Why did Wil Weaton leave the show?

[ToddKent]

Sorry if this has been covered before but I was wondering about this the other day.

Did the actor just decide to move on or did the producers decide to write the character out of the show? Anybody know?

 

[Eddie Roth]

If memory serves, he wanted to leave because he could not free up enough time to make movies while feeling that he was underutilized on the show. A good decision, IMO. The writers had really toned down Wesley's prominence starting in Season 3, probably because he had proven unpopular. With a reduced cast of seven, I felt the remaining characters got more attention later on... and Wesley's appearances after his departure were altogether his best (The First Duty, Parallels, Journey's End).

 

[miraclefan]

^I always thought (no joke) He left ''because'' he had too much screen time!

 

[Eddie Roth]

I have never heard of an actor leaving a show because he had too MUCH to do.

 

[MrPointy]

Hwil Hwheaton left because no one wanted to write for him.

 

[SomniumRabidum]

Hwil Hwheaton left because no one wanted to write for him.

Why are you saying it like that?!

Say Wheat.....

Now say Wil Wheaton.....



Seriously though, his character annoyed the crap out of me... the less Wesley Crusher the better imo. Apparently Wheaton couldn't stand Crusher either.

 

[Tomalak]

Seriously though, his character annoyed the crap out of me... the less Wesley Crusher the better imo. Apparently Wheaton couldn't stand Crusher either.

It must have been terrible for him banking all those cheques. My heart bleeds for him!

 

[ToddKent]

I have never heard of an actor leaving a show because he had too MUCH to do.

I think a few actors said they left the show ER because of something like this. But I kind of agree with Tomalak...it just seems like a bad idea to leave a hit show, especially when you are featured prominently. But who knows?

 

[Ro_Laren]

I always thought that Hwil Hwheaton left because of the quality of his lines and not the quantity...

 

[Trekker4747]

From Wheaton's blog:

Here's the absolute truth why I left Star Trek. I left Star Trek because it was seriously interfering with my career in feature films. I was in a situation where I was constantly having to pass on really good movie roles because I was on the series. I had a film career before Star Trek. People knew me before Star Trek. As a matter of fact, at Comic Con, a lot of people came up to me and said, "I started watching Star Trek because you were on it and I was fan of yours from Stand By Me and I stopped watching it after you left." I had a lot of people say that to me.

After something like this had happened a lot of times, this was finally the last straw: I had been cast by Milos Foreman to be in Valmont. I had gone through lots and lots of callbacks, I had met Milos personally a number of times and he was really supporting me and telling me, "I want you in my movie." I was going to go to Paris and I was going to be in this movie and stuff and what happened was we were going to shoot it during the hiatus and the shooting schedule for Valmont would have carried me over about a week into the regular season schedule into Star Trek. I would have had to sit out the first episode of the year, right. That's not a big deal, it's not like I'm the fuckin' Captain, you know. At that point, I was the guy who pushed buttons and said, "Yes, sir!" So, I said to the people on Star Trek, "I need to be written out of this particular episode, because I'm going to do this movie and my film career's going to take off." This is after Gene Roddenberry had died. Had Gene been alive, it would have been no problem at all, because Gene was that kind of guy. Gene would have said, "Great! Go ahead, you do what you need to do," because he was that kind of person. After Gene died, a very different type of person took over and they said, "We can't write you out because the first episode of the season is all about you. It focuses entirely on your character and it's your story..." So, he said to me, "The story is entirely about you, we can't write you out." I said, "Well, this really sucks, but I'm under contract to you guys and if that's your call and if that's what you say I have to do, I have to do." I had to pass on the movie.

A couple of days before the season was ready to premiere, they wrote me out of the episode entirely. What they were doing was they were sending me a message. The message was, "We own you. Don't you ever try to do anything without us." That was the last straw for me. I called my agents and said, "They don't own me. It's time for me to leave this show, it's time for me to be gone." That's what really pushed me over the edge. It's not worth it anymore. That's why I left.

LINK

So it boils down to: He left because Berman was -surprise, surprise- a dick head.

 

[miraclefan]

^Well then that's understandable, Berman was & still is a DICK-HEAD!

 

[Yoda]

Hwil Hwheaton left because no one wanted to write for him.

Why are you saying it like that?!

Say Wheat.....

Wheat.

Now say Wil Wheaton.....

Hwil Hwheaton....

From Wheaton's blog:

Here's the absolute truth why I left Star Trek. I left Star Trek because it was seriously interfering with my career in feature films. I was in a situation where I was constantly having to pass on really good movie roles because I was on the series. I had a film career before Star Trek. People knew me before Star Trek. As a matter of fact, at Comic Con, a lot of people came up to me and said, "I started watching Star Trek because you were on it and I was fan of yours from Stand By Me and I stopped watching it after you left." I had a lot of people say that to me.

After something like this had happened a lot of times, this was finally the last straw: I had been cast by Milos Foreman to be in Valmont. I had gone through lots and lots of callbacks, I had met Milos personally a number of times and he was really supporting me and telling me, "I want you in my movie." I was going to go to Paris and I was going to be in this movie and stuff and what happened was we were going to shoot it during the hiatus and the shooting schedule for Valmont would have carried me over about a week into the regular season schedule into Star Trek. I would have had to sit out the first episode of the year, right. That's not a big deal, it's not like I'm the fuckin' Captain, you know. At that point, I was the guy who pushed buttons and said, "Yes, sir!" So, I said to the people on Star Trek, "I need to be written out of this particular episode, because I'm going to do this movie and my film career's going to take off." This is after Gene Roddenberry had died. Had Gene been alive, it would have been no problem at all, because Gene was that kind of guy. Gene would have said, "Great! Go ahead, you do what you need to do," because he was that kind of person. After Gene died, a very different type of person took over and they said, "We can't write you out because the first episode of the season is all about you. It focuses entirely on your character and it's your story..." So, he said to me, "The story is entirely about you, we can't write you out." I said, "Well, this really sucks, but I'm under contract to you guys and if that's your call and if that's what you say I have to do, I have to do." I had to pass on the movie.

A couple of days before the season was ready to premiere, they wrote me out of the episode entirely. What they were doing was they were sending me a message. The message was, "We own you. Don't you ever try to do anything without us." That was the last straw for me. I called my agents and said, "They don't own me. It's time for me to leave this show, it's time for me to be gone." That's what really pushed me over the edge. It's not worth it anymore. That's why I left.

LINK

So it boils down to: He left because Berman was -surprise, surprise- a dick head.

And that's the story of how Wil Wheaton became a huge movie star.

Oh wait.

 

[Cyke101]

Hwil Hwheaton left because no one wanted to write for him.

Why are you saying it like that?!

Say Wheat.....

Wheat.

Hwil Hwheaton....

From Wheaton's blog:

Here's the absolute truth why I left Star Trek. I left Star Trek because it was seriously interfering with my career in feature films. I was in a situation where I was constantly having to pass on really good movie roles because I was on the series. I had a film career before Star Trek. People knew me before Star Trek. As a matter of fact, at Comic Con, a lot of people came up to me and said, "I started watching Star Trek because you were on it and I was fan of yours from Stand By Me and I stopped watching it after you left." I had a lot of people say that to me.

After something like this had happened a lot of times, this was finally the last straw: I had been cast by Milos Foreman to be in Valmont. I had gone through lots and lots of callbacks, I had met Milos personally a number of times and he was really supporting me and telling me, "I want you in my movie." I was going to go to Paris and I was going to be in this movie and stuff and what happened was we were going to shoot it during the hiatus and the shooting schedule for Valmont would have carried me over about a week into the regular season schedule into Star Trek. I would have had to sit out the first episode of the year, right. That's not a big deal, it's not like I'm the fuckin' Captain, you know. At that point, I was the guy who pushed buttons and said, "Yes, sir!" So, I said to the people on Star Trek, "I need to be written out of this particular episode, because I'm going to do this movie and my film career's going to take off." This is after Gene Roddenberry had died. Had Gene been alive, it would have been no problem at all, because Gene was that kind of guy. Gene would have said, "Great! Go ahead, you do what you need to do," because he was that kind of person. After Gene died, a very different type of person took over and they said, "We can't write you out because the first episode of the season is all about you. It focuses entirely on your character and it's your story..." So, he said to me, "The story is entirely about you, we can't write you out." I said, "Well, this really sucks, but I'm under contract to you guys and if that's your call and if that's what you say I have to do, I have to do." I had to pass on the movie.

A couple of days before the season was ready to premiere, they wrote me out of the episode entirely. What they were doing was they were sending me a message. The message was, "We own you. Don't you ever try to do anything without us." That was the last straw for me. I called my agents and said, "They don't own me. It's time for me to leave this show, it's time for me to be gone." That's what really pushed me over the edge. It's not worth it anymore. That's why I left.

LINK

So it boils down to: He left because Berman was -surprise, surprise- a dick head.

And that's the story of how Wil Wheaton became a huge movie star.

Oh wait.

He may not have become a star, but it seems to be consistent with a few things we've heard behind the scenes in regards to Roddenberry. The main cast were still allowed to take part in other productions, some could take episodes off to focus on other projects when Roddenberry ran things, but Wheaton isn't the first to say that Berman restricted them from working on non-Trek gigs.

 

[Yoda]

Oh wait.

He may not have become a star, but it seems to be consistent with a few things we've heard behind the scenes in regards to Roddenberry. The main cast were still allowed to take part in other productions, some could take episodes off to focus on other projects when Roddenberry ran things, but Wheaton isn't the first to say that Berman restricted them from working on non-Trek gigs.

Oh, I agree, and I'm sure Rick Berman was a complete cock. I think Wheaton is just a little delusional on where his career was going to go though, and probably would've been better served cashing those Trek paychecks till the bitter end.

I actually like Wil Wheaton, he's smart and seems genuinely nice. If he wants more acting jobs he should wait till Shia LeBouf needs someone to play him 20 years in the future

 

[Cyke101]

Oh wait.

He may not have become a star, but it seems to be consistent with a few things we've heard behind the scenes in regards to Roddenberry. The main cast were still allowed to take part in other productions, some could take episodes off to focus on other projects when Roddenberry ran things, but Wheaton isn't the first to say that Berman restricted them from working on non-Trek gigs.

Oh, I agree, and I'm sure Rick Berman was a complete cock. I think Wheaton is just a little delusional on where his career was going to go though, and probably would've been better served cashing those Trek paychecks till the bitter end.

I actually like Wil Wheaton, he's smart and seems genuinely nice. If he wants more acting jobs he should wait till Shia LeBouf needs someone to play him 20 years in the future

Ick, the only thing worse than Wesley Crusher is Shia LeBouf as Wesley Crusher

But let's say Wheaton did decide to stay and didn't leave on his own accord. How viable and believable would it have been for Starfleet Academy to keep rejecting his application (despite his wunderkind genius status) or for the Enterprise to keep missing the transport rendez-vous, all as an attempt to keep him on board? For that matter, even if Wesley decided not to enroll/enlist and stay on the Enterprise, how much more further could his character go? Wesley probably would've been written out of the show eventually with the occasional recurring character gig.

 

[M'rk son of Mogh]

Didn't Colm Meaney say the opposite of Berman? That every year he was able to take time out of his schedule on DS9 to work on films with almost no problems at all?

 

[Lateralus]

Colm Meaney is different. He was a back-burner character in TNG if ever there was such a thing.

 

[Aquehonga]

Wes could've turned up on DS9, V'GER, even Beckett's NX-01, due to The Traveler.

But, who knows why Will Wheaton left

I haven't seen Cirroc Lofton in anything recently either.

My prior reply on this vanished into fat air

 

[J47]

Didn't Colm Meaney say the opposite of Berman? That every year he was able to take time out of his schedule on DS9 to work on films with almost no problems at all?

I do recall him saying that, although I don't remember it being attributed to Berman. DS9 was a different beast though. Firstly, the day-to-day runnings of the show were handled by Ira Steven Behr, not RB; secondly, as Colm was already established in the Trek arena, it's possible he may have been able to swing a contract that allowed him to do so.

 

[Cyke101]

But, who knows why Will Wheaton left

Scroll up.

From Wheaton's blog:

Here's the absolute truth why I left Star Trek. I left Star Trek because it was seriously interfering with my career in feature films. I was in a situation where I was constantly having to pass on really good movie roles because I was on the series. I had a film career before Star Trek. People knew me before Star Trek. As a matter of fact, at Comic Con, a lot of people came up to me and said, "I started watching Star Trek because you were on it and I was fan of yours from Stand By Me and I stopped watching it after you left." I had a lot of people say that to me.

After something like this had happened a lot of times, this was finally the last straw: I had been cast by Milos Foreman to be in Valmont. I had gone through lots and lots of callbacks, I had met Milos personally a number of times and he was really supporting me and telling me, "I want you in my movie." I was going to go to Paris and I was going to be in this movie and stuff and what happened was we were going to shoot it during the hiatus and the shooting schedule for Valmont would have carried me over about a week into the regular season schedule into Star Trek. I would have had to sit out the first episode of the year, right. That's not a big deal, it's not like I'm the fuckin' Captain, you know. At that point, I was the guy who pushed buttons and said, "Yes, sir!" So, I said to the people on Star Trek, "I need to be written out of this particular episode, because I'm going to do this movie and my film career's going to take off." This is after Gene Roddenberry had died. Had Gene been alive, it would have been no problem at all, because Gene was that kind of guy. Gene would have said, "Great! Go ahead, you do what you need to do," because he was that kind of person. After Gene died, a very different type of person took over and they said, "We can't write you out because the first episode of the season is all about you. It focuses entirely on your character and it's your story..." So, he said to me, "The story is entirely about you, we can't write you out." I said, "Well, this really sucks, but I'm under contract to you guys and if that's your call and if that's what you say I have to do, I have to do." I had to pass on the movie.

A couple of days before the season was ready to premiere, they wrote me out of the episode entirely. What they were doing was they were sending me a message. The message was, "We own you. Don't you ever try to do anything without us." That was the last straw for me. I called my agents and said, "They don't own me. It's time for me to leave this show, it's time for me to be gone." That's what really pushed me over the edge. It's not worth it anymore. That's why I left.

LINK

So it boils down to: He left because Berman was -surprise, surprise- a dick head.