Meeting Trek actors

[Shark]

I remember meeting Shatner in '86 at a car show, I think he was promoting Star Trek IV. I was five years old and I met Captain Kirk in real life. He stuck out his hand to shake mine (I was on my Dad's shoulders), and I just sat there frozen. He and my Dad had a good laugh at that. I also remember standing in line for two hours; let me tell you, besides going to the dentist, there is just about no greater torture for a kid than standing in a line for two hours! He's the only cast member I've met and I remember it being a great experience. And I always will.

I saw Robert Picardo and Ethan Phillips at a convention in 2001 or so and I recall them being insightful and hilarious! They shared behind-the-scenes stories, insight into acting and quite a bit of fun. (Apparently, Robert Beltran is incapable of remembering a single line and would always ask - "Line?". Much to the amusement and/or chagrin of his co-workers.) I recall being struck by how short Ethan Phillips was. He walked to the stage through the crowd and no one noticed him until he took the stage. I didn't 'meet' them, but they both seemed like nice enough guys.

 

[Greg Cox]

I've never had a bad experience with anyone, but I sort of make a point of asking them questions that I figure they don't get too much, like other stuff I know they've worked on.

That's what I did with Suzie Plakson. I was interested in her experience on Everybody Loves Raymond. I literally got a one word answer: "Fine".

When I spoke briefly with Malcom McDowall at a con a few years ago, he seemed pleased when I told him how much I liked "Time After Time."

 

[Drone]

Yes, whatever the compensation that was involved, he certainly enjoyed the experience enough to do a reunion with David Warner a few years ago. From what I've seen, a lot of extraneous conversation, but some interesting nuggets about the making of the film. Two of the finest actors of their generation, IMO.

 

[Mareika]

Met Walther König, Connor Trinner, Gates McFadden, Nicole de Boer and Robert Beltran at the same convention. Most of them were nice and down-to-earth. Connor was funny, Walther was friendly, so was Nicole. I didn`t like Gates very much. She had a bit of arrogance. Robert Beltran was awesome, funny, polite, nice to the fans, patiently with kids and unbelievably charming and good looking.

 

[mythme]

Some of my memorable were:

Jeffery Combs - Probably the most consummate "actor" in the Trek world I've met. He just seems to really love his craft. Talked about it constantly, in and out of Trek

Nana Visitor - she's just lovely. So engaging even with the most banal of questions. She's also very fetching. Looks as good now as she did 15 years ago.

Armin Shimmerman - The guy is definitely a thinker and a philosophizer. Probably the most intellectual Trek actor.

John De Lancie - Nice guy. Always talks about his son; at least the three times I've seen him. Always seems to have an undercurrent of "don't take anything to seriously" when he talks.

George Takei - the man simply loves to talk. Never gets tired telling the same old stories. I saw him with Majel and Walter years ago. Majel was also very pleasant but Walter gave the impression he felt "obligated" to do conventions. George and Majel goaded him to lighten up but had no luck.


As a whole, the more interesting cast members seem to be the ones who built their careers as character actors. They seem more well-rounded and engaging. I would really like to see John Billingsly someday to see if this holds true.

 

[t_smitts]

Met Walther König, Connor Trinner, Gates McFadden, Nicole de Boer and Robert Beltran at the same convention. Most of them were nice and down-to-earth. Connor was funny, Walther was friendly, so was Nicole. I didn`t like Gates very much. She had a bit of arrogance. Robert Beltran was awesome, funny, polite, nice to the fans, patiently with kids and unbelievably charming and good looking.

Really? That wasn't my experience with Gates at all. She was actually at the C4 con in Winnipeg this weekend and her Q&A was yesterday. She wasn't the best guest I've ever met (I think that honor would probably go to Garrett Wang), but she was quite pleasant. Just to be different, I asked her about working on one of the Muppet movies back in the day and she had a funny story about that one.

Walter Koenig was fine when I met him too a year or two ago, though didn't look to be in the best of health, to be honest.

I went to Carel Struyken's Q&A this year too (and finally learned how to pronounce his name). He wasn't as lively as some guests but he was very nice and answered all my questions. He mentioned that Twin Peaks was HUGE in most of Europe when it came out (especially Romania, which was just emerging from being a communist state around then) and that a bunch of teenage girls mobbed him in Paris when the recognized him. He also talked about the Addams Family, and I was surprised to learn that was the very first thing Barry Sonnenfeld ever directed, which pretty impressive, given the size of a film like that. He also hadn't known that Mr. Homn got killed in the Star Trek novels until I pointed it out.

Garrett Wang, as I said, may be the best con guest I've ever seen. Speaking as someone who's done stand-up comedy, I think he could really do stand-up himself if he wanted to. Every story he had was hilarious and he does some really funny impressions (including a really funny George Takei). He had a story about meeting Shatner and Shatner being a horse's ass and talked about Robert Beltran drawing a mustache on the 12 inch action figure that Garrett was given, which was funny enough, until Garrett (who's a collector) noticed the insanely low collectable number on it (something like #00006)

 

[FormerLurker]

I met Jeffrey Combs when he was in Denver a few years ago. I asked him if he knew why the film Doctor Mordrid was so similar to the Marvel character Doctor Strange's adventures, and he told me that when they started making it, it was intended to be a Doctor Strange film, but there was an argument between the studio and Marvel, and they lost the rights, so had to go back and reshoot every scene where a character's name was spoken, or ADR those scenes where lip movement was arguable, so that they could finish it and release it. That was the beginning of a very pleasant conversation, and I'm glad to have met him.