Actors & Trek Lit

[UncleRogi]

I wonder if any of the actors from the various series follow their characters in Trek literature, and how they feel about these adventures.

I kind of doubt most of them care, but it's interesting to ponder. For example, I wonder what Kate Mulgrew thinks about Janeway's tribulations.

I know a few have actually written their own, such as the excellent A Stitch in Time, etc.

 

[Mage]

Although I really like the character-arc for Sisko in the last few novels, I can't help but wonder what Brooks thought of it all....

 

[Shon T'Hara]

Back in the olden days, the Trek actors used to do (heavily abridged) audiobooks of the novels, but I don't think that happens any more.

And didn't Vonda McIntyre get George Takei's approval when she made "Hikaru" Sulu's first name?

 

[Melakon]

Don't the actors have to sign off on the cover art if it features their likeness? They might be skimming galleys or something.

 

[tomswift2002]

Don't the actors have to sign off on the cover art if it features their likeness? They might be skimming galleys or something.

I recall reading years ago (and I think it was Shatner's Trek Memories VHS) that after TOS ended in the 60's all the actors were bought out of all their rights and just paid a lump sum at that time. But, presumable some new arrangement was probably made for when the movies came out.

As for the other series, I would assume that Paramount probably secured the actor's permission to use their likeness on any tie-in when their contract was originally signed. So they might get something like $.005 cents per cover for every book sold.

 

[KRAD]

Only the captains (and a few others) were given likeness approval rights. The list currently includes William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jonathan Frakes, Whoopi Goldberg, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and (in a limited capacity) LeVar Burton. Basically, Burton only has approval if he's the only character in the image. Avery Brooks was offered likeness approval, but declined it.

As for actors who follow it, I know that Andrew J. Robinson, Aron Eisenberg, and J.G. Hertzler have kept up with the novels, at least to some degree. And I know Nana Visitor was genuinely curious and fascinated about what was being done with Kira in the early DS9 relaunch novels when I first met her at Shore Leave in 2002. (She was less curious when we most recently encountered each other at I-Con in 2012.)

 

[Paper Moon]

I would love to know what Andrew J. Robinson thinks of The Crimson Shadow. I would honestly spend non-trivial amounts of money to be able to discuss the book with him and Una McCormack (or even just to hear his thoughts).

Also would be particularly interested to hear about Brent Spiner's reaction to the recent developments vis à vis the Soong family (and his reaction to Light Fantastic). Honestly, though, I get the feeling he wouldn't be particularly interested. That man has an interesting relationship with his character(s), from what I can tell.

LeVar Burton has spoken publicly about being a fan of the show. When I saw him at a convention last year, he talked about having a minor geek-out when he's flipping through the channels and comes across an episode of TNG he hasn't seen before. (I envy him that.) Would that translate into interest in the books? Good question. With the exception of Indistinguishable from Magic, and I guess the early SCE books, not a lot has been done with his character. On the other hand, I could also see him enjoy the books simply because they're Trek.

I think that Avery Brooks would have strong feelings about where Sisko and Kassidy were taken in the books, but I'm not sure exactly what they'd be. Well, I'm sure he'd be happy about Unity. He was very unhappy with the suggestion from "What You Leave Behind" that Sisko would just disappear and never come back, so I'm sure he'd be glad that Sisko kept his word. Not sure what he would make of DRGIII's direction, though.

On the cover of one of the Vulcan's Trilogy books, Leonard Nimoy is quoted, "Fascinating!", clearly in reference to the book. Has he ever spoken about those books and where they took his character?

 

[DGCatAniSiri]

I seem to remember seeing either video or gifs somewhere of Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis being very excited to learn that Riker and Troi now had a child.

 

[Shon T'Hara]

I recall reading years ago (and I think it was Shatner's Trek Memories VHS) that after TOS ended in the 60's all the actors were bought out of all their rights and just paid a lump sum at that time. But, presumable some new arrangement was probably made for when the movies came out.

The black man in my avatar is Sulu as he appeared in some of the early comics. Uhura is a blonde woman in the same issues. My understanding is when the comics came out, the publisher didn't have likeness rights for Takei and Nichols.

 

[Christopher]

^Except if you look closely, the line art is clearly showing Takei and Nichols's facial features, with only the coloring (and "Sulu"'s hairstyle) altered. So if it was a matter of likeness rights, the issue wasn't discovered until after the pencil art had been done.