Skitz Interview where Beltran bashes Trek, Voyager, and Trek fans

[Navaros]

Did you guys ever see the Skitz interview where Robert Beltran bashes Trek, Shatner, Voyager, Trek writers, and Trek fans?

It's kind of old but here is the link to the video of it in case you haven't seen it:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/video/28155/robert_beltran_interview.html?post=true&cat=60

What do you think about Beltran's comments in this interview?

IMO his comments which crudely pointed out that nothing meaningful was gonna happen in Voyager before the last episode since it was an episodic formula show and thus needed to remain mostly the same for 7 seasons, and that the technobabble nonsense was a really bad substitute for good story, were spot-on.

IMO he was out of line by bashing all Trek fans, all Trek writers, and making fun of Shatner's name.

 

[I am not Spock]

He had a few good points about Voyager, but he can't speak for all of Trek writers, fans, and Shatner. Who does he think was paying his bills for seven years? Talk about biting the hand that fed him. Where is Beltran these days anyway?

 

[Akiraprise]

He's entitled to his opinion. More power to him for speaking his mind.

 

[The Lady Eve]

Meh. I guess his overwhelming integrity made him come clean about his Star Trek feelings. The same integrity that allowed him to collect big paychecks instead of quitting and doing Shakespeare in a small L.A. theater. I'm sure he's cashing those residual checks and giving the money to charity.

The fact is his character didn't get as much exposure as he wanted, he got lazy and started phoning in performances and he was a mediocre actor to begin with. And what about his fantastic career post Voyager? The last time I saw him (briefly) on TV he was on the SciFi channel fighting a dragon monster in Iraq. And the CGI monster could still act rings around him.

Old joke:

How do you make an actor miserable?
Give him a job.

 

[zenophite]

If I was drinking some beers with Beltran saying this he would probably be cracking me up but I think this is out of place as a public disclosure. Most of what he says about trek is true but it does seem rather ungrateful to act like it was some god's way of punishing you when you had what 99% of actors don't have - a steady well paying job. I'm sure he could have requested to be written out at any time so if the "authenticity of his craft" was that much of a concern he should have left.
I'm also really tired of actors trying to make their profession seem more important than it really is by dropping the name "Shakespeare" all the time. You'd think there were no other playwrights out there.

 

[LeadHead]

He should have a little more respect for the institution that paid his bills for so long, that's for sure. I can't say that I blame him about all of the anomaly/perilous-danger-going-nowhere stuff. If something had ever happened on Voyager that would be one thing, but it didn't.

Considering how little Chakotay had to work with as the show went deeper in, I can't say I blame him for thinking that the scripts weren't of high quality.

Remember, the writers made him the lead character in "The Fight" when you do that, you wind up deserving a little bit of butt whooping.

 

[The Caretaker]

I think for him to still be saying this stuff after all this time just makes him look sad. Fair enough he had his issues with his show at the time, for which I can't fault him as the latter seasons for Voyager rapidly lost the plot, but to be continually bashing the show is pathetic. Doesn't he have anything else interesting to say? I guess not.

 

[diankra]

Meh. I guess his overwhelming integrity made him come clean about his Star Trek feelings. The same integrity that allowed him to collect big paychecks instead of quitting and doing Shakespeare in a small L.A. theater. I'm sure he's cashing those residual checks and giving the money to charity.

The fact is his character didn't get as much exposure as he wanted, he got lazy and started phoning in performances and he was a mediocre actor to begin with. And what about his fantastic career post Voyager? The last time I saw him (briefly) on TV he was on the SciFi channel fighting a dragon monster in Iraq. And the CGI monster could still act rings around him.

Old joke:

How do you make an actor miserable?
Give him a job.

According to past threads on this subject, he did try to quit. Repeatedly. They held him to his contract, even offered him more money in the hope that it'd make him happier. He even started making comments like this at cons in the hope that they'd fire him. No result. Short of simply walking out on his contract - and thus making himself totally unemployable - he couldn't get out.

 

[Navaros]

I just found a site called "Robert Beltran Gripe Generator".

http://www.firsttvdrama.com/funstuff/beltran.php3

I certainly see his point on this one:

(Gripe #482) Robert Beltran on his scenes -
"When you're given these throwaway scenes with not much thought put into who's saying it and its importance to the whole story - and I'm talking mostly about seasons five and six here - it just makes me feel like the writers don't care. Therefore the producers don't care, therefore the show isn't that important, therefore why am I busting my ass trying to make this stupid scene worth anything?"

 

[Lynx]

I must agree with some of Beltran's criticizm.

He was p***ed off and frustrated over the way his character was treated and finally did let some steam out. I've read many of his comments and I don't think that there are aimed at Star Trek as such or the fans, more aimed at the Voyager writers.

As for Shatner, I did read somewhere that he and Beltran are good friends and that his comments about Shatner was a joke.

 

[Steven Of Nine]

Saw Beltran at a Con here a couple years ago, and he said the same thing.

As a fan of his Character on the show, I agree with 90% of his criticisms. I'm a huge, huge fan of the show, named my daughter after the Captain, and own everything Voyager I can get my hands on. But he has one absolutely 100% accurate point: the show was still so much less than it could have been.

He was most critical in the talk he gave us regarding the insistance of the production crew on making Janeway and Seven the near complete focal pairing of the show the last years.

I haven't seen about 1/3 of DS9, so I can't absolutely compare it, but in my view Chakotay, along with Kes, is the single least-used potential in any Star Trek character. The sensible, powerful, charismatic leader of seasons 1-3 was essentially reduced to the backboard for Janeway's decisions thereafter. It's a crying shame.

Kai Beltran!

 

[Johnhead99]

Chakotay was waste. I would have rather seen more Neelix.

 

[Jeri]

...dropping the name "Shakespeare" all the time...

Recently I saw a clip of an interview with Alan Rickman from a few years ago. When asked whether it wasn't remarkable that he went from playing Shakespeare to something camp like Galaxy Quest, Rickman replied soberly, "...are you implying that Shakespeare is not camp?" Great answer.

 

[propita]

...dropping the name "Shakespeare" all the time...

Recently I saw a clip of an interview with Alan Rickman from a few years ago. When asked whether it wasn't remarkable that he went from playing Shakespeare to something camp like Galaxy Quest, Rickman replied soberly, "...are you implying that Shakespeare is not camp?" Great answer.

Touche!

I knew I loved Alan Rickman for reasons beyond his great acting--his wit is just as keen.

Shakespeare? Camp? Watch/read "Titus Andronicus"--it goes waaay over the top (though parts are kinda...well...yuck...but they're part of the whole and contribute to the over-the-top-ness).

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ I was wasting time over at You Tube that day and watched several videos that included him, and I would say that actually Rickman is not particularly acerbic in person. I guess he could be described as matter-of-fact and low key.

 

[ChristopherPike]

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.

Sure Robert Beltran may have had a raw deal from Season Three onwards, nowhere to go but down for Chakotay after Seska got killed off. She was a shortlived peak for his character. He could've taken the same option to follow Jennifer Lien... especially after an uneventful year or two.

I would add that some of the few favourite Voyager shows I rate highly featured Chuckles front and center... For instance, Unity (okay, how on earth did that get missed off the Fan Collectives anyway?)

 

[Jeri]

^ ^ I guess it could have been that they were former Borg; but I agree -- that's a great episode. It's one of my favorites also. I like Chakotay's other episodes, too, including "The Fight."

 

[Akiraprise]

I always liked when Chakotay was left in command. Unimatrix Zero for instance.

 

[Ace1701A]

Eh, whatever.

This still made me chuckle:
Fanboy: So in episode 37 when you were standing on the bridge, I noticed that you were standing maybe seven feet to the left on the next shot. Did you notice that continuity error?
Beltran: Go f*ck yourself.
Fanboy: Thank you.

 

[Kpnuts]

So basically a sad bitter man with nothing else interesting to say given that Star Trek ended years ago.