my whales.

They like you very much,

but they are not the hell your whales.

Right.

It didn't know any of the references

like a transformer or what are they called

any of those things that were in like in the restaurant scene,

where I go, "what is that?"

And he pulls out his thing.

[Beeping]

What is it?

I thought I told you never to call me.

"Beam, beam me up." What is that?

What do I play here? What does it feel like?

And they looked at each other and went, "it tingles."

[Screaming]

[Screaming continues]

She is not the only one that came onto "Star Trek,"

totally ignorant. [Laughing]

Oh, no, there were others.

Yes, exhilarating, isn't it?

And if you'd asked me why they picked me

I have no idea.

Chris Lloyd, a terrific actor. He's like a chameleon.

What you want him to do, he'll do it for you.

So I really was not acquainted

with what a klingon was even.

Yeah. I saw pictures and I got the idea.

Give me Genesis!

First of all, I should probably watch the show once

before I sign away three years of my life to do it.

Yeah, I was clueless. I was clueless.

The only thing I thought when I got the job

was, "I'm Scotty. I'm the engineer."

I pretty much built this engine.

I had roommates

and every afternoon at four o'clock,

they would sit down and watch the original series reruns

and I would walk through the living room

just making fun of them like crazy.

Because I just thought

it looked like a bunch of guys in ski pajamas on a cheesy set.

And I just was totally not interested.

And of course, those guys got the last laugh on me.

Well, "Star Trek" was sort of like Batman for me.

And I sort of didn't get it when I was young.

Aside from always having had a crush on Spock.

There's no need

to be embarrassed about it, Mr. Spock.

It happens to the birds and the bees.

But birds and the bees are not vulcans, captain.

Spock's my guy.

Why don't you tell me I'm an attractive young lady.

[Loud kissing]

[Laughs]

I had no idea.

I really had no idea what the big deal was.

Don't you think that you could possibly be

just a little confused right now?

But I'm actually glad I didn't know anything,

because I kind of liked the quality I achieved.

Just feminine and curious.

It's a prison camp and worf comes to find...

Is it worf?

[Yells]

So with a cast of confused actors...

You know what you're saying?

Even if you knew who you were,

you might not know what you were.

I'm a klingon.

The trill is a fascinating race.

I am an El-aurian.

I got the phone call.

They're like, "yeah, so they want you to play a ferengi."

And I'm like, "what's a ferengi?"

Ferengi, as a species

would start in "next generation"

and I was fortunate enough to be one of the four actors

who played that original... Those original four ferengi.

We will accuse the "humahns" are preparing to ambush us.

Ah!

I had no idea what a cardassian was.

I could... you know,

if you told me it was a form of pastrami sandwich

I you know, I would have said

"oh, okay, I'm playing pastrami sandwich."

So how do you play an alien?

I'm still asking myself to this day,

"how do you play a vulcan?"

Is it burlesque? Do you go over the top of it?

Are they really weird, you know?

Do you do a voice?

Can you be funny?

All they really had to do was look in a mirror.

I don't have to play alien.

I am an alien.

Because no amount of acting talent

can turn this face... Into this one.

Such as the power of makeup...

- Makeup? - That's right.

Special effects, makeup.

I looked in the mirror and I thought,

"oh my god, this is extraordinary."

And I immediately got the character

and what to do with it.

You know... you're, you're a work of art.

You're, you're made into something.

You don't have to practically do anything.

It's all done.

It kind of makes the character.

You know, you look the way you imagined yourself looking.

It works.

And the man who made it work is Michael Westmore.

I was a makeup supervisor and designer

on "Star Trek," "next generation,"

"deep space nine,"

"voyager,"

"enterprise,"

for the movies.

Anything that "Star Trek" touched

over the 18 years I was there.

He was, he's a huge part of the success of our show.

Having won nine emmys and an academy award,

Michael Westmore was integral

to many actors' "Star Trek" experience.

I mean, Wes Moore did, did it all.

And I don't think there's anything he can't do

when it comes to makeup.

Every week he had come up with something.

Some alien race that nobody had ever seen before

and, and create magic and that's what he did.

But the real magic happens when there's a collaboration

between the makeup artists and the actor.

So I get this lovely role of qatai.

Go down to the Westmore habitat on Paramount.

And on the makeup shelf,

were a series of masks, faces and heads.

I look up and I see... The lion's face.

Slightly damaged.

"I love that."

And he went, "okay, let's try that."

And looked in the mirror

and I began immediately to resonate with the mask.

Now I'm here to tell you my word of honor,

you don't have to act after that.

While they're putting it on,

I'd be sitting there looking in the mirror

going, "well, why did this character evolve this way?

The cardassians have this big neck thing?"

And I'd look at that and think,

"man, these guys must have been really uptight

for some millennium

and it finally getting these things in their neck

just from straining

from how much they hate everybody,

you know, for so long."

But this wasn't a shortcut to finding your inner alien.

It was, it was horrifying.

So horrifying, in fact, that many actors said,

"no."

"I will not do it."

There were often times

where I would get an appointment for a client.

And they would refuse to go in

because they knew that it did involve makeup.

While "Star Trek" is known

for its imaginative special effects makeup...

[Groaning]

there can sometimes be a downside.

There were often times

where I would get an appointment for a client.

And they would refuse to go in

because they knew that it did involve makeup.

It took like two hours to get all the makeup on.

And also to get it off. [Laughs]

I had a 3:30 am call for a seven something set.

And I thought, "oh, I could never do this."

My call time in the makeup trailer

was 1 am.

And we all assembled on the set at 7 am

to begin work.

It's a lot to get used to.

Tell me about it.

There's a certain amount of sleep that you lose

that you're... You might as well be drunk.

And if that isn't tiring enough, there are other problems too.

So we had to make molds of my ears.

And I'm a little bit claustrophobic.

I just... There's something about it.

I'm very claustrophobic.

If you have claustrophobia problems,

think twice before taking a job on "Star Trek."

I think I had three calls prior to shooting

with prosthetics and with makeup.

And by this time, I was starting to get a little...

Starting to get a little nervous about what I was in for.

Well, perhaps with good reason.

The initial, uh, mold,

you're completely, um, isolated.

And the only way you can breathe,

the only way you can breathe is through two tiny straws

that are stuck up in your nostrils

which stick out of the plaster of Paris.

As it settles, you can feel it constricting your face.

And you can feel

that you're becoming dependent on these two straws.

It continued to dry and shrink

over the course of a 10 hour day.

And I can feel it pulling my skin tighter

and tighter and tighter as the day wore on.

And I started to go kind of nuts.

I'd wanted to claw it off my face.

I just thought, "I can't wait to get this stuff off of me.

It's absolutely miserable."

When they first put it onto me, I thought I was gonna die.

I'm claustrophobic

and so I had, I had a bit of a panic attack.

Anytime I put full makeup on,

I got horrible panic attacks from claustrophobia.

It's just awful.

And I was like... [Screams]

and they're putting the stuff on and i'm...

[Screams]

I'm just like going crazy.

And the one guy is standing next to me holding me,

you know, said, "it's okay, it's okay."

I still find gold in my, you know, various pores.

Even a great vulcan himself

raised an eyebrow when it came to makeup.

The process, makeup process, did not get easier.

It became more difficult actually.

Not only the ears, the eyebrows were very complicated, too.

Because I shaved the outer half of my own eyebrows

and Freddie put on hair by hair every day.

You know, two in the morning, I'm tearing my nose off.

But I've got... [Chuckles]

I've got marks from that first year or so

when I didn't want to take the 20 minutes.

So I learned very quickly to, to not...

Not quickly enough to avoid damage to my nose.

And if that wasn't enough skin off your nose,

there are even worse things to face.

People who didn't drink water would, would seize up

in the sense that they

would get harder and harder to keep lines in your head,

because you'd be dehydrated.

I remember we filmed a scene

and they said, "okay, that's perfect.

We're just gonna bump in a little bit closer

and we're gonna do it again."

And I said, "what are we doing?"

This exact same scene you've got

and I said, "oh, you're gonna have to give me the script."

I had no idea where we were, what we were doing.

And the one of the associate producers,

I think Steven Livingston stepped in and said,

"we got to get him out of that suit.

We got to get him out here. He's unraveling."

See, you're locked into this, this rubber mask.

At one point, they say, "what's going on there?"

There's something

and I have had a collection of sweat so bad,

it's pulled and push the latex out back here.

So they, they lanced it.

[Laughs]

And this...

Just wash of warm water goes down my back.

And it's just one of the joys of show business.

These dedicated actors

are either suffering for their art,

or talking out of their...

Butt.

But in Matt Malloy's case, both are true.

They show me the thing,

this foam thing that they mount on your head,

I said, "it looks like a baby's ass."

And they said, "oh, your original had been

a dip of a baby's ass."

[Baby crying]

[Speaking ferengi]

I mean, it really did look like a butt, you know.

I mean, a talking butt.

And doing scenes, I'm thinking, "how can I take this seriously?"

But yet, it was absolutely compelling.

The characters who were alien,

really looked like they could have occurred in nature.

I mean, you could be like, six inches from this guy,

and you couldn't tell.

The makeup department was phenomenal.

You could stand in the room

with other people in alien suits,

and not be able to recognize

if there was a human under there at all.

It just felt like being among aliens.

It was really funny at the craft service table.

That was part of why you watched "Star Trek."

It was like,

"who are they going to meet on this planet?

What kind of outlandish, you know, eccentric,

are they going to bump up against?"

He's right, "Star Trek" wouldn't be "Star Trek"

without the fascinating alien species

encountered every week.

And while audiences ate it up, for the actors...

I couldn't eat solid food

because it would really mess up the makeup a lot.

But the thing is that in craft service,

they had my favorite lay's potato chips.

Well, little did I know

that the grease on the potato chips

would break down the silicone on my fingers and my lips.

So by the end of the first day,

my fingers were like... [Laughs]

this

and my lips were like... And the makeup guy was like,

"what's going on with your lips?"

[Mumbling]

And I was like, "nothing."

Apart from crinkled chip lips, there's virtually no downside

to pigging out on whatever you want.

In the eight day shoot I lost...

I think it was 18 and a half pounds.

More than that it was, um...

Going to the bathroom was an issue.

Bathroom breaks didn't happen

unless we got almost completely undressed.

That was the, the only way that occurred.

And there were enough of us

that slowed things down every once in a while.

We had to kind of take a good 15, 20 minutes,

so everybody could get undone.

They could head out and back in,

get hooked back up again

and go back to work. [Laughing]

Well, I had a bathroom buddy...

Bathroom buddy, bathroom, buddy.

Please meet tosk in the men's room.

And he would be on his knees in front of me,

in front of my crotch UN-hooking my suit

with me in this lizard mask. [Zipping]

For some all this

was understandably just too much.

Wash.

As was the case for one actor.

At one point while he was about to shoot,

and he stood up, he took his wig off,

he walked out to the front gate of Paramount,

threw the wig in the garbage can...

He just left.

They found one the ears

in a trash bin outside the stage.

With so many actors hidden under thick layers of latex,

you'd think the actors that weren't

would have nothing to complain about.

[Music playing]

Just ask the guys from "enterprise."

Snowball fight.

The ev suits would take all the fun out of that.

We had to wear these ev suits

that were just not ergonomically right for us.

They were awful.

[Archer] Might be faster without the suits.

That helmet was 18 pounds I think,

just supported by your neck originally.

If I had to wear this helmet for one more minute

I swear it would have fused to my skull.

The backpack was 45, 50 pounds,

just pulling you backwards.

I like to find the designer of this suit

and make him wear it for three days.

God, what I wouldn't give

to be in a nice tailored suit in a legal show.

[Sighs]

Dominic's fuse is a little quick when he gets frustrated.

This is ridiculous.

He bitched every day. [Laughs]

This isn't a bloody pleasure cruise.

[Mumbling]

I beg your pardon?

You haven't heard anyone swear

until you've heard an English person swear.

I apologize if I've been rude.

You're getting well paid,

you're making a living in television for god's sake.

[Laughing] Suck it up, dom.

Now, speaking of language,

getting into character on "Star Trek"

isn't always easy.

And if the horrors of the makeup chair

or the ill-fitting costumes aren't enough,

wait until you actually have to speak.

I'm at home, just running it, running it,

running and just saying it out loud

over and over, and over again,

while washing dishes, cooking, doing something like that,

just so that when we finally get there to shoot it,

that as Shakespeare would say, runs trippingly off the tongue.

Well, it's tough,

and you only have a couple of shots at it.

And you've got long speeches and what have you,

you have to give the impression

that you're having a good time.

And oftentimes it's not,

you're not really having a good time.

I mean, you're... There's a lot of pressure

and you just get it out.

We were under so much pressure

to deliver 26 episodes in a very short period of time.

We would receive the episode the new episode

the night before.

So that if you had a six o'clock call,

that means you were studying your scenes,

maybe into two, three o'clock in the morning.

Well, we all had different techniques.

My words, my words, my words, [Bleeped, bleeped], my lines.

I didn't really need to read the whole script.

And I knew exactly what Reed was doing

in his set scenes.

I didn't read them.

No, I read them. I actually did read them.

I can see myself sitting in bed

after two o'clock in the morning,

I would say it ten times.

And if I made a mistake, that was the game,

I had to go to the start.

And if it was a seven page scene,

if I made a mistake on the last page,

I'd have to go back to the start and start all over again

until I got it perfectly each time.

And then sometimes you'd show up

and the scene that you were working

on that same night had been rewritten.

And we're not talking

your average run of the mill dialogue rewrites.

Not everyone is fluent in the language of "Star Trek."

"Star Trek" seemed to consistently call

for theater actors,

shakespearean actors in particular,

because the language is... not comfortable.

And had to be kind of highfalutin,

and standalone straighter and all that sort of stuff

in order to do it.

In had to do with having a theatre background.

So it seemed.

Yeah, because we were used to the language.

However, unlike the bard's rich prose,

the words of trek

are sometimes a little less meaningful.

They were just gobbledygook to me.

I want you to install a bypass

being the main phased array in secondary generators.

I also want to run the main deflector pathway

through the warp power grid,

and the auxiliary conduits to the lateral relays.

In some ways, it's almost like verse

in that there is, there is a lot of...

Yes, technical... what, uh...

Technobabble.

Vent a couple of ln2 exhaust conduits

along the dorsal emitters.

I could not get in on the day.

Make it look like we're in serious trouble.

It's the only line that I remember.

Vent a couple of ln2 exhaust conduits

around the dorsal emitters.

[Trip] Understood.

There's another actress on that show

who just... she was just lost.

She would say her line and then be like...

"I have no idea what I'm talking about."

I'm confused enough as it is.

It was challenging to meet, you know,

this strange language, technobabble.

Don't ask my opinion next time.

[Beeping]

It was one of the banes of my existence,

was writing some of the technology

and the tech talk of the show.

The language of "Star Trek" is something

that you have to make relatable to everybody

so that everybody understands it.

But you yourself kind of have no idea what you're saying.

There were just too many arguments

in the writers room, yelling at each other

about what a [bleep] warp drive could and could not do.

A tetryon beam is approaching, captain.

We'll have to infuse it with a class four...

Uh, whatever, you know.

Uh, transporters didn't operate that way.

And, you know, the tachyon beams couldn't cut...

It uses trionic initiators in the warp coil.

You know, we always put the word tech in the script

when we didn't know what the scientific term was

and someone would help us fill it out later.

Meson and lepton activity is definitely increasing.

There would be pages of dialogue

where picard would say, you know, "Mr. Laforge,

what if we tech the tech of the main deflector..."

And jordi would say, "well, captain,

if you tech the tech, the tech is going to overload

and then the tech will, you know,

will have a backup down on deck 42."

And then data chimes in and says,

"but, captain, there is a theory.

If we do, if we do tech the tech

and we use Dr. Franken burner's,

you know, special tech overdrive

then perhaps the tech won't tech anymore."

Technically, the person who supplied the tech

was this science consultant and show writer.

Yes, you need a certain amount of technical language

to come out of the mouths of the characters

who were the scientists and the engineers,

in order for the audience to believe

that those characters know what they're talking about,

with all of these advanced technologies.

And some of that language

was invented specifically for "Star Trek"

in the original series.

You know, phasers and transporter beams

and the warp drive, the dilithium crystals.

So there's all this sort of unique language

which we lovingly call technobabble.

It's a mouthful.

It's almost as bad as doing something like er,

because, you know, in er, you have to get your lips

around medical terms.

Subdermal implants.

They depolarize triburnium alloys.

And I've got to say something about the... I don't know...

The cumulus or the whatever the hell.

It's all that static discharging gas.

I kept screwing up my lines.

May I speak, sir?

I was doing this elevator scene,

and every time I'd walk out of the elevator,

right before it went open,

bill would go like, "line, line, line, line."

Now, I'm going to go... I'm like...

[Screams] Deer in headlights.

You're bothered.

And I was ready to cry.

And I kept coming out, I kept blowing the line

and then he goes, "alright. This time you're going to do it.

Line, line, line, line." Oh, I want to kill him.

- It's a test of character. - And then Nick took me aside.

He goes, "if you get it, good, if you don't, you don't."

Of course I got it.

Who's been holding up the damn elevator?

I think it was Garrett wang that told me...

He said, "be glad your character is not in engineering

because they get hammered with the technobabble."

Can I help you?

Unless you can reroute the plasma regulator

to silo off the relay junction, then no.

And then the very next script that came out,

I'm asking chakotay

for an assignment in engineering

I was like [laughs] god, here we go.

But if you thought...

It's based on an ftl nano processor

with 25 bilateral kelilactirals,

with 20 of those being slaved

into the primary heisenfram terminal.

Now, you do know what a bilateral kelilactiral is?

Would be hard to memorize...

And of course, you have to learn klingon.

And it's... [Clicks tongue]

It's written out and then they have

the phonetic pronunciations underneath it as well.

So fortunately, that grad school phonetics class

came in handy, quite a bit.

[Speaking klingon]

It was incredible.

They made up this entire language

that worked.

I had one word and it seemed to be very important.

And it was...

[Speaking klingon]

Which I think means, "let's get the hell out of here,"

or something like that.

Somebody sent me a hardbound edition of Hamlet

that had been translated into klingon,

which was astonishing, you know.

Just the idea of translating Hamlet into French

makes my head explode.

So, it's one of my prized possessions.

It's just, it's really, really something.

I had to sing a song in klingon, klingonese.

[Singing in klingon]

Yeah, the klingon national anthem as we call it

was totally inspired by the beat in the "hunt for red October"

where the Russian sailors on the sub... all just start...

One guy starts singing the Russian national anthem,

Soviet national anthem,

and they all start singing it together.

[Singing in Russian]

I so wanted to do that with the klingons,

'cause that felt like something

they just probably do every time they leave port.

These guys are those guys. They're the vikings.

They're the samurai. They sing together.

[Singing in klingon]

I cannot remember it. So don't ask me.

[Singing in klingon]

- [Man] Awesome. - [Michael laughs]

Let's go kick some ass. [Laughing]

Be it klingon, technobabble or...

Dabo?

I have no idea what "dabo" means?

[Cheering]

Dabo!

We said it like every, every episode practically.

It's a game we got.

I'll teach it to you.

Actually for the actors

it's their lines that they need to learn.

No matter the alien race, from andorian to xindi,

all "Star Trek" actors must master the script.

Whatever the language.

You got to know every line.

Verbatim.

They don't want you to change an "and" or an "or" or...

Dabo?

You got to know it cold.

You're in pain, seven. I can help you.

But surely there was a little improvisation?

No, no, no, no,

you can't improvise with the text.

You don't, you don't paraphrase

on "Star Trek." [Laughing]

[Indistinct]

No, I'm kidding.

Say the wrong thing, torg!

[Shooting and screaming]

It seemed that the real overlords

of the "Star Trek" universe weren't the klingons,

the borg, or q.

Moi?

Well, is he really a baddie?

Did you ever watch a show?

At our first meeting you seize my vessel.

You condemn all humans as savages.

Good point. It's the writers.

Basically, it's...

This is how it's written, this is what we want delivered.

"Star Trek" is the only show I've ever worked on, where...

If you used a synonym for a word,

they would cut,

the script guy would come over and say,

"you said 'cat', and the line is 'kitty'."

Some actors

had absolutely no issue with the writers whatsoever.

Probably the most vivid thing I remember

about the whole thing

is that the first day,

I was on the set for a half hour,

and I was in bed with Deanna troi.

I rather like that I'm more difficult to read

than your other men.

I don't know who put that together.

[Laughing] But it worked for me.

Some things worked well again and again.

And that wasn't lost on the crew

who'd spent years sitting uncomfortably...

In dark corners,

you know, on hard wooden apple boxes.

And be at the set of "enterprise," "voyager"

or the original series.

It's the crew who most noticed the writers repeat themselves.

He says, "yeah, every character gets killed

and then they bring them back."

He's brain dead.

Commander.

I said, "really? I didn't know that.

What else can you tell me?"

Well, you're gonna do

is I'm sure you're going to do an episode

where your age a lot and then they bring you back."

Commander chakotay is suffering bone decalcification,

tissue necrosis, decreased visual acuity,

all classic signs of aging.

"And there will probably be an episode

where you fall in love with an alien."

- Despite the... - Apple boxes.

The crew were also quite comfortable...

[Screaming]

in letting an actor know

when the writers had put the writing on the wall.

"So sorry to hear about what's happening to your character."

I said, "what's happening to my character?"

And he said, "oh, maybe I better not tell you."

And I went into Ron, I said, "Ron, do I die?"

[Vaughn] Yeah.

And he says,

"oh, I just didn't have the heart to tell you.

Who told you that?"

"Doesn't matter. Doesn't matter."

And if your character does die,

think twice about taking a memento home

because as they say, you can't take it with you.

You cannot take anything off the set.

You would be in major trouble.

Any of their brand, any of their "Star Trek" brand,

they're protected.

They had a checklist

that came back for your wardrobe.

Well, a few things slipped through.

There they are. Look at those.

Look at those dusty old pair of boots.

With props and costumes

going for thousands on the collector market...

I did keep one other thing. Then I sold it.

I had a friend that got

a good hunk of the console years ago.

And he... I think he got about 40 grand for it.

The producers had to crack down

on the bit parts, taking bits.

When I was doing these things i, I never thought of asking

"can you take any of these things?"

Well, Mark rolston did.

And so I asked.

And got the most resounding,

like, "don't you dare!"

Richard herd dared.

Very difficult learning

how to chat away with klingon teeth.

Which I saved

and sometimes I chased my wife Patricia around the bedroom

with my klingon teeth.

[Laughing]

And Scott McDonald dared.

This is a prop

from the set of "enterprise"

when I played commander dolim.

There was a scene

where the xindi reptiles were eating mice

as they discussed their plans to take over the universe.

And the pièce De résistance...

This is an unbelievable thing to have.

I don't know

that very many actors have these.

But while some requests were thoroughly denied...

Don't you dare.

The biggest props go to show-runner brannon Braga

who was dating...

The borg babe.

That'd be this borg babe.

I'm bored. This isn't been fun.

And thusly, Jerry Ryan had her dreams

of taking part of the set home...

- Sweet dreams. - Fulfilled.

Yeah, I have my alcove. I figured, you know,

four years of that makeup and that costume.

The least I can do is get my alcove to bring home.

Uh...

How hard was it to get the alcove?

Uh, to my recollection, not at all.

I was dating brannon Braga,

so got a little extra pull probably.

He'd need all the pull he could get.

It was hard to deliver.

It is such a huge thing.

[Alarm blaring]

Be it hours in the makeup chair,

finding ways to make props from the set

or lifting heavy set pieces

into your girlfriend's apartment,

only a few actors have attained the one role

that steals the show.

On any "Star Trek" show, it's important to know

- who's at the helm. - Take us in.

We had fine director so we had directors

really, really well known directors in television

and seeking to do "Star Trek."

And you know, all actors,

here's what they want to know about the director.

Is he crazy?

How crazy?

Am I going to live?

Armin shimerman, appearing as the first ever ferengi...

If he moves kill him.

It sounds like he had a crazy one.

The director was giving us all sorts of bizarre directions.

[Growling]

I've got this one!

And in fact, my first four years as quark

was to try and eradicate the mistakes I made as letek.

Because I'm a people person.

But perhaps trying to avoid having a crazy director,

many of the actors themselves stepped behind the lens.

And the tradition of "Star Trek" actors

becoming directors

extends all the way back to the great Spock himself.

People would often say to me, you should be directing.

[Laughing]

The fact is I was, I was, I was insulted.

I thought what people were telling me

was there's something wrong with my acting.

But it wasn't a bad idea.

Because as of the end of "Star Trek ii"

Spock was dead.

If you're gonna kill him, kill him.

Don't do a dry hustle.

Don't do what they did in "into darkness"

where you kill him in one scene and comes back on the next.

With Spock gone,

Leonard nimoy would have to find another way

to be involved in "Star Trek."

So I called Michael eisner who was running the studio.

He said, "you hate 'Star Trek'.

You insisted on the Spock character

being killed in 'Star Trek ii'.

I can't have your directing a "Star Trek" movie."

Thus, this legendary actor of honor and integrity...

- Passion... - Of course...

- love... - Sure...

- tenderness. - That too,

did what most of the "Star Trek" actors

would do.

Blame it on the writing.

Except this time, the writer was a bit harder to blame.

I wrote a chapter for this book.

And the chapter was called, "I'm not Spock."

In another chapter I said, for example,

I was born in Boston, Spock was not.

My father was a barber.

Spock's father was not a barber.

I'm the son of two humans. Spock is not.

I just explained the difference between myself and Spock.

And build from that an understanding and a story

about how an actor goes about building a character.

And I thought it was an interesting chapter.

I still think it's an interesting chapter.

But when it came time to title the book,

I chose that title because I thought it would be intriguing.

Instead of it was off putting. It was a very bad idea.

And a lot of "Star Trek" fans were very angry

and would not read the book. Wouldn't buy it and read it.

Because they thought, "oh, he hates Spock,

he doesn't want to be Spock,

doesn't want to be identified with him."

None of that was true at all.

But that hung over and actually got

into the administration building at Paramount

where Michael eisner was sitting on top of, of this franchise.

And he was, and he was led to believe it,

somebody told him this story.

So he said, "it's not true?"

I said, "no, Michael. It's not true.

Hate said, "come here tomorrow morning."

And Leonard nimoy was resurrected

as a feature film director.

And while Spock was experiencing a rebirth...

If you're gonna kill him, kill him.

As a director, Spock's protege

was experiencing some labor pains.

Playing saavik in the second movie,

kirstie alley had assumed

she would reprise the role in the next film.

I'm aware of my responsibilities, mister.

So why wasn't she in "the search for Spock"?

You would have to ask her

why kirstie alley didn't continue with the role.

Um, she will either confide in you or not?

- Permission speak candidly, sir. - Granted.

Okay, so what most people don't know is that...

Now remember, "Star Trek ii" is my first and only job

as an actor.

And when I was offered "Star Trek III,"

they offered me less money for "Star Trek III"

than "Star Trek ii."

And I done quite a bit of work in between those two things.

Damn.

So that's what most people don't know.

It wasn't me just going,

"I'm too good to be in 'Star Trek III'."

Instead, nimoy directed a new actress in the role,

Robin Curtis.

I was tickled pink to come in and take over the role.

Fascinating.

I was as high and full of adrenaline,

you know, as any young actress would be.

With ten movies

and over 800 episodes and counting,

there were plenty of opportunities for actors

to try their hands at steering a ship.

In all, 15 cast members

directed over 100 episodes and films.

So, I threw my hat in the ring, obviously,

I had done a bunch of episodes by then I was really into it.

I was really psyched. They took a chance.

I thought, "here we go."

And then that movie was a huge success.

It made a lot of money and everybody liked it.

I loved him when he was my first officer

on the enterprise.

Take us out of orbit, ensign crusher.

And I love him when he directs me on "Star Trek"

and on leverage I love, love him,

when I call him

because I needed, because I need advice.

But not all actors make great directors at first.

My first day of shooting was a disaster.

We had this huge set and the first set up I think

was like took about eight hours.

So the first day I immediately fell a day behind.

[Grunting]

And berman and ira hated the episode.

You've never been right about anything.

Then they took me in the office

and they made me go through frame, by frame, by frame,

because I was contracted to direct two more.

And berman said "if you weren't under contract,

I just wouldn't let you direct anymore." Essentially.

Step aside

and allow me to finish this sari business.

It seemed like everybody had the chance to direct.

Avery directed.

Hmm, I don't know if I can see him directing

this kind of stuff.

Don't care if the odds are against us.

Well, I was completely wrong.

He was a wonderful director, such a great actor's director.

My favorite director is also my dad.

So Avery Brooks was my favorite director.

Siddig, rené directed.

Why did you defect?

All the males were allowed to direct.

Whoever wanted to.

But as for me...

Did I have to campaign hard to direct an episode?

What do you think? Yeah.

It took until my seventh year to get it

and they gave me this kind of scary spooky episode,

which was very UN- "Star Trek" in a way.

[Ominous music playing]

I was so grateful that I got that script,

I really was. I had so much fun with it.

As one of the first women to direct "Star Trek"

I hope that I had some small role

in opening the door to other women directors.

And now hanelle culpepper is leading the way

with the "Star Trek picard" series,

becoming the first female director

to launch a new "Star Trek" series.

But back in front of the camera,

"Star Trek" has always been

at the forefront of creating strong women's roles.

You know, I'm omnipotent.

[Laughs]

And when it came to the series "voyager,"

which ran for 172 episodes between 1995 and 2001,

that mold was broken again.

Voyager had a female captain.

What can I do for you?

And with Kate mulgrew commanding the ship,

voyager was on course

for seven more years of "Star Trek,"

and a whole bunch of new storylines, right?

You're wrong?

Now, of course, what does it mean

to be a woman as captain at the end of the day?

Not, not a whole lot when you're on duty.

You're the captain.

But it did allow us to explore certain other things.

And in many cases, that other thing

was Robert beltran and his character chakotay.

But by season ii, it was clear.

Is a bad call.

I'll note your objection in my log.

I don't give a damn about your log.

Chakotay himself no longer fancied janeway.

So the captain can do no wrong.

The captain is like...

Is like a non-human character.

She knows everything. She can fix everything.

She, she even tells everybody that she knows better.

Dammit, Kathryn.

You're panicking. He is going to talk.

Where's the drama in all that?

Where's the conflict?

If you know everything,

then you have to make stuff up.

It all comes down

to whether, you know, what to reroute to what?

We're in this huge crisis with the shields down to 12%.

And what saves us?

We reroute the toaster

to the microwave.

Bam, great. We're saved.

I was hoping for your unconditional support.

This is the best I can do.

But the biggest controversy on "voyager"

was when ratings started to slip.

The ratings kept going lower and lower.

And I think, I think if you talked to the fans,

they would blame it on the writing.

So, those writers wrote in a new character.

People were saying it's a blatant attempt

to up the ratings. Well, yeah,

that's why they added the new character.

The ratings were lagging. The show was tanking.

And as they say,

all publicity is good publicity.

There were some promotional images

of, of her and her outfit

that came out before the premiere aired.

And in regard to that outfit...

That looked like the simplest,

most comfortable, easy little unitard in the world.

But it was, it was a feat of engineering.

It's the most structural garment I have ever done.

It is technically a miracle,

because it looks like all of that's been sprayed on her.

The producers were very clear

that they wanted it to hug every curve.

So to be perfectly blunt,

what they said is they don't want the breast mound.

They wanted to see the shape,

because it was supposed to be second skin.

That was the whole excuse story-wise for this costume.

And we've perfected

the whole corset and catsuit combination

over the course of the first season.

Because with the silver suit, the original silver suit,

when you put it on, it kind of stretches this way,

obviously, right because it's a suit, right?

And actually, I wanted to go under the breasts.

So we devised a garment that had a corset

that had all of this surgical tubing on it,

which is very elastic and flexible.

And that went on

to a, a completely elastic corset,

so she could bend in any way.

And then that part that went under her bust

had about something like 36 hooks

to get her into it

and had to be pulled on.

And then it had all those hooks

had to be hooked underneath it.

And it took her, god bless her,

40 minutes to get into it.

So it pulled the seam, the bust seam, down lower.

And so then you put it on a set with lots of lights

and standing over consoles

that are all lit from underneath as well.

And it looked like my boob went from here to here

basically in this suit. [Laughing]

We took a lot of criticism

that we were, you know, cheapening the show

and we're turning into "baywatch" in space.

Like we got a lot of crap

from the "deep space nine" writers

who thought we were kind of selling out

and bringing a bimbo onto the ship

and all which was, frankly, kind of sexist.

And I see the way your pupils dilate

when you look at my body.

Some of the members of cast thought

that all the publicity

that this new character was going to be getting

was sort of do them.

It was a mild shot.

It was a little conflict there.

Captain janeway was signed on as the star,

seven of nine came on,

their ratings were boosted by nearly 50%.

You know, I'm really easy to get along with

most of the time.

And captain janeway, understandably,

didn't really like that.

But I don't like bullies. And I don't like threats.

You know and usually when the cameras go off,

there's some mentoring either workwise [indistinct]

Or, or just to make things comfortable.

And I looked at one of them in between the scenes,

and she's staring at the board up here.

I looked over here,

and she's staring at the board too.

And I thought,

"well, I probably shouldn't interrupt them.

They must be, you know, just staying in a frame of mind

that they need to come to find out

they could not stand each other."

You came here hoping to stop me.

You will fail.

Turn this ship around. That's an order.

Your orders are irrelevant.

I'm no longer under your command,

Jerry Ryan's character, seven of nine,

proved to be a fan favorite.

And readings did begin to climb after her arrival.

Take off your clothes.

However...

Coming into an existing show midway through is never easy.

It's never going to be easy.

And when the attention shifts,

because there's somebody new and it's...

The publicity machine is going crazy

and they're baking this huge push.

That's not going to be easy. It's just not.

But yeah, it was, it was a very difficult four years.

It was very tense.

It was not... I don't...

Unfortunately, I don't look back.

As many laughs as I had

and as much as I adored working with all of them,

I don't, I can't look back on that four year period

with this wonderful glowing memory

because it was, it was so difficult.

It was so tense and difficult. So that's unfortunate.

I'm sorry that I can't look back on it with better memories.

Set a course...

When "voyager's" last episode...

for home.

Screened may 23, 2001,

the fifth successful series of the "Star Trek" franchise

was over.

But fans didn't have to wait long at all.

Because the promos were already rolling out

for the next one.

"Star Trek enterprise"

was to be the sixth series in the franchise.

However...

They kind of flooded the market

with the three different series at the same time

"Star Trek voyager," "deep space nine."

You know every time they turn on the television, there it was.

I have a petition here to stop the space channel

from showing so much "Star Trek."

An expression that I heard that I think was very valid

was franchise fatigue we had.

Which, which today is, is a joke because I think they have

260 "Star Trek" shows on the air now.

There came a point

when the audience I think was tired of...

They've just been served up 800 episodes of "Star Trek"

- and that point... - Let's go!

Specifically, was season three

of the series "enterprise."

- Are you sure? - Damn sure.

The demise of the show

was starting to get fairly well documented.

The... there was just a sense

that we were not destined or we were not...

Don't, don't rely on going seven years.

It really was going to be a year to year,

month to month situation right now.

The last "Star Trek enterprise" episode aired, may 13, 2005.

Should have gone another couple of years.

The actors were all stunned

because half of them had bought houses,

expecting to be working for eight to ten years

on the show.

Mercedes came down the road.

Might drive one of those.

Looks like we really are on our own.

I remember taking the phone call

about the show ending

and we were going to have a big class photo

outside the gates at Paramount.

And I'm standing with brannon Braga,

the chief guy.

And I saw brannon turn around and he looked at this...

This hairy looking thing called a tellarite,

standing there with the son glancing off his nose.

And we all just looked at it and he just went,

"yeah, it's time."

[Laughing]

Oh... uh...

And with that, for the first time in 18 years,

there would be no new "Star Trek" episodes.

So it's like, okay, let's take a break.

And now 10 years, 10 years later...

It all started again.

And actors, once again, began looking for work.

When I heard they were doing a new "Star Trek,"

"Star Trek discovery," I just begged my agents,

I just said I would love to meet the producers.

I'd love to see if there's anything

that I might be right for.

I say, bring it on.

And they said, "how about Harry mudd?

It's a couple of episodes, might recur more."

And I was like, "yes."

It was one of those great actor moments

of like, "oh, this is delicious."

And I will have my revenge.

Also, I'm going to kill you as many times as possible.

However, rain Wilson was in an unusual position

along with some other new "Star Trek" actors,

in that he was playing a role

that already had a long history with the series.

I don't believe it.

I went back and watched the original mudd episodes

and saw what he was doing.

You should refer to me as mudd the first.

It was very similar to playing Dwight on "the office,"

where I was inheriting a role from a previous actor.

So, that's a great place to be in

because you get to steal what's, what they do really well.

And then you get to add your own mojo.

In recent years mojo is flying everywhere.

Jj Abrams' three "Star Trek" films

made big bucks at the box office

by recasting characters from the original series.

Not easy for all those actors to step into those roles.

Not easy.

It's a treacherous step.

Very flattering to me

that the character is strong enough

to be carried on by somebody else successfully.

And he's a very good actor, very intelligent actor,

so I'm very happy about it.

Oh, I think she's marvelous.

She told me, "I was so nervous when I got this role."

And I said, "why? You're so good."

And she said, "I thought you would hate me."

And I said, "I do. You're just too damn good."

You know? [Laughing]

We even saw a reprise

of "Star Trek's" greatest villain.

Khan!

As we know, originally played by...

Ricardo montalban.

[Laughing]

both in the 60s and 80s.

But in 2013's "into darkness."..

To exploit my savagery.

Benedict cumberbatch took on the role.

Shall we begin?

And even though his pecs were nowhere to be seen,

his acting muscles were on full display.

My name is Khan.

Here's the [bleep] English accent.

They told me I can't have one. Look at him.

Well, whether you like it or not, there is a place

where every "Star Trek" actor can go

and be praised for their part in a TV show like no other.

For an actor,

"Star Trek" is the gift that keeps on giving.

After you've done your "Star Trek" episodes,

you can do conventions.

And as unique as they are,

"Star Trek" conventions are not a new thing.

We did a, a convention

almost immediately that the show was over.

And they are still here in some kind of, well...

That's the word I'm looking for.

I mean it just generates again and again and again.

The best fans in the whole world?

"Star Trek" fans.

And "Star Trek" fans live for "Star Trek."

You suddenly realize

how much they give a damn.

But in some cases, "Star Trek" actors live

because of "Star Trek" fans and the conventions.

It's still a huge part of my life.

And a big part of that is the fandom

and going all over the world and doing conventions.

Like, even though the show was over,

I was still doing conventions all this time, you know,

and staying connected to the fans.

If you were willing to travel on weekends,

that was always available to you.

And that's where the merchandising came in.

Because you would sign something.

We used to go

for ten grand a weekend, for crying out loud.

And that was [indistinct]

But you get the other guys back in the, in the...

In the heyday of these things.

You know, they were going

for like 20, 25 grand a weekend.

And an annuity for us, we put our kids through college.

But it's not just an appearance fee

where we "Star Trek" actors can cash in.

It's really hard for me to think of selling my autograph.

Reaching into their pockets

to give you 20 bucks for a picture that you sign.

I was charging $5.

That's a whole new world that's opened up for me

uh, signing, signing Harry mudd photos now.

[Camera buzzing]

I have signed so much [bleep] in this world.

I mean, I, you know, I... And the fact that anybody

wants another of my signatures,

I just can't believe it.

[Camera buzzing]

Nobody really recognizes me unless I do this.

Yes, so... [Laughing]

My situation is always people come up to the table,

and they look at the pictures.

And then they look at me.

And then they look at the pictures.

And then they look at me.

So I sit there, kind of dealing in

that sort of uncomfortable stew,

actor ego stuff, I guess I don't know.

Aw, cheer up, guys.

It was depressing at first,

but they really want to meet you.

And it's for some of my part at a point of their life.

It's not difficult to make somebody's day,

when you're in this position, it's really nice.

And it's nice to be able to make somebody smile.

"Star Trek" turns you into an international name

simply because the show shows around the world.

So you get a certain amount of international recognition

as an actor,

and you get to travel all over the world

because "Star Trek" fans want to meet you in person.

So you have all these great perks

of getting to go to all these wonderful places,

and meet, you know, fans

that have loved the franchise, long before you joined it.

But the, the thing

that I didn't realize when I got the job

is how it changes your life

by meeting all of these people

that were inspired by "Star Trek."

They, they credit you and they look at you

as sort of part of their education, bizarrely.

And, and that means

that that exposure to incredibly cool people

has been the unexpected benefit

of being a "Star Trek" actor.

You cannot be a part of "Star Trek"

without being a part of that world, the fan world.

And they're the most magnificent,

down to earth, wonderful people

one could meet, you know.

Incredibly bright, self-effacing,

politically aware, generous.

Always the conventions

were on behalf of a charity of some kind.

They, they enrich me.

I know they think maybe I bring a little something.

But honestly, they, they're, they're the gift to me.

I can't tell you how many times I've showed up to a convention

where they greeted me at the airport and said,

"hey, we had a klingon bake sale for your charity."

Or, "hey, we had a car wash. And here's what we made."

And they will just so dedicatedly

and passionately support causes.

And this is the heart of "Star Trek."

I always wanted to know

what made them so interested in the show.

And the interesting part to me was,

so many would say, "oh, I was a little kid when I watched it.

And it influenced me to be a doctor.

And it influenced me to go into working for NASA."

[Ship rumbling]

Made their lives who they are today

by watching this show.

And I thought that was really cool.

They will come to our tables and they'll say,

"I want you to know how much this meant to me

at a crucial point in my life.

And I don't know if I would have made it

if I didn't have the hope of tuning into this show,

episode after episode,

and seeing how these characters get through crisis.

And so can I."

Of course not everyone's approach

is so altruistic.

The minute you walk in that hotel

you Brad Pitt me

and they all want a piece of you.

If you're not careful,

you can wind up thinking you're Jesus Christ.

[Choir singing]

[Singing distorts and stops]

That was maybe too enjoyable. [Chuckles]

I'm going to have to remind myself every day

that we didn't come out here to play god.

God, I remember my first convention.

Pushed out to the bathroom door.

And there's two klingons standing there.

[Laughing]

When they saw Malcolm Reed walking in,

they were like... [Mumbling]

And I'm like, "all right, lads."

So I nip around the corner for a pee.

And I can hear them whispering,

presumably about me.

That's obvious, sir.

Because it was in [bleep] klingon.

[Imitates klingon speech]

Well, as far as the perks of the show,

some of them I won't go into, because I'm married now.

No, I'm not talking about my groupies.

Sort of.

I mean, yeah, I wouldn't say they don't exist.

Well, you know, when I was single...

Yes, you could find, uh,

you could have a nice, charming evening.

I can see the attraction.

Some women find those necks sexy.

[Laughing]

For all that "Star Trek" bought us...

The laughs, the tears, the pointy ears...

There's one thing that all of us

lucky enough to have been part of it

are the most proud of.

I was pleased with the fact

that we were dealing with issues

that had a socio political reference,

and relevance.

Gene would set it all up. He did it.

And this is what we're going to do.

And you've got this script and you read the script,

and you go...

We'll start to live the way the fuhrer meant us to live.

Is he kidding?

They'll never let him get away with it.

There was an episode where the guy

was black on one side and white on the other.

I mean, I mean, you'd have to be an idiot not to get that.

We were one of the few shows that could approach

the question of the Vietnam war,

because nobody else could.

Troi, there's nothing good in war, except it's ending.

We could call it something else

and still have it be about the war.

And nobody ever said a word to us.

Spock.

There was so much happening racially and politically

in the world.

And then we turn on your TV,

and then there's this, this white fellow,

and this lovely black woman and they have a kiss.

But not just any kiss.

This was the very first interracial kiss on television.

So it was a big deal.

It wasn't a big deal to me. [Laughing]

Jesus.

Let's get on with it.

- Did shatner want to do it? - Oh, yeah.

You kidding? [Chuckles]

[Applauding and laughing]

Genius.

That's what, that's why for me,

"Star Trek" has endured for 55 years.

Because everybody got the message

that we are the same.

It doesn't matter

whether we're black, white, hispanic,

green, blue, half black, half white,

we're all the same.

Gene's vision, he was very clear.

The humans of the 24th century

didn't have war, disease,

poverty, hunger... gone.

Religion too, for that matter.

A secular enlightened society.

For us, in this country,

it's sort of the idealization of, of American values.

And you know, how we see ourselves.

People of color and people all over the world

can see themselves in the future,

with important parts and important jobs in life.

And everybody's represented.

It's not just a fun TV show.

And it's not just a good TV show.

It's just, it's special.

Gene roddenberry was just amazing.

And I never forgave him for dying.

It was like...

Someone you depend on,

to keep bringing the beauty of the world to be.

Hmm.

I really think that's in large part

what the success of "Star Trek" as a franchise is.

Saving the galaxy?

It's because it's an optimistic view of the future.

And I think that's what people want to grab on to,

I think that we need that.

As long as we as a species have something to learn,

"Star Trek" will be relevant.

To have created in this culture

something that is as iconic as the show

that lasts as long as this show,

that involves as many people as it has,

is quite extraordinary.

So it's a testament to the adventure

that roddenberry wanted to create.

"Star Trek" reflects in its various characters

different portions of human condition.

And it's the actors

who brought those characters to life

that we need to thank most of all.

You are sort of part of a legacy.

And there are legions of people

that have been on the road in the journey before you.

Most people are pretty proud to be in "Star Trek."

You know, of any other show in the world

that you could have gotten on,

it's a pretty cool one we've gotten on.

Was awesome, you know,

to be a part of something that is iconic.

I was a "Star Trek" fan,

who was in the "Star Trek" series as a series regular.

I had won the lottery.

Being a part of "Star Trek," I'm not exaggerating here,

it really did change my life, it opened up,

I thought what was going to be one episode

ended up being literally a life,

certainly a career changing experience.

I've been so fortunate,

the whole energy of the show, the cast, the fans,

actually, I should be so lucky.

That's kind of trite and sentimental, but whatever.

- [Man] No, it's good. - [Gates laughing]

And I love everybody, you know.

I love Dr. Crusher.

My experience on "Star Trek" is...

It would be hugely ungrateful of me

to have any kind of negative thoughts

about it at all.

It's been a great blessing.

I mean, I got a picture of me with a ray gun

for god's sake, you know.

Those years changed my life,

they continue to define my life in many ways.

Seven of nine was a gift as an actor, she really was.

In every way this character was a...

This gave me a career. And you couldn't,

I couldn't have asked for a richer role to play.

"Star Trek" is the most important thing

I've done in my career.

The best, best part

of having been part of the "Star Trek" experience

are the people I've gotten to know.

It was a gift to be able to be with those people

all those hours every day.

We laughed all the time,

we're still, to a person, really close friends

all these years later.

They're family.

And that was really the greatest gift of all.

I'm really proud that I got to participate in it.

Because you know, you don't get to say that

with a lot of stuff.

[Music playing]

This is one thing that, you know,

I always am lit when I think...

[music distorts and stops] No, that didn't sound right.

Hmm... always light up... [Laughing]

To be an actor in the "Star Trek" legacy

is an honor.

And as one of the 8000 and counting actors

who've become part of Sci-Fi lore,

there's one truth that can't be ignored.

I wonder sometimes whether playing quark

was a detraction from my career.

Because "Star Trek,"

although very popular around the world,

it's not very popular in Hollywood.

That is a lesser franchise,

in most producers', studio heads' minds.

A list of actors or actresses who have won awards,

like emmys or oscars,

from working in a science fiction project

is a very short list, very short list.

It is simply not recognized by members of the academy,

as, as a level of work that calls for honors,

calls for being honored that way.

Technical honors, yes.

Wonderful special effects, wonderful sets,

wonderful music, and so forth.

But not for the actors, actors who work in science fiction.

And particularly then in those years,

are seen to be working in a kind of a sub-genre.

It's something less than wonderful,

something less than, than qualifies for, for honors.

And that's why actors avoided it.

I found a level of comfort in doing it.

The great Leonard nimoy passed away in 2015...

I shall simply say, good luck.

Having won neither an Emmy nor an Oscar

and joining a list of acting legends

who will live forever on our tvs

whenever we need them,

knowing they were part

of the most wonderful, celebrated, long-running

and important TV shows ever made.

You see, I'm an actor.

But for those of us who love "Star Trek"

in whichever series or timeline,

we owe "Star Trek's" original actor,

and all those who came after him a lot.

What I want to do was make a living as an actor.

And I probably would have been happy

in a stock company somewhere in Kansas

doing plays week after week, playing different characters.

Instead, I was given a role

that took me on a wonderful, wonderful journey.

From roddenberry's vision

to the writers who gave it life,

to the wizards who brought this utopian world

onto our TV sets...

The reruns now play every day,

in a way, I reached immortality

for at least another 50 years, maybe.

To the original actors who showed up on the set

and made history.

And we really never knew

what was going to be in the future,

whether we had a future.

But this has been

such a momentous circumstance in my life,

was really profoundly wonderful.

I'm "Star Trek" and "Star Trek" is me.

Couldn't ask for more.

I imagine you wouldn't trade your career for any other.

No, thank you. No, thank you.

I'm a very, very lucky guy.