Hey man, loved your role in the show and the show in general! Welcome to the board. We're not all crazy, mostly.
Hi! I'm Chris Myers. I played Gamble in Season 3. AMA!
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It's very immersive, which beats the old school green screen. But if that were all we used, it would probably be a bit of bummer. For one, the few practical set pieces you get tend to be sparse (it's only fleshed out for viewer). It's best we do a mix of AR Wall, built sets, and on-location. For us, and for the viewer!
I explicitly mentioned this to EP Henry Alonso Myers (no relation) and he seemed into it. Who knows if he'll remember/have room though. I'd love to though. This show really converted me into a newbie Trekkie so I'm so down to keep exploring. A little scared of any characters that might require sitting 5+ hours in the makeup chair though lol.
Depends on the director but honestly, overall, the direction tends to be pretty sparse. Directors tend to like your natural instincts and only chime in if there's something they're aware of in post that needs to line up.
Thank you! Babs was SUPER easy to work with; he's as present in the scenes as he portrays M'Benga. So trusting in that, I really enjoyed playing into his calm, stoic energy and finding our connection despite differences.
Thanks so much! And hey, a shame yes, but honestly part of the gift of his journey was feeling like it fit in. Otherwise the rug pull wouldn't have worked!
I had no idea about anything when I got the part, really. The audition material was a similar idea, but generic (I was talking to a superior, for instance, but it wasn't grounded in medical staff). I actually only initially had EPs 302-305 booked, and learned after 305 that I was going to come back for 310.
You have the honor of having worked with two Pikes....Anson Mount and Bruce Greenwood!
What happened to Gamble is easily explained....it was The Resident: Evil.
Heartfelt condolences about Malcolm. Man, that was just terrible....
Thank you, so tragic. You know, when Malcom passed I was doing a play directed by Phylicia Rashad, so it was another, even closer point of connection.
Welcome to the Trek BBS, Chris! So exciting to have you here. I’m very happy you got to be part of Strange New Worlds, a show many fans consider to be the best of this current era of Trek shows. And in a part that’s as memorable as this one! Genuinely, I hope this’ll open up even more exciting opportunities for you as an actor. I loved your performance as Gamble and I hope to see your face again in future productions, Trek or no Trek. Also, would love to meet you at a convention at some point, so fingers crossed you make FedCon in Germany some day.
I think upon your first appearances at the start of the season many guessed that something untoward was going to happen to your character down the road. But I have to say, both the writing and your jovial, wide-eyed performance made it quite the heartbreaking experience seeing Gamble turned into the mutilated vessel of evil he became. The switch from warm, youthful and friendly Dana Gamble to devious and cruel angel of death couldn’t have been more stark, which really made me mourn the loss of Gamble. There’s a big part of me that wishes they would have just kept you as part of the extended ensemble for longer.
In terms of questions I wonder what part was more fun / challenging / exciting for you to play as a performer: youthful sidekick or over-the-top villain?
Viewers online noticed that some of the on-set screen info had your character down as being from Wales. Did the writers give you any of this background info or is that news to you?
And finally, who of the actors was the most fun to work with? I reckon they’re all pretty interesting and fantastic people, but I was wondering who you personally enjoyed most working or spending time with.
Thanks so much! And yes to cons -- if folks invite me, I'll do my best to attend.
Gamble was definitely a bit easier as it was closer to who I am in real life (though definitely still a character). The villain aspect was completely new -- I mean, alien-villain-who-performs-human-but-is-also-secretly-more-powerful-than-anyone-around-him was something I'd never even approached playing before. Also, knowing that a lot of it (the eyes, the voice FX) were going to happen in post, but at the same time, I didn't want to "rely" on that stuff to make my performance. It was about learning and trusting (my directors, my instincts) and just having fun!
That's actually crazy about Wales I totally missed that. Is it on one of the datapad inserts? No, they didn't tell me anything about that. Glad I didn't have to use the accent haha.
Hard question about who was the most fun. On a personal level, I had a lot of fun with Melanie rehearsing and shooting our fight scenes which took the edge off. Then me and Ethan hung out a bunch outside of work which made the overall experience more welcoming and inclusive for me.
Thank you! So I wouldn't say the bad guy aspect was fun in particular, but the bifurcation definitely was. Interestingly enough, I have a big theater background and in particular, I've done 4 professional shows now where I'm double or triple cast. So it's actually become my wheelhouse to work in this way -- I just never imagined I'd get a chance to do it on TV since it tends to be more formally realist. Go figure, it took sci-fi and Trek to bring those skills out!
Hi! There is no one average day, tbh. That's the fun thing about it! Some you wake up at 5pm, some 10am. Sometimes you come in for 6 hours, sometimes it feels like you're there for 14. Sometimes on location in a freezing rock quarry (hello 305), sometimes in the luxurious comforts of your trailer and soundstage. But I will say, the big consistent element was the incredible production team and cast, all of which were warm and welcoming.
Thank you so much!
Welcome Chris fantastic to have you here and thanks for doing so!
What was your favourite scene you got to film for SNW ?
Hmm, I would say the bits where I'm in the holding cell, all the way through when I bust out and kill the redshirt. Peak Gamble, as a character; and also with regards to the modes of acting required from voice the physical to emotional.
Haha, I believe ya ;-)
Maybe this has been asked before, but what is it like on set? The whole group seems pretty tight-knit and friendly and that comes across on screen, like a family thing. Was that your impression as well?
Welcome to the BBS...
Saw your reference to Event Horizon up above (damn I should not have seen that film when I did - was shown on Channel 5 in the UK at about 9pm back in around 1999 when I was 10...) and I did think the scene where Sam Neill claws out his eye gave a similar look to yourself, but also it reminded me of Kaecilius from Dr Strange
I'm sure someone will have asked above but just in case - were you someone who had been a Star Trek fan yourself before the show? (and if so which was your favourite series...)
If not - was doing SNW something that has drawn you into the show and made you want to see more of it?
I do appreciate that acting is a job at the end of the day so you don't have to love it like fans do (similar to some football players who have said they actually dislike the game but they were good at it so it is work for them) but I'm taking a chance on you having either been or become a fan seeing as you have reached out to fans in this manner
Yeah, I have to say it's a genuinely warm and friendly crew both on and off set. And I have to stress this is NOT common.
So I grew up watching a lot of Sci-Fi Channel re-runs of all kinds of shows including TOS, and then whatever I could catch of DS9/Voyager on cable, but I wouldn't say I was anything approaching Trekkie status. I had the benefit of a lot of downtime before shooting (*ahem* the strikes *ahem*) so I fully watched SNW 1 + 2 to prep and fell in love with the show as a fan. By the time I got on set I was so excited to just take part. I even went on to watch all of Disco, and I plan to watch all the series from TOS onward over time.
As for your last point, it's true it's just a job and I think actors (and professional artists of all kinds) need to parse out the love and labor of it all to be able to protect themselves in all the situations (especially early career) where people (employers) take advantage of their love, but I will say, it's too hard a business to persist in without loving it. Of course, not everything is sunshine and rainbows, but it's important to have a humanizing purpose with this overall approach otherwise there are a lot better ways to make a living. I really do love this most times, and thankfully my experience shooting SNW S3 deepened and affirmed why.
That's awesome mate - what was your favourite (sci-fi in general rather than Trek specific) growing up?
You are spot on about needing to balance the love for the job with necessity - I find it myself with being an accountant that I love the job like nothing else but sometimes that love for it can allow me to give more than I get back!
Really important for us as fans also to recognise the balance and respect that you guys won't be necessarily as mad for it as we are like.
Thanks for the reply - really cool to hear these sorts of things directly
Thanks for answering, Chris! That's cool that you got to have that process of discovering the arc for Gamble as shooting for the season went along. Did it make it more challenging for you in terms of arcing Gamble's characterization, or was it a bit more freeing to not be tied down to an endpoint ahead of time?
And then something I'm curious about as someone who's collected a lot of Trek scripts - do y'all actually still get printed scripts and colored revision pages anymore, or has production moved everything to digital now? Do you make a lot of annotations in your scripts as part of your process as an actor, or do you tend to internalize?
Would you consider voice work for STO? They do enjoy recruiting people from the shows and give them new characters.
Tech and set question: when scenes in, say, Sickbay aren't being filmed do the dynamic biobed and readout displays on said set go dark or keep blinking and cycling? The biobed readouts behind you, for example. I can see them cycling to "screensaver mode," if you will, when the director calls "cut" to reduce one constant image being projected onto the screen. Just a nerdy fan tech question since in the old days the Trek computer readouts were largely backlit transparencies or blinking light bulbs but now you can have actual dynamic graphics being played on-set! 
I enjoyed your performance, particularly before the gore. I’m not a huge horror fan. It’s too bad Ensign Gamble couldn’t have stayed on as a regular.
I really hope you get a regular Human Character, you got to show off that beautiful face that you have.
Hair Styles can change based on the needs of the character, you used up the current style for the most recent character.
But I'm sure you can come up with new styles for new characters.
What Good/Fortunate timing.
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That's an interesting question about the character. Hm, maybe I couldn't tried different things if I knew with more confidence what they had planned, but probably it would have been different, not necessarily better.
As far as scripts, I think you could get printed copies if you asked, but generally it's digital by default. Though they still use the color code system for revisions. Sometimes you get to some weird color names you've never heard of lol.
What's STO, a game? I would for sure!
Tech and set question: when scenes in, say, Sickbay aren't being filmed do the dynamic biobed and readout displays on said set go dark or keep blinking and cycling? The biobed readouts behind you, for example. I can see them cycling to "screensaver mode," if you will, when the director calls "cut" to reduce one constant image being projected onto the screen. Just a nerdy fan tech question since in the old days the Trek computer readouts were largely backlit transparencies or blinking light bulbs but now you can have actual dynamic graphics being played on-set!
Cool Q. I believe everything is "live" all the time, until they manually change them out. There's actually a pretty incredible level of detail.
Yes, I've heard this from a bunch of people about horror. Who knew it would be a potentially polarizing aspect. Thanks for sticking through it!
Aw thanks. And for sure. They've got a whole great team to help with any transformations. I will check that video out! I remember asking Davy Perez (EP and writer of 310) about the Vezda lore, especially when I learned it was their canon debut.
I don’t know how long you plan to stay around, so I just want to reiterate my thanks to you for doing this. It’s always fun to get a peak behind the curtain, so to speak.
I’m so glad you had a good experience and were treated well on set. Sometimes you hear other stories…
I’m sure you’ve made some fans by being so gracious. Thank you so much!!
I’m so glad you had a good experience and were treated well on set. Sometimes you hear other stories…
I’m sure you’ve made some fans by being so gracious. Thank you so much!!
What's your experience ratio between (Warm/Family-like/Super Friendly crews On/Off set) and the opposite of that on other productions?
Is it super rare?
STO is Star Trek Online. They bring a lot of cast in from the shows and sometimes give them whole new characters. Kipleigh Brown and Rekha Sharma play whole new characters. They took Rekha's face and made her into a Klingon so it would be a way to play an alien without all those hours in the makeup chair.
It's my pleasure. I've had a really good experience with the Trek fanbase, so I'm happy to weigh in. You guys are an awesome community.
Hm, I haven't worked on that many shows but I'll say this: TV (and film) is very expensive. Hundreds of people are employed at any given time. The amount of money being spent per minute is crazy high. And you can feel it. That can create a lot of inherent pressure. In many ways, time is the most palpable asset (not talent, or art) on a set. So it's nice when, all of that said, people can be generous and human and playful with each other. In my experience, I haven't had "the opposite" so much as the pressure can really run amok.
That's awesome! I'd love to jump in one day.
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