Did Majel Barrett have what it took?

[JonnyQuest037]

She was pretty wooden as Number One and as Chapel in TOS ...

I wonder if that's all due to Majel's acting ability, or might have been in part owing to how Number One was written. Calm, cool and professional. Which worked for Tuvok and Spock, but I don't think would have worked on a weekly basis for Number One.

Well, since Chapel wasn't written that way, and Majel Barrett was still wooden, I'm chalking it up to acting ability. She'd gotten better by the time of TNG, IMO.

It takes a superior actor to still maintain the interest of the audience when playing an emotionally restrained character like Spock or Number One. Nimoy had the chops. Barrett didn't.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Sometimes it's not about talent or ability. Frequently it's more about does the actor have "it" on the screen and if they are right for the part. I don't think Majel had "it" for Number One or Chapel, but Mrs. Troi was another matter.

I see this tossed around often, but what--exactly---did the role of Chapel demand that Barrett did not possess? Chapel was an intentionally limited role, so other than being the longing, wannabe woman of Spock's life (barely a recurring sub-plot over the 3 seasons), along with McCoy's nurse, what else was required that Barret failed to supply?

 

[Corylea]

I see this tossed around often, but what--exactly---did the role of Chapel demand that Barrett did not possess? Chapel was an intentionally limited role, so other than being the longing, wannabe woman of Spock's life (barely a recurring sub-plot over the 3 seasons), along with McCoy's nurse, what else was required that Barret failed to supply?

Uhura was also a limited role, but Nichelle Nichols gave Uhura some personality and some pizzaz that Chapel just didn't have.

Chapel always felt cold to me, and even in "The Naked Time," when she was compromised by the virus and telling Spock how much she loved him, she STILL seemed cold. Maybe that's why she did the voice of the ship's computer so well.

 

[DataRules]

Uhura was also a limited role, but Nichelle Nichols gave Uhura some personality and some pizzaz that Chapel just didn't have.

Chapel always felt cold to me, and even in "The Naked Time," when she was compromised by the virus and telling Spock how much she loved him, she STILL seemed cold. Maybe that's why she did the voice of the ship's computer so well.

I agree that Nichelle Nichols had more stage presence than Majel Barrett. However, I think all of the main women from Star Trek in the 1960s - Nichols, Barrett, and Grace Lee Whitney - got a raw deal. Perhaps had they employed different writers.... Oh well, I guess at this point, we'll never know.

 

[Warped9]

Number One was written as an emotionally cool character which could be at odds with what we might expect from female characters on film and televsion. Later, when Vulcans were established, we could accept someone emotionally cool like like T'Pring and T'Pau (who were also aliens), but as early as the first pilot that wasn't so clear.

Oddly if you watch Barbara Bain as Cinnamon Carter in Mission: Impossible you can see an example of an emotionally cool and totally professional woman that could easily work as someone like Number One.

So the character of Number One might not have clicked for the suits as seen and contributed to them wanting the character recast. But Majel being GR's mistreas could also have biased the suits to some degree.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Is there any evidence that the "suits" didn't like the character of Number One?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Wel, she was pretty good as the voice of the ship's computer!

I must say, she was quite terrific in TNG's Half a Life.

I think so too, to both.

 

[Warped9]

Is there any evidence that the "suits" didn't like the character of Number One?

The impression I've gotten is that they didn't dislike the character, neither did they ask for the character to be removed, but they didn't think Maajel suited the role. As to the particulars of "why" we may never know how much of that was their opinion of Majel as an actress and their feelings about GR's blatant nepotism.

 

[Maurice]

Sometimes it's not about talent or ability. Frequently it's more about does the actor have "it" on the screen and if they are right for the part. I don't think Majel had "it" for Number One or Chapel, but Mrs. Troi was another matter.

I see this tossed around often, but what--exactly---did the role of Chapel demand that Barrett did not possess? Chapel was an intentionally limited role, so other than being the longing, wannabe woman of Spock's life (barely a recurring sub-plot over the 3 seasons), along with McCoy's nurse, what else was required that Barret failed to supply?

My point is that some actors have that je ne sais quoi in certain roles and not others. There are actors who have tiny parts but bring them to life, and others they just can't. Whatever choices Majel made she didn't come to life on screen as either Number One or Chapel, whereas she did as Lwaxana.

Let me toss out a personal example. On a short film I did one of the actresses decided that her character was clumsy. That wasn't in the script, but it added this little human note to the character that made her come to life as a person. Majel was hitting her marks and doing her lines on TOS but never really came alive.

 

[Commishsleer]

Is there any evidence that the "suits" didn't like the character of Number One?

The impression I've gotten is that they didn't dislike the character, neither did they ask for the character to be removed, but they didn't think Maajel suited the role. As to the particulars of "why" we may never know how much of that was their opinion of Majel as an actress and their feelings about GR's blatant nepotism.

It wasn't as if GR was the only person having an affair in Hollywood. Did the suits even know or care about what was going on in GRs private life?

Surely if Majel had been outstanding or what they wanted they would have overlooked any impropriety. Or am I wrong?
Did the suits in Hollywood have morals?

 

[Warped9]

The thing is apparently GR was indiscreet and wore his affairs like some sort of badge of honour. Sure, other execs ran around, but generally you exercised some measure of discretion. Maybe they didn't appreciate or accept GR's blatantness.

 

[CoveTom]

It wasn't as if GR was the only person having an affair in Hollywood. Did the suits even know or care about what was going on in GRs private life?

Surely if Majel had been outstanding or what they wanted they would have overlooked any impropriety. Or am I wrong?
Did the suits in Hollywood have morals?

It's one thing to employ the "casting couch" for the guest star of the week. It's quite another to be having an ongoing affair with the person who is one of the main leads of the show you are producing. Morals aside, the network would rightly worry about the economic impact if their relationship went sour.

 

[EnriqueH]

I actually thought Barrett was excellent in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

I just don't think it was much of a character.

Emotionally cool worked for Vulcans, but seemed misplaced with Number One.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I actually thought Barrett was excellent in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

I just don't think it was much of a character.

Emotionally cool worked for Vulcans, but seemed misplaced with Number One.

Why would it be misplaced?

The Executive Officer
Never referred to as anything but "Number One", this officer is female. Almost mysteriously female, in fact -- slim and dark in a Nile Valley way, age uncertain, one of those women who will always look the same between years twenty and fifty. An extraordinarily efficient officer, "Number One" enjoys playing it expressionless, cool -- is probably Robert April's superior in detailed knowledge of the equipment, departments, and personnel aboard the vessel. When Captain April leaves the craft, "Number One" moves up to Acting Captain. (The Making of Star Trek, p. 29)

It what the character was supposed to be about.

 

[LMFAOschwarz]

I actually thought Barrett was excellent in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"

I agree, that was easily her best episode.

I also liked her little scene in (I think it was) The Lights of Zetar, her little telling Scotty "With bedside manners like that, Scotty, you're in the wrong business" bit. Just a brief scene, but amusing and realistic in the sense that it emphasizes that these people know each other and their traits, regardless how much or little we see of their interactions on screen.

Sometimes less is more. It makes me think of someone like Goober on The Andy Griffith Show. When he had his 'own' episodes, he was likeable, but also came across as somewhere between inept and truly mentally challenged in some weird way. On the other hand, when he was used for brief bits, he could be totally hilarious. I favor the brief bits, because it could be uncomfortable for me as a viewer to watch a Goober episode, and wind up really feeling sorry for him, because he appeared to have a larger problem that none of his friends seemed to want to acknowledge.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

It's one thing to employ the "casting couch" for the guest star of the week. It's quite another to be having an ongoing affair with the person who is one of the main leads of the show you are producing. Morals aside, the network would rightly worry about the economic impact if their relationship went sour.

I think couch-casting (demanding sex from) the female guest star of the week is bad enough all by itself.

And it seems clear that GR frequently did just that, which is why it got so hard to find good actresses who were even willing to come in and read for Star Trek during the third season. They had to find actresses who were unaware of GR's reputation (or on good personal terms with him), and were available that week.

This is why casting Miranda in "Is There in Truth no Beauty" went down to the wire, and they finally had to re-use Diana Muldaur with a black wig. We're lucky Majel Barrett didn't get the part, in a wig and elaborate make-up.

 

[SPCTRE]

Having the Executive Producer banging one of the stars could have been deadly for a show like Trek if the relationship turned toxic. Very astute call by NBC.

[/dadvocate]

Times were different then than they were in 1965. And Gene Roddenberry was married to someone else at the time, which was a MUCH bigger deal in 1965 than it is now!

Of course, and I agree, it is very much different. I was just trying to play devil's advocate.

 

[T'Girl]

(The Making of Star Trek, p. 29)

It what the character was supposed to be about.

That description left out Roddenberry's "She moved/walked like a "stripper queen."

In terms of Majel's acting abilities, ask yourself this one question, if she hadn't been Roddenberry's girlfriend would she have even briefly been considered for the role?

Second (or third) billing on the show, based solely on her acting abilities?

 

[Melakon]

Majel's work as Number One and Christine were often unconvincing for me. Too many times, her delivery sounded too much like line readings and not spontaneous dialogue from the characters. Chapel probably would have worked better if she wasn't mooning over Spock all the time.

 

[2takesfrakes]

Majel Barrett just wasn't that talented, had a limited range and she had no charisma. Even in terms of attractiveness, she wasn't a stand-out. She just didn't bring anything special to the table.

Grace Lee Whitney, on the other hand, had that rediculous beehive subjected on her, but even if they let her look normal, she still projected personality and charisma. When she couldn't walk down the hall in one episode, without getting all kinds of attention, I totally believed (the ep. with the Salt Monster). If Nurse Chapel walked down the hall, who knew she existed, except for The Big Three?

When she unleashed Lwaxana Troi's Mid-Life Crisis on TNG and DS9 for the world to see, she traded the quiet dignity she endowed Chapel and Number One for boisterious garishness. Quiet or Loud, that's her scope as an actress and still ... no charisma anywhere in sight, with this woman. None, whatsoever. In fact, I consider the COMPUTER VOICE she performed throughout the franchise to be her crowning achievement and I really mean that. I thought she always gave good readings, in that capacity.