Terry Farrell and DS9 Season 7

[Bad Thoughts]

Worf and Garak were each able to reduce her to tears within a few episodes of her starting on the show and I don't think Jadzia ever cried in the entire series. And yes being 5'4 didn't help her.

No Jadzia just sat there like an upset 10 year old in "Dax" while everybody worked their ass of to save her. Strong character!
Also Terry Farrel might not have been able to convincingly cry on camera (quite difficult as far as I know) the closest she got was "looking sorta sad/nauseated" (like in the episode I mentioned above)

Give Ezri a break, she just was forced to basically fuse with 8 other people, without getting the extensive training Jadzia got to do the same AND against her will. She has issues...

In a related note I have just finished "Facets" and it was the first Dax episode that didn't make me cringe. Rather it was hillarious, it allwed everyone, including Chaste Masterson, but especially Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman and Rene Aberjonois, to show off their acting chops....and then there was Farrel, standing there like a white wall for the others to bounce off on.

Sound points.

I didn't come in here to rip on Ezri, and I'm sorry that was what it turned into. I agree Farrell was obviously the weakest of the actors on the show. But I did grow to like her character through the course of the series and as a teenager at the time, I couldn't get into a new character who was there for one season.

Nothing wrong with appreciating Farrell or preferring her character. She had limited range, but what she could do well, she did very well. It may have been difficult for everyone involved to find a character she could play.

At the end of the day, Farrell contributed more to the franchise as a whole that several other actresses. Maybe we don't think much of her being the "girlfriend" or the "woman warrior," but in neither case was she the passive sex object. Jadzia Dax would have fit in better on Kronos in STID than the current Uhura.

 

[kirkfan]

She was so stiff, what she did could barely be called acting.

 

[TPT]

I listened to Terry Farrell’s Delta Quadrant podcast interview, and I sympathize with her. I think Jadzia Dax is a very difficult role to play even for a veteran actor, because this character has memories and experiences spanning multiple lives. Yet Farrell found herself in a situation where she had to play one of the most difficult roles in the show even though she was one of the youngest and thus least experienced actors in the cast.

Also, the way the writers set up Jadzia in the earlier seasons didn’t help Farrell’s situation much either. The writers set up Jadzia Dax in the earlier seasons as too flawless and too perfect. A wise, old soul who is totally comfortable in her own skin is appealing as an ancillary character, but is problematic if you try to use her as the main protagonist of an episode.

For a character to be viable as the main protagonist of an episode, that character has to have room to change internally. This means that he/she has to have issues and flaws to deal with, but the writers didn’t give Jadzia any real issues or flaws to deal with in the earlier seasons.

Farrell’s situation did improve in the later seasons after the writers hooked up Jadzia with Worf. The Worf-Jadzia romance gave Jadzia’s character the opportunity to change and thus allowed Farrell to showcase her acting skills more. Actors can only work with what they are given on the script.

 

[kirkfan]

I listened to Terry Farrell’s Delta Quadrant podcast interview, and I sympathize with her. I think Jadzia Dax is a very difficult role to play even for a veteran actor, because this character has memories and experiences spanning multiple lives. Yet Farrell found herself in a situation where she had to play one of the most difficult roles in the show even though she was one of the youngest and thus least experienced actors in the cast.

Also, the way the writers set up Jadzia in the earlier seasons didn’t help Farrell’s situation much either. The writers set up Jadzia Dax in the earlier seasons as too flawless and too perfect. A wise, old soul who is totally comfortable in her own skin is appealing as an ancillary character, but is problematic if you try to use her as the main protagonist of an episode.

For a character to be viable as the main protagonist of an episode, that character has to have room to change internally. This means that he/she has to have issues and flaws to deal with, but the writers didn’t give Jadzia any real issues or flaws to deal with in the earlier seasons.

Farrell’s situation did improve in the later seasons after the writers hooked up Jadzia with Worf. The Worf-Jadzia romance gave Jadzia’s character the opportunity to change and thus allowed Farrell to showcase her acting skills more. Actors can only work with what they are given on the script.

"There are no small parts, only small actors”

 

[Orphalesion]

I listened to Terry Farrell’s Delta Quadrant podcast interview, and I sympathize with her. I think Jadzia Dax is a very difficult role to play even for a veteran actor, because this character has memories and experiences spanning multiple lives. Yet Farrell found herself in a situation where she had to play one of the most difficult roles in the show even though she was one of the youngest and thus least experienced actors in the cast.

Also, the way the writers set up Jadzia in the earlier seasons didn’t help Farrell’s situation much either. The writers set up Jadzia Dax in the earlier seasons as too flawless and too perfect. A wise, old soul who is totally comfortable in her own skin is appealing as an ancillary character, but is problematic if you try to use her as the main protagonist of an episode.

For a character to be viable as the main protagonist of an episode, that character has to have room to change internally. This means that he/she has to have issues and flaws to deal with, but the writers didn’t give Jadzia any real issues or flaws to deal with in the earlier seasons.

Farrell’s situation did improve in the later seasons after the writers hooked up Jadzia with Worf. The Worf-Jadzia romance gave Jadzia’s character the opportunity to change and thus allowed Farrell to showcase her acting skills more. Actors can only work with what they are given on the script.

Yeah we talked about this earlier in the thread and you're right. Jadzia was ridiculously perfect and flawless. Not only that but the writers seemed content to randomly assign her any talent, interest and character traits that they felt like that day. She causally solved complex, decade-old mathematical mysteries, played card games against the most cunning people in the quadrant and dueled with Klingons all in a day and without breaking a sweat. It was ridiculous.

One problem was really that the writing staff did not sort out the Trill thing properly before the show, just like Troi and Kes with their mental powers, so often it seemed like they had no idea how to write her. I

Another was that there was very little of Jadzia that really was Jadzia and not Dax. If we look at "Facets" all the other hosts are really interesting people...and then there's Jadzia who is really just a pretty face and nothing else. Ezri was much better written in that way that she seemed to have a personality that wasn't Dax and that she struggled with the symbiosis, which gave the writers and the actress something to work with.

I can understand that it must have been rough on Farrel to basically play a slug. Also note how she seemed better/more comfortable with the role of Mirror Universe Jadzia who seemed to have a bit more of a defined personality.
Still I think Farrel's range was rather limited.

 

[kirkfan]

I listened to Terry Farrell’s Delta Quadrant podcast interview, and I sympathize with her. I think Jadzia Dax is a very difficult role to play even for a veteran actor, because this character has memories and experiences spanning multiple lives. Yet Farrell found herself in a situation where she had to play one of the most difficult roles in the show even though she was one of the youngest and thus least experienced actors in the cast.

Also, the way the writers set up Jadzia in the earlier seasons didn’t help Farrell’s situation much either. The writers set up Jadzia Dax in the earlier seasons as too flawless and too perfect. A wise, old soul who is totally comfortable in her own skin is appealing as an ancillary character, but is problematic if you try to use her as the main protagonist of an episode.

For a character to be viable as the main protagonist of an episode, that character has to have room to change internally. This means that he/she has to have issues and flaws to deal with, but the writers didn’t give Jadzia any real issues or flaws to deal with in the earlier seasons.

Farrell’s situation did improve in the later seasons after the writers hooked up Jadzia with Worf. The Worf-Jadzia romance gave Jadzia’s character the opportunity to change and thus allowed Farrell to showcase her acting skills more. Actors can only work with what they are given on the script.

Yeah we talked about this earlier in the thread and you're right. Jadzia was ridiculously perfect and flawless. Not only that but the writers seemed content to randomly assign her any talent, interest and character traits that they felt like that day. She causally solved complex, decade-old mathematical mysteries, played card games against the most cunning people in the quadrant and dueled with Klingons all in a day and without breaking a sweat. It was ridiculous.

One problem was really that the writing staff did not sort out the Trill thing properly before the show, just like Troi and Kes with their mental powers, so often it seemed like they had no idea how to write her. I

Another was that there was very little of Jadzia that really was Jadzia and not Dax. If we look at "Facets" all the other hosts are really interesting people...and then there's Jadzia who is really just a pretty face and nothing else. Ezri was much better written in that way that she seemed to have a personality that wasn't Dax and that she struggled with the symbiosis, which gave the writers and the actress something to work with.

I can understand that it must have been rough on Farrel to basically play a slug. Also note how she seemed better/more comfortable with the role of Mirror Universe Jadzia who seemed to have a bit more of a defined personality.
Still I think Farrel's range was rather limited.

She alluded to Fermat's last theorem and said that she worked on a variation of it but other than that I don't remember her solving any decade-old Mathematical mysteries.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I listened to Terry Farrell’s Delta Quadrant podcast interview, and I sympathize with her. I think Jadzia Dax is a very difficult role to play even for a veteran actor, because this character has memories and experiences spanning multiple lives. Yet Farrell found herself in a situation where she had to play one of the most difficult roles in the show even though she was one of the youngest and thus least experienced actors in the cast.

In terms of a base performance, tuning in on the age of the character may have been difficult. However, I find that some of Farrell's main failures as an actress came under circumstances that were more or less humanly relatable. In Dax, she feels guilty about a transgression and wants to preserve the honor of a former love. In Invasive Procedures, she is facing death. In Equillibrium, she is dealing with memory recovery. These were all standard tropes in television at the time DS9 aired.

I also think that much of what she says in the podcast is inconsistent. You can read this whole thread where I point out to instances in which Farrell's own words seem to contradict what she says about the difficulties of the character. That said, context matters, and she is trying to make her way into the convention circuit, often sitting next to people who felt she had been very unprofessional. Farrell wants to portray herself in a postive light, encourage the adulation that many fans have for Dax, but also have cordial relationships with her former costars. If I may say, she was the "odd old man out" among people with extensive stage experience. Avery Brooks set a serious, professional tone for the set, which worked well for Auberjonois, Shimerman, Visitor, and Meaney, but which was alien to Farrell, a model with acting talent (and I think it is fair to say she had some talent). She may well have been used to work environments that were more accommodating. Now, there is some speculation in what I have written. Nonetheless, putting herself out in public might present its own challenges, making it more difficulty to speak her mind.

 

[kirkfan]

I think the writers went out of their way to accommodate her. She was the prodigal daughter of this cast.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I think the writers went out of their way to accommodate her. She was the prodigal daughter of this cast.

I thought Ezri was the "prodigal daughter."

A few writers were probably eager to make Dax the breakout character.

 

[kirkfan]

I think the writers went out of their way to accommodate her. She was the prodigal daughter of this cast.

I thought Ezri was the "prodigal daughter."

You realize that there is a difference between real people and fictional ones, don't you?

A few writers were probably eager to make Dax the breakout character.

The point is that they tried to accommodate Terry, to no avail.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

I think the writers went out of their way to accommodate her. She was the prodigal daughter of this cast.

I thought Ezri was the "prodigal daughter."

You realize that there is a difference between real people and fictional ones, don't you?

You do realize that there was an Ezri-focused episode called "Prodigal Daughter?"

 

[kirkfan]

I thought Ezri was the "prodigal daughter."

You realize that there is a difference between real people and fictional ones, don't you?

You do realize that there was an Ezri-focused episode called "Prodigal Daughter?"

Of course, I know every detail of each episode. I am practically unbeatable at ST trivia. The point I am laboring to make is that we're talking about actual people not fictional ones.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

 

[Tosk]

One day, one night, Kobayashi Maru.

 

[JD5000]

Glad I'm not the only one that noticed that.

 

[Bad Thoughts]

Duck test!

 

[kirkfan]

I believe, Dax characterization would have been better served if they had used Nicole de Boer from the start but of course they couldn't know.

 

[drmick]

Frankly I found myself being far more distracted by bad acting flaws from Brooks, Visitor and Siddig far more often. Sisko was fine for me when he could play the too-cool-for-school brooding thing (which he did 90% of the time) — but as soon as he had to emote, oy! I never once bought the Kira is a badass bit that was continually shoveled down our throats — no matter what, Visitor just never could convince me. And the hands-down worst acting on the show for me was Alex Siddig.

Agreed!

I accepted Terry Farrell as a weaker actress out of the gate with "Emissary". She did grow stronger as the series progressed. As a character-Ezri had more potential, and probably would have given the series more heart over 7 years.

Brooks, El Fadil, & Visitor however-

All three made some bizarre acting choices throughout the series. Moments that made me say " What the hell??" Farrell never did that.

I accept that for Brooks, but honestly can't recall any from Visitor that wasn't due to stodgy Lucas-esque dialogue, and none whatsoever from Siddig.

 

[dub]

I believe, Dax characterization would have been better served if they had used Nicole de Boer from the start but of course they couldn't know.

Of course, "they" might not agree with your conclusion, even with hindsight.

 

[JD5000]

I accept that for Brooks, but honestly can't recall any from Visitor that wasn't due to stodgy Lucas-esque dialogue, and none whatsoever from Siddig.

Siddig is generally solid despite the fact I find Bashir infinitely obnoxious, but the one strange acting choice that sticks out to me is when he adopts "the. voice. where. he. says. each. word. very. slowly. and makes. it. a sentence." The prime example of this is when he's inhabited by Vantika in "The Passenger". This generally makes sense because he's possessed, but he does it again a few more times in later episodes (sorry I can't cite them but I'm positive about this). Will have to check if that is shapeshifter Bashir or not, but if it is it makes even less sense, because the Bashir possessed by Vantika isn't shapeshifter Bashir.