Dukat In "Covenant"

[Sci]

What's amazing is that when you consider Alaimo came from a theatrical background yet managed to dial it back JUST enough for TV, it's even more impressive

Actually, I don't think he did dial it down. In my admittedly non-expert opinion, Alaimo, Robinson, and the other actors working in big prosthetic masks didn't dial it down as they acted -- they kept up a very theatrical style, because that's the only way to get emotion through the makeup. The makeup makes it feel subdued enough for TV. If the makeup weren't there, they'd probably come across as being a bit too theatrical.

 

[Anwar]

Didn't Alaimo himself say something about how they always got theatre actors for the more makeup-intensive characters?

 

[Tallis Rhul]

It's not an "always" job I don't think, but it was stated by Terry Farrel in an interview on (I think) season 3 of DS9 in the special features that Star Trek tends towards theatre actors, and not just for the make-up intensive parts. She felt threatened because she was a TV actor and nearly everyone else on the cast had done theatre, and specifically Shakespeare.

Alaimo may have said something along those lines, but looking at some of the make-up intensive minor characters who guested in DS9 I don't think I'd 100% believe him. Broik for example... theatre? Surely not.

 

[Sci]

It's not an "always" job I don't think, but it was stated by Terry Farrel in an interview on (I think) season 3 of DS9 in the special features that Star Trek tends towards theatre actors, and not just for the make-up intensive parts. She felt threatened because she was a TV actor and nearly everyone else on the cast had done theatre, and specifically Shakespeare.

Alaimo may have said something along those lines, but looking at some of the make-up intensive minor characters who guested in DS9 I don't think I'd 100% believe him. Broik for example... theatre? Surely not.

To be fair, I don't think Alaimo was talking about the actors playing the obscure recurring background roles. He was talking about the prominent characters -- Odo, Quark, Dukat, Weyoun, the Female Shapeshifter, Brunt, Zek, Martok, Gowron, Damar, etc.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Well that's fair play, but my general point is that they leaned towards Shakespearian actors for all roles and not just those featuring heavy make-up.

Was J.G. Hertzler a theatre actor? I can't find anything on that on the net...

Also, it was nice to see them actually able to act "properly" and "unimpeded" by their prosthetics in Far Beyond the Stars.

 

[Sci]

Was J.G. Hertzler a theatre actor? I can't find anything on that on the net...

Indeed he was. His biography in his DS9 novel The Left Hand of Destiny lists several national tours he co-starred in.

 

[Tallis Rhul]

Not to betray my own cause here, but I do think that it's absolutely awesome that so many "highbrow" actors were prepared to sign on for Star Trek. Patrick Stewart being a prime example. There's such a stereotype in the UK that Shakespearean actors are stuffy, boring and intellectual, and yet here you have a guy who not only played Jean-Luc Picard for 7 years of TV and 4 films, but then went on to play Professor X in the X-Men.

Would be great to see J.G. Hertzler on stage. He actually made Martok look natural, which most Klingon actors don't.

 

[Anwar]

Patrick Stewart is an inversion of the "Classically Trained Extra" http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ClassicallyTrainedExtra in that he claimed all those times he played Kings and Emperors were great practice for a role like Picard.