Which statement by a Trek actor/creator annoyed you the most?

[Greg Cox]

I think Famke Janssen would rather be remembered for crushing men with her legs then being remembered as some guy who was beheaded by ISIS when he was there as an aid worker.

Huh? I'm pretty sure most people would prefer to not be beheaded by terrorists. Not sure what that has to do with actors in particular.

Unless you think that anybody who is not being decapitated has no right to complain about anything . . . .

 

[JRoss]

Precisely. It's interesting to hear Sir Christopher Lee talk about Star Wars, as he seems very appreciative of the opportunity to play Dooku, but I think the perception of his career is different among fans and casual movie-goers. Lee isn't merely Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus, as he's also known for his roles as Saruman the Wise, Francisco Scaramanga, and Dracula. I actually found out the other day that he's the most prolific actor of his time--which I hadn't realized--but I think the general public has a greater awareness of and appreciation for his entire body of work than it does for Guisness' exploits, which is a shame.

An additional thought: I do wonder to what extent Lee's feelings may have been influenced by his close friend Peter Cushing having been involved with Star Wars previously. As Cushing died in 1994, he wouldn't have known about Lee's inclusion in the prequel films, but that doesn't mean the two didn't discuss Cushing's portrayal of Tarkin.

--Sran

Christopher Lee was the first choice for Tarkin. He couldn't do it so Lee suggested Cushing. Lee and Cushing were famous B-movie actors whose inclusion was part of Lucas' throwback to matinee movies of the past.

Christopher Lee is a very gracious man. He takes any job offered because he cares more about feeding his family than how it looks on his resume. That's what he said several years ago. By now he doesn't have to work, but he probably enjoys it greatly.

 

[JRoss]

It's a little of both. I look at it both ways. It is just a job. But then again it isn't, you know?


They tend to get paid 10 times more than the average person with lots of perks. Adoration and respect from strangers.

But then again, they have to audition for jobs (and risk rejection) like everyone else.

Just substitute "apply" in place of "audition" and you get the picture.

Still, sometimes it's hard to figure actors out. Like when they're struggling, they're dreaming of making it big, and then once they made it, start complaining about photographers. Or getting annoyed at signing autographs.

I think it's more a "at the end of the day" thing. If you're famous and making good money just from a single role, who cares???

You see some former stars who are broke, desperately trying to get back in again, and you see some actors get really annoyed with someone mentioning roles that made rich/famous.

That, I don't understand.

I was once a minor celebrity in Japan for about two weeks. The group I was with had cameras in our faces everywhere we went. One thing nobody tells you is that all those flashbulbs going off at once hurts. My eyes still tear up when I think about it.

I can see how some folks would think that it gets old after years. However, yes, it's quite fun, at least at first.

 

[Maurice]

I had a brief taste of what "fame" must be like back around 1989-90. I wrote for a couple of magazines and they put headshots of the columnists along with our bylines. Well, I was at a computer show in Anaheim for a couple of days and in that time total strangers kept walking up to me and chatting me up as if we were old friends. Most were nice, but some just glommed on and hung around and kept chatting me up even where I was obviously busy. It got tiresome really fast. Now imagine that being your day to day existence. It wouldn't be fun.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Stewart may have thought it was just a job, but he is still a professional - he takes the scripts that he is given, there's no reason to think he gave any less than 100% of his effort to it.

I mean, I'm sure he did enjoy playing Picard, but he doesn't have to be a Trekkie, as such, to do it.

I'm sure the fans begging him to say "make it so" and asking ridiculously specific questions about episodes he doesn't have the faintest recollection of even filming gets really old really quick.

As far as I know, Patrick Stewart has said nothing but gracious and appreciative things about Trek and its fans. I'm not aware of anything negative ever coming from him. He has, IIRC, been very supportive of Trek fans and of their love of Picard.

(And while I'm sure Jonathan Frakes was the main 'prankster' on the TNG set, somehow I suspect that Stewart was into it as well. I haven't seen any Trek bloopers from TNG but I have no doubt that Stewart had his share of fun as well.)

To say that a role (or anything else) is "just a job" is not necessarily a bad thing. It's the truth, really. Playing Jean-Luc Picard WAS a job for Stewart. This doesn't mean he didn't like it, or didn't put in all the effort he could have - I think most of us know Stewart well enough by now to know that he is not a bitter or vindictive person. Like I said, he's a professional. He takes the roles that he is given. That is all that any of us have the right to expect of him.

If Stewart is approached for a role in a future Trek film (whoever ends up directing it), I'm sure he'd consider it. And I hope this does occur. I'd very much like to see him play a Picard ancestor.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

^Well said. I don't think people realize how much celebrities' lives and free-time are interrupted by people constantly wanting something from them.

I'm not famous by any stretch of the imagination, but I do know what it's like to have one's personal time infringed upon by people who don't understand the concept of boundaries. I'm a physician and have occasionally been approached in public by people who recognized me or heard someone refer to me as doctor, because they wanted free advice about a particular medical problem.

I do not like to give out advice to people I don't know, primarily because I don't feel comfortable taking responsibility for a patient with whom I not familiar. I also don't like the fact that people won't see their own providers but believe it's appropriate to ask someone they don't know (and who doesn't know them) for help.

In one particular instance, a woman who approached me at the grocery store decided to call my boss and complain about me because I wouldn't discuss her son's elbow fracture with her (her son wasn't my patient, and I'd never met him). I don't know that anything ever came of it, as I've since moved to another part of the country, but I'm amazed at the number of people who don't understand that not everyone is at their beck-and-call.

--Sran

 

[JonnyQuest037]

Kinda ungrateful. He achieved a certain immortality with the role since Star Wars has joined Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca as VERY EXCLUSIVE group of movies that will probably still be remembered the next century.

Guinness had achieved screen immortality long before he ever did STAR WARS. In fact, he was one of the things that gave the project legitimacy in its early stages. To claim that STAR WARS is the only reason that he is or should be remembered is either just gross ignorance or SW fan wishful thinking.

I'm not saying that that's what you were doing, but your phrasing could've been a bit better there.

 

[Lance]

Stewart may have thought it was just a job, but he is still a professional - he takes the scripts that he is given, there's no reason to think he gave any less than 100% of his effort to it.

I mean, I'm sure he did enjoy playing Picard, but he doesn't have to be a Trekkie, as such, to do it.

I'm sure the fans begging him to say "make it so" and asking ridiculously specific questions about episodes he doesn't have the faintest recollection of even filming gets really old really quick.

As far as I know, Patrick Stewart has said nothing but gracious and appreciative things about Trek and its fans. I'm not aware of anything negative ever coming from him. He has, IIRC, been very supportive of Trek fans and of their love of Picard.

(And while I'm sure Jonathan Frakes was the main 'prankster' on the TNG set, somehow I suspect that Stewart was into it as well. I haven't seen any Trek bloopers from TNG but I have no doubt that Stewart had his share of fun as well.)

To say that a role (or anything else) is "just a job" is not necessarily a bad thing. It's the truth, really. Playing Jean-Luc Picard WAS a job for Stewart. This doesn't mean he didn't like it, or didn't put in all the effort he could have - I think most of us know Stewart well enough by now to know that he is not a bitter or vindictive person. Like I said, he's a professional. He takes the roles that he is given. That is all that any of us have the right to expect of him.

I remember seeing an interview with Stewart (might have been on the BBC) where, when asked "How did you feel when they tore down the set at the end of Generations?", he waxed lyrical about the way Star Trek fans invest so much into the sets, the uniforms, the enviroment, the characters, but to him that bridge was just a bunch of flats in which he performed. Far from feeling afronted by this apparent dismissal, I actually thought "Yeah, you know, that's the difference between being an actor and being a viewer". Stewart wasn't living the world of Star Trek, he was doing a job. I think we'd probably find the same to be true of nearly all of Star Trek's actors over the years.

Kinda ungrateful. He achieved a certain immortality with the role since Star Wars has joined Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca as VERY EXCLUSIVE group of movies that will probably still be remembered the next century.

Guinness had achieved screen immortality long before he ever did STAR WARS. In fact, he was one of the things that gave the project legitimacy in its early stages. To claim that STAR WARS is the only reason that he is or should be remembered is either just gross ignorance or SW fan wishful thinking.

I'm not saying that that's what you were doing, but your phrasing could've been a bit better there.

I think Guinness was entitled.

It's like I said though, there is documentary evidence that, at the time of the first movie, he had invested enough in the character to be disappointed that he was written out. It seems to have been the fan's reactions, or perhaps simply the whole 'Star Wars Phenomenon' thing taking off in the way that it did, which turned him off. He was a legitimate actor of long standing, and he probably wasn't of the view that his work as Obi-Wan was in any way his best (indeed, on paper he's a pretty shallow kind of mentor figure for the hero, it's really only through Guinness's mastery of acting and several subtle little "bits of business" that he brings to the role that Obi-Wan was infused with anything resembling a 'character'.)

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Christopher Lee was the first choice for Tarkin. He couldn't do it so Lee suggested Cushing. Lee and Cushing were famous B-movie actors whose inclusion was part of Lucas' throwback to matinee movies of the past.

Wow! I'd never heard that before. I knew that Lee and Cushing had worked together a lot (hence their friendship), but I didn't realize that Lucas had wanted the former for the role of Tarkin. Given who Lee eventually portrayed, it would have been interesting seeing him interact with Vader.

Christopher Lee is a very gracious man. He takes any job offered because he cares more about feeding his family than how it looks on his resume. That's what he said several years ago. By now he doesn't have to work, but he probably enjoys it greatly.

That's always been my perception of him, as well. I was surprised to hear Ian McKellan admit (as part of an LOTR DVD commentary) that he'd always considered Lee a hack, until he worked with him and found that he was not only exceptionally talented but also hard-working and extremely helpful for younger actors and actresses.

I recently listed to the audio commentary that goes with the Attack of the Clones Blu-ray; Hayden Christensen goes out of his way to praise Lee's willingness to teach and share stories about his work in British film and television.

--Sran

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I can't find the link, but one actor statement that made me angry was something Leonard Nimoy said in response to vintage fans who didn't like INTO DARKNESS.

He said we shouldn't criticize the story, but rather just come in with an attitude of, "Where does Star Trek want to take me today?"

On TOS, Nimoy always fought for Spock to be written and portrayed a certain way, but we are supposed to love anything called Star Trek, regardless of its contents. Because the great and wise makers say so.

I'm not a Nimoy detractor in general, but this one thing gets my goat.

Edit: Apologies if this was actually something that Roberto Orci said. In fact, Orci's contemptuous statements in general make Nimoy's one gaffe seem quite kind by comparison.

 

[EnriqueH]

Kinda ungrateful. He achieved a certain immortality with the role since Star Wars has joined Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca as VERY EXCLUSIVE group of movies that will probably still be remembered the next century.

Guinness had achieved screen immortality long before he ever did STAR WARS. In fact, he was one of the things that gave the project legitimacy in its early stages. To claim that STAR WARS is the only reason that he is or should be remembered is either just gross ignorance or SW fan wishful thinking.

I'm not saying that that's what you were doing, but your phrasing could've been a bit better there.

Yeah, I'm NOT saying Guinness wasn't already a legendary actor by the time Star Wars rolled around.

But if you walk up to people on the street and ask them what they thought of Guinness is Bridge on the River Kwai, chances are they may look at you and say, "Who the hell is that?"

On the other hand, walk up to a person and ask them what they thought of Obi-Wan Kenobi? First of all, they may think you're talking about Ewan McGregor, lol, but there's a better chance they'll remember Guinness for Obi-Wan than other roles.

No matter what we personally think of his achievements.

Does that clarify my meaning?

 

[Greg Cox]

Kinda ungrateful. He achieved a certain immortality with the role since Star Wars has joined Wizard of Oz, Gone With The Wind and Casablanca as VERY EXCLUSIVE group of movies that will probably still be remembered the next century.

Guinness had achieved screen immortality long before he ever did STAR WARS. In fact, he was one of the things that gave the project legitimacy in its early stages. To claim that STAR WARS is the only reason that he is or should be remembered is either just gross ignorance or SW fan wishful thinking.

I'm not saying that that's what you were doing, but your phrasing could've been a bit better there.

Yeah, I'm NOT saying Guinness wasn't already a legendary actor by the time Star Wars rolled around.

But if you walk up to people on the street and ask them what they thought of Guinness is Bridge on the River Kwai, chances are they may look at you and say, "Who the hell is that?"

On the other hand, walk up to a person and ask them what they thought of Obi-Wan Kenobi? First of all, they may think you're talking about Ewan McGregor, lol, but there's a better chance they'll remember Guinness for Obi-Wan than other roles.

Absolutely. And that's probably exactly what bothered him as years went by.

Kind of like the way Sir Arthur Conan Doyle grew tired of being associated only with Sherlock Holmes . . . .

We may disagree, but it's a perfectly understandable human reaction and, IMHO, nothing to take offense at. Invariably, the people producing the art are going to have a different perspective on it than the people enjoying it.

As Lance pointed out, the bridge of the Starship Enterprise is just a soundstage if that's where you report to work every Monday morning. Doesn't mean you're disrespecting STAR TREK or the fans or the job, but who rhapsodizes about their cubicle at work?

 

[JRoss]

Forget Obi-Wan Kenobi or his character from The Bridge on the River Kwai. Alec Guinness should be forever remembered as Jamesir Bensonmum.

 

[enterprisecvn65]

Too damn bad actors aren't always remembered for what they think is their best work. I think Famke Janssen would rather be remembered for crushing men with her legs then being remembered as some guy who was beheaded by ISIS when he was there as an aid worker.

Have you met Famke Janssen? If not, I don't see how you could possibly know what she thinks about the various roles she's had in both film and television. Your comparison is ridiculous. I'm sure just about everyone would rather be remembered for an acting role as opposed to getting beheaded.

Uh someone else brought up her role in Goldeneye and not wanting to be remembered for it, not me, so that point is totally moot.

And no you can't always judge a person by what you read or see. But there some people you don't need to know personally to see what asses they are. Never met Bobby Knight once and don't have to to know the man is a bully and an asshole.

As I'm from Indiana, I can assure you there are just as many people who've the opposite opinion of Coach Knight. Public perception doesn't tell the entire about a person's character. Coach Knight has his flaws, certainly, but to suggest that he's an asshole because that's what the media would have you believe isn't fair.

Sorry if you believe a person's behaviors obviously don't reflect their personality sometimes.

Did I say that? Go back and read my post, and you'll find that my statement was limited to actors' public statements about prior roles, not the entire scope of their behavior on a day-to-day basis.

--Sran

Of course many people from Indiana or who are fans of IU defend or like hm. BECAUSE HE WON A LOT!!!!!!! For 99% of the people who still defend/like him it's because he brought a lot of glory to the Hoosiers not because they think he's a particularly great guy. If he'd been a losing coach and acted the way he did I'm positive almost most IU fans would be "Holy shit this guy is an embarrassment to our school, can his ass now"......In sports winning makes up for almost any behavior that wouldn't be tolerated in most jobs or social situations. Ohio State put up with Woody Hayes' crap for decades because he won, it took him actually punching an opposing player for OSU to say "OK Woody now you've gone too far. Anyone with any brains knows John Calipari is running a program that is probably dirty as hell, but you know what? Kentucky is a top 5 program under him.....so oh well?

And I KNOW for a fact this is true. My alma matter had a football coach that was known for acting like a fool and a jackass off the field. He never took it to Knight or Hayes levels, but it was still embarrassing. His first season he took the team to a 10 win season after an extended slump and people defended him as "colorful" and "refreshing". By his 5th year when he had had 4 straight seasons of .500 or below ball and lost some games in almost unbelievable fashion including a few to our arch rival......Now his behavior was embarrassing and a disgrace to the university and used as an argument as to why he should be canned. His behavior didn't change over 5 years, he was a jackass in year 1 and a jackass in year 5, the only thing that changed was the number of games he won........

So IU fans who still love Knight don't carry a lot of weight with me. If a total stranger treated them like Knight treated people, most of them would never stand for it and quite a few might punch him the mouth. But because it was COACH KNIGHT and it was other people he treated badly, not me, and he won a lot....Hell I think he's awesome.

And my "ridiculous" beheading comment was in response to your ridiculous Famke Janssen leg crushing comment. My point was guess what? Many people don't always get remembered for what they want to. It's not like you can say to people.......Hey you idiots, THIS was the best thing I did, not this other thing you all want to immortalize me for doing. If Famke Janssen is most remembered for being russian spy who strangled men with her thighs in Goldeneye, or Alec Guniness is most remembered for Obi-Wan and they don't like it because in their mind they did so much more.......I guess that's too bad.

There are MANY,MANY worse things to be remembered for than things like that. Christa McAullife I'm sure wanted to be remembered as the first common citizen who went into space and someone who used that opportunity to further educate children. Unfortunately a poorly designed o-ring system and some cold weather made that impossible and she's remembered for something much more tragic.

If being remembered as Obi-Wan when you wanted to be remembered for your whole career is the worst thing that happened to you in life.......You are pretty lucky IMHO and it tells me the person has a COMPLETE lack of perspective on the world if that is so upsetting to them.

And finally you call my shots at Connery uncalled for. Well in Sir Sean's particular case I've read and heard more than enough, that goes way beyond him griping about 007, to convince me the man is a total asshole. You tell me "Just because a person acts a certain way or you read so and so about them you can't judge who they really are and in some cases you may be right. But you seem to be saying to me that no matter how often or how ridiculous their behaviors are that you can't jump to the conclusion they are like that personally. And I don't buy that. A person shows up for work late once or twice....maybe traffic was bad or their alarm failed...I'm willing to give them a chance. Someone shows up late for work 3 or 4 times a month. Sorry, tells me they're not responsible enough to be trusted for this job and I let them go.

A celeb says or does something stupid or ridiculous on an off occasion, it's no big deal to me...we all do it and since every moment of their lives is recorded we just happen to see it. A celeb shows a repeated pattern of acting in an idiotic way way over an extended period of time........That's good enough for me to believe that's probably what they're like.

Like I said...if it's so hard, then quit. Harrison Ford had shown he he has bad feelings about Han Solo for some reason, and has done so for years......Guess who people are going to be watching Ford play this December? Doesn't seem to mind the character now that he's getting big paychecks for it.

 

[Silvercrest]

Forget Obi-Wan Kenobi or his character from The Bridge on the River Kwai. Alec Guinness should be forever remembered as Jamesir Bensonmum.

Jamesir Bensonmum: She murdered herself in her sleep, sir.
Dick Charleston: You mean suicide?
Jamesir Bensonmum: Oh no, it was murder, all right. Mrs. Twain HATED herself.

 

[Greg Cox]

Guinness was also great in "Kind Hearts and Coronets" in which he played multiple characters--including a suffragette!

 

[Lance]

Absolutely. Alec Guinness wasn't just a star of British cinema, he was a megastar. And that wasn't a sense of hubris on the part of Guinness, it was a reflection of his talent.

He's the guy that Peter Sellers idolised when he was growing up.

It stands perfectly to reason that Star Wars would have been relatively insignificant to an actor of Guinness's caliber, and I don't begrudge him that one little bit.

 

[Captain Clark Terrell]

Christa McAullife I'm sure wanted to be remembered as the first common citizen who went into space and someone who used that opportunity to further educate children. Unfortunately a poorly designed o-ring system and some cold weather made that impossible and she's remembered for something much more tragic.

Why do you insist on making comparisons between acting roles and people dying?

--Sran

 

[Cyke101]

Christa McAullife I'm sure wanted to be remembered as the first common citizen who went into space and someone who used that opportunity to further educate children. Unfortunately a poorly designed o-ring system and some cold weather made that impossible and she's remembered for something much more tragic.

Why do you insist on making comparisons between acting roles and people dying?

--Sran

It's very odd yes, as opposed to any other analogy, and as if McAullife chose to die or something silly like that. I like apples and oranges as much as the next guy, but no.

Personally speaking, I'm neither a military man nor a big name actor, I'm a regular joe with a regular job. But it'd be absolutely hell for me if, past the 9-5, I had to live up to my job in my off-hours on my own personal time. As others have pointed out before, there's a distinct difference between work and recreation. And I certainly don't put in the 12-16+ hours in a day that a soldier or actor does in refining what they do, either. If you want a healthy mind that isn't stressed and doesn't need decompressing, it's best to recognize that distinction between work time and personal time (that is, after all, why many companies offer vacation time and sick leave to employees). I also appreciate people who respect that distinction in my life -- whenever I hang out with my superiors and colleagues outside of work, our #1 rule is don't talk about work.

 

[Greg Cox]

An old friend of mine used to be an IRS agent. She kept it quiet to keep people from hitting her up for free tax advice all the time. (I tried not to abuse the privilege.)