Why Admiral Paris was Played by Two Actors

[mysticgeek]

I can't believe I just noticed this, but I am watching Voyager "Persistence of Vision" and realized that Tom's hallucination wasn't the same actor that plays Admiral Paris.

It looks like Warren Munson played him earlier in "Persistence of Vision" and "30 Days".

But Richard Herd played Admiral Paris in the later episodes.

Anyone know why this was the casting call? Where I could find more documentation on it...an extras clip from a DVD or Wiki article?

 

[Lynx]

The guy which was seen in the later episodes wasn't Owen Paris but a relative.

That was a result of the "Nick Locarno" affair.

Nick Locarno was the result of an affair between Owen Paris an a woman named Esmeralda Locarno who was not his wife.

Owen Paris tried to keep the whole thing a secret. He helped Nick to join the Academy. It was when Tom found out about this, he really started to hate his father.

When Nick screwed up and was kicked out of the Academy, Owen Paris continued to cover up his involvement in the affair.

In later years, Owen could not stand it any longer and got a nervous breakdown. During his absence and due to the fact that Starfleet Headquarters wanted to cover up everything that had been going on for a long time, Owen's brother Ichabod Paris served as his "stand in" at Starfleet Headquarters until Owen was well enough to return to his job.

So the guy who showed up as Admiral Paris in the later episodes was Ichabod Paris.

 

[stardream]

I assumed it was because the original actor wasn't available.

 

[hux]

Warren Munson's eyebrows demanded their own trailer so they went with another actor.

 

[stardream]

I always thought it was interesting that the two different actors were written so differently although it could be said the two appearances of the 'first' Admiral Paris were projections from Tom's imagination and memory where he probably came off worse than he really was while the second guy seemed like an affable grandfather type.

 

[T'Girl]

^ Good explaination, I'll go with that.




+

 

[Finn]

^yes. That occurred to me


But in RL, it happens all the time with recurring characters. Reasons ranges from avaliability, not wanting to reprise the role to asking too much $$$ *cough*KirstieAlley*cough*, etc.

 

[Lynx]

I always thought it was interesting that the two different actors were written so differently although it could be said the two appearances of the 'first' Admiral Paris were projections from Tom's imagination and memory where he probably came off worse than he really was while the second guy seemed like an affable grandfather type.

I think it was the other way around.

The person we saw in the early episodes was the real Owen Paris, although they were projections from Tom's imagination and memory (there must have been some reason for Tom to dislike his father so much).

While the person we saw in the later episodes was Ichabod Paris, who I mentioned in my previous post.

Ichabod is obviously a nicer guy than Owen.

 

[hux]

I always thought it was interesting that the two different actors were written so differently although it could be said the two appearances of the 'first' Admiral Paris were projections from Tom's imagination and memory where he probably came off worse than he really was while the second guy seemed like an affable grandfather type.

When I think of my mum, I usually picture Dom Deluise.

No wait... That's not true. I know what my mother looks like.

Why they made admiral Paris into a judgmental jackass then later turned him into a nice guy is anyone's guess. Its almost as if the writers were idiots who had no respect for continuity or their audience.

 

[stardream]

Shhh....stop making sense.

During the first projection he was under alien influence. People were seeing all kinds of weird things...his dad could have shown up as Worf and it might have made sense at the time.

The second time he didn't 'see' him. Just heard his voice.

 

[Nebusj]

Someone fiddled with the timeline between appearances.

 

[Thomas Eugene]

Either way, the second actor/character comes across as a much nicer person. And with Richard Herd I have always had the impression he actually looks a bit like Robert Duncan McNeill.

 

[Dukhat]

Different actors played the same roles in Star Trek all the time. Tora Ziyal and Alexander Rozhenko were played by three different people. Zefram Cochrane and the Romulan Neral were played by two different people (and neither of the actors who portrayed each character the second time looked anything like the first actors.)

And, uh, remember Saavik anyone?

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Why they made admiral Paris into a judgmental jackass then later turned him into a nice guy is anyone's guess. Its almost as if the writers were idiots who had no respect for continuity or their audience.

Or, as stardream suggested, it was Tom who was the jackass, and his imagined version of his father was influenced by that.

Just because Tom thought his father was a jerk doesn't mean Tom was *right*...the "real" Admiral Paris was basically a decent guy who didn't deserve Tom insulting him behind his back.

 

[stardream]

Or, as stardream suggested, it was Tom who was the jackass, and his imagined version of his father was influenced by that.

Just because Tom thought his father was a jerk doesn't mean Tom was *right*...the "real" Admiral Paris was basically a decent guy who didn't deserve Tom insulting him behind his back.

True.

I'm still amazed that the relationship was apparently healed by one line of dialogue in Pathfinder.

 

[hux]

Or, as stardream suggested, it was Tom who was the jackass, and his imagined version of his father was influenced by that.

Just because Tom thought his father was a jerk doesn't mean Tom was *right*...the "real" Admiral Paris was basically a decent guy who didn't deserve Tom insulting him behind his back.

Imagining your father as a jerk is one thing, imagining them looking like a different person is another.

Then, in Pathfinder, the rift between them is instantaneously healed so even Tom's view of his father as a dick was unbelievably transient.

Bad continuity however you spin it.

 

[stardream]

Imagining your father as a jerk is one thing, imagining them looking like a different person is another.

Then, in Pathfinder, the rift between them is instantaneously healed so even Tom's view of his father as a dick was unbelievably transient.

Bad continuity however you spin it.

There you go again, making sense in the real world.

 

[hux]

Why not just make it Seven's aunt who is the admiral... or Kim's grandfather... or even another one of Tom's relatives?

Why take an established character and turn him into something else entirely?

No respect for the audience.

 

[Tracy Trek]

True.

I'm still amazed that the relationship was apparently healed by one line of dialogue in Pathfinder.

Based on what was shown, can anyone be sure it was (from Tom's side). Yes he heard his father say it, but as someone said on another thread, it would have went against military protocol for him to have said anything at the time. He was willing to give his comm. time to Harry in Author, Author. In the finale it looked like to me he was avoiding looking at his father (although I think someone said in another thread, maybe he was just checking on updates from sickbay).

I'd guess the real world reason is maybe Warren Munson wasn't available. As to why Tom's vision of his father seemed so hateful, I'm sure (if this was a real situation) they had said many hateful things to each other after the accident and the subsequent arrest for Maquis involvment. And these things were in his mind when the alien was messing with their minds. And Admiral Paris seeming more mellow in Pathfinder and beyond. Well maybe thinking his son was dead for 4 years helped him put things in perspective.

 

[Dukhat]

I'd guess the real world reason is maybe Warren Munson wasn't available.

Honestly, I'm sure Warren Munson was totally available. They probably just didn't bother getting him because they had Richard Heard instead, who was far more well-known than Munson. Never mind that both men look and act nothing alike.

Why take an established character and turn him into something else entirely?

Because when it came to UPN Trek, plot was more important than real-world logic.