Which Cast Got Along the Best? And Worst?

[JirinPanthosa]

That is very true. I mean, if you look at every line Colm Meany had before Data's Day, he didn't have anything interesting or with much of any emotional content to say, unless you count his short scene about model ship building. Yet, the character still came off as extremely interesting.

Still, I feel like Beltran's best moments were action sequences, and he rarely got any after he was sucked into the Seska baby melodrama.

[dub]

I always feel sorry for the production team whenever I hear the TNG cast talking about their antics on set. There's nothing more frustrating than working with talent who turn into annoying children when it's time to do a shoot and time is of the essence. I've never heard from any of the TNG production technicians, so I suppose they could have been in on the fun too. But I seem to recall Marina Sirtis and others commenting on how the production crew hated the cast (when cast members were out of control) because it took way too long to get a decent take and all they wanted to do was get the work done and go home at that point.

As far as actors complaining about not getting enough screen time, you can tell who the awesome actors are because the best actors end up getting the most out of the writers. What an actor does with what they get and how they interpret the role is a key part of whether/how the character develops. Even with very little or no dialogue, great actors are always fun to watch on screen. They seem to pull emotions and chemistry out of thin air. While weaker actors just take the bland writing and spit it out in an equally bland manner. There plenty of examples of both in Trek. An example of a great Trek actor is Andrew Robinson (Garak in DS9). He could say the most mundane line and still be incredible to watch, even through the makeup.

But, yes, it seems the cast of TNG are BFFs.

[Mojochi]

dub wrote:

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An example of a great Trek actor is Andrew Robinson (Garak in DS9). He could say the most mundane line and still be incredible to watch, even through the makeup.

Another good example of a character that could have been marginally featured, or even short lived, but because they had someone with talent, it was a highlight of the show

[Maurice]

I think a lot of the original series acrimony was after-the-fact stewing fueled by fans making the minor players feel like they had a greater importance than they did.

[J. Allen]

In my opinion, the TNG seemed the closest, almost family, while the TOS cast may have fared the worst, but then, I wasn't around in the 1960s, so I'm not so certain. Having seen tons of bloopers and outtakes with the TNG cast, they had too much fun together for it to be anything other than a bonding, family event every taping.

[Lance]

I've always had the impression the TOS cast actually got on servicably on the set. In particular, I recall Nichelle Nichols saying that she and Shatner worked well together (ie, they shared jokes with each other, solicalised off the set, etc), but that his habit of going to directors and stealing the other actors' lines created tension. Having a good personal relationship doesn't always translate to having a equitable professional relationship. The TNG cast, by all accounts, managed to have both.

[Lance]

Kate Mulgrew (as quoted on Wikipedia):

I grew to really love Star Trek: Voyager, and out of a cast of nine, I've made three great friends

Only three? I guess the other six cast members were all assholes, then.

[timtonruben359]

Lance wrote:

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Kate Mulgrew (as quoted on Wikipedia):

Only three? I guess the other six cast members were all assholes, then.

I don't know if the other casts were a--holes, but I do know that Garrett Wang, Robert Beltran and Tim Russ have all stated that Mulgrew could be difficult to work with at times. Kate also had big issues with Jeri Ryan which lead to a great deal of tension on the set.

Marina Sirtis told a story at a convention I was at about how during one of her guest stints on Voyager she came for a wardrobe fitting and it was on a day Jeri and Kate were filming a scene together. Apparently, Jeri flubbed some lines and Kate lost it screaming "Do you even bother to read the f----ing script?"

[Anwar]

Beltran and Wang were hardly professionals themselves.