The Captains

[AFEK ESLCAFE W]

I recommend The Captains to any fans of the Trek phenomenon as it gives an insiders' peek at what made the actors take on their roles as starship captains and run with them.

Shatner did it for the $$$.
Stewart did it for the $$$.
Brooks did it for the $$$.
Mulgrew did it for the $$$.
Bakula did it for the $$$.
Pine did it for the $$$.

 

[Sci]

I recommend The Captains to any fans of the Trek phenomenon as it gives an insiders' peek at what made the actors take on their roles as starship captains and run with them.

Shatner did it for the $$$.
Stewart did it for the $$$.
Brooks did it for the $$$.
Mulgrew did it for the $$$.
Bakula did it for the $$$.
Pine did it for the $$$.

Well, yeah, for professional actors, of course money is part of why they do a production. But there are often other reasons as well -- Brooks had a successful theatre career, for instance, but chose to do DS9 because he felt it was important that there be images of successful African Americans in the future, to help inspire young black children.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Amen and thank you, Sci. I saw that part too, where Brooks elaborated on how the script for the pilot appealed to him.
And I ams sure the others had more reasons than just money to accept their respective parts.

 

[Forbin]

I recommend The Captains to any fans of the Trek phenomenon as it gives an insiders' peek at what made the actors take on their roles as starship captains and run with them.

Shatner did it for the $$$.
Stewart did it for the $$$.
Brooks did it for the $$$.
Mulgrew did it for the $$$.
Bakula did it for the $$$.
Pine did it for the $$$.

Well, yeah, for professional actors, of course money is part of why they do a production. But there are often other reasons as well -- Brooks had a successful theatre career, for instance, but chose to do DS9 because he felt it was important that there be images of successful African Americans in the future, to help inspire young black children.

Brown children. Avery doesn't used the B word.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Yes, I noticed that in the interview as well. Thanks for pointing it out here friend, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Balrog]

Amen and thank you, Sci. I saw that part too, where Brooks elaborated on how the script for the pilot appealed to him.
And I ams sure the others had more reasons than just money to accept their respective parts.

Considering the grind making those shows (Shatner lost his marriage, Brooks marriage suffered because of it, Mulgrew's kids suffered so much that they refuse to this day to watch the show), I'd say there was more than money that had them choose the role.

 

[CaptainMatt]

Ah my friend thanks for backing me up.

 

[Sci]

Shatner did it for the $$$.
Stewart did it for the $$$.
Brooks did it for the $$$.
Mulgrew did it for the $$$.
Bakula did it for the $$$.
Pine did it for the $$$.

Well, yeah, for professional actors, of course money is part of why they do a production. But there are often other reasons as well -- Brooks had a successful theatre career, for instance, but chose to do DS9 because he felt it was important that there be images of successful African Americans in the future, to help inspire young black children.

Brown children. Avery doesn't used the B word.

Fair enough.

 

[jayrath]

Just watched The Captains on Netflix.
Was anyone else doing some mental math when Shatner was telling Patrick Stewart about doing a school play when he was six about the Holocaust? Shatner was born in 1931. Making him six years old in 1937. And ten years old when the US entered WW2 in 1941. Shatner tried to make it sound like he was in grade school after WW2.

Well, Shatner is Canadian, and Canada entered the war along with Britain when Germany invaded Poland in 1939; the U.S. entry date is irrelevant.

And his memory of those events might just be fuzzy and mixed in with other memories. That's a fairly common occurrence, especially as we get older and try to remember events from our earliest years.

Also, Nazi abuses against European Jews commenced long before the explicit extermination program now known as the Holocaust began. The play may well have been about the earlier anti-Semitic laws and actions, which Shatner equated with the Holocaust, either erroneously in his memory, or in his own personal opinion (since it's not like there's a clear-cut definition about what particular act of oppression against European Jews does or does not qualify as being part of this event we call the Holocaust).

The point of the story in the documentary is that his audience was very moved by his childhood performance, and that it inspired him to become an actor.

I'm watching "The Captains" conclude right now, courtesy Netflix. It really has some tremendous fans, especially when it gets into how much the series leads lost with their families. Bakula and Shatner, especially, seem to immediately bond over that, and Bakula rose 20 points in my book.

As for Avery Brooks -- yeah, he comes across as a complete wacko, but I run into that type in my work all the time. He's been consumed by arts aesthetics, turning even the most commonplace question into a philosophical connundrum. He (now, at least) is the sort who, if you asked him what time it was, would answer, "What is time?"

 

[Mysterion]

Picked this up on DVD a couple weeks ago. If anything, it has caused me to appreciate Scott Bakula and Avery Brooks more than I had before.

 

[Sci]

As for Avery Brooks -- yeah, he comes across as a complete wacko, but I run into that type in my work all the time. He's been consumed by arts aesthetics, turning even the most commonplace question into a philosophical connundrum. He (now, at least) is the sort who, if you asked him what time it was, would answer, "What is time?"

"A complete wacko?" C'mon, man. The guy just doesn't respond to the social roles most folks obey, that's all. That doesn't make him a wacko, it makes him a guy who's just a bit less socially obedient than most.

 

[jayrath]

As for Avery Brooks -- yeah, he comes across as a complete wacko, but I run into that type in my work all the time. He's been consumed by arts aesthetics, turning even the most commonplace question into a philosophical connundrum. He (now, at least) is the sort who, if you asked him what time it was, would answer, "What is time?"

"A complete wacko?" C'mon, man. The guy just doesn't respond to the social roles most folks obey, that's all. That doesn't make him a wacko, it makes him a guy who's just a bit less socially obedient than most.

I wrote that he comes across as a complete wacko. No disrespect intended.

 

[plynch]

Avery Brooks made me laugh a bunch. He was having fun. I respect his acting more now, for being able to deliver lines and sound so normal. I would love to be his student.

 

[Forbin]

Well, not a COMPLETE whacko.