IF (and I mean "IF" only because we weren't there and what's been reported here has not really been well-corroborated, at least to my knowledge) the actors portraying humans actually were told to tone down their emotions, well, that kind of explains a awful lot of what happened and excuses almost every actor from complaints seen on this board:
The actors were only doing as they were told.
Ryan, Picardo, and Phillips were told to play up their emotions to the point that Seven never learned anything lasting from her experiences, Doc became histrionic at times, and Neelix lost what good characterization he had and became disliked by many fans and considered a joke. I personally believe that each of these actors were quite good with what they were given and wished that Neelix in particular was allowed to remain the conflicted character he had within him.
As for Beltran, Wang, Mulgrew, and even O'Neill and Dawson, no wonder Chakotay and Harry are said to seem "wooden"--they were told to be so. Except, of course, in "Timeless" when their emotions were the only things propelling the story. If Mulgrew was told to "tone down," then the only time her emotions would have a chance to show would be when he character was pissed/angry/upset--making Janeway appear schizo. Paris and Torres got less and less time, so why no enhance their directing skills--an area each apparently was interested in and quite capable of--since they sure weren't being used much for their acting ability.
Russ was almost excused, since Tuvok was supposed to be quite controlled in his emotions--so instead of being allowed to show the intricacies of a "non-emotional" character having to interact almost exclusively with highly emotional ones, he was stuck with boring stuff until the writers/producers/whomever decided to give Tuvok a meaty storyline.
Taking all of this into account (if true), then the actors did a highly commendable job under stultifying conditions. All of them. And if there were problems between Mulgrew and Ryan (which I've read of before, but again, I wasn't there to know it firsthand), they certainly didn't let that interfere with their scenes. If it affected the other actors, that's a real pity. Everyone who's worked where there's personality conflicts knows how trying they can be.
The actors were only doing as they were told.
Ryan, Picardo, and Phillips were told to play up their emotions to the point that Seven never learned anything lasting from her experiences, Doc became histrionic at times, and Neelix lost what good characterization he had and became disliked by many fans and considered a joke. I personally believe that each of these actors were quite good with what they were given and wished that Neelix in particular was allowed to remain the conflicted character he had within him.
As for Beltran, Wang, Mulgrew, and even O'Neill and Dawson, no wonder Chakotay and Harry are said to seem "wooden"--they were told to be so. Except, of course, in "Timeless" when their emotions were the only things propelling the story. If Mulgrew was told to "tone down," then the only time her emotions would have a chance to show would be when he character was pissed/angry/upset--making Janeway appear schizo. Paris and Torres got less and less time, so why no enhance their directing skills--an area each apparently was interested in and quite capable of--since they sure weren't being used much for their acting ability.
Russ was almost excused, since Tuvok was supposed to be quite controlled in his emotions--so instead of being allowed to show the intricacies of a "non-emotional" character having to interact almost exclusively with highly emotional ones, he was stuck with boring stuff until the writers/producers/whomever decided to give Tuvok a meaty storyline.
Taking all of this into account (if true), then the actors did a highly commendable job under stultifying conditions. All of them. And if there were problems between Mulgrew and Ryan (which I've read of before, but again, I wasn't there to know it firsthand), they certainly didn't let that interfere with their scenes. If it affected the other actors, that's a real pity. Everyone who's worked where there's personality conflicts knows how trying they can be.
