willliam shatner/leonard nimoy sir patrick stewart avery brooks jonathan frakes/michael dorn brent spiner
voyager cast enterprise cast "the dominion panel" "the promedade panel" misc. 2010 con report home
Day IV
First on our agenda was
Jonathan Frakes’ autograph, at 9:30 a.m.
This went very quickly and smoothly, thank
goodness.
We then moseyed over to see
Barbara March, (“Lursa”)
Gwynyth Walsh, (“B’Etor”) and
Todd Bryant . (“Captain Klaa” in “Star Trek V”)
All three spoke of long sessions in the make-up
chair, but March lamented that Walsh had a two-piece corset, while Walsh had a
two-piece costume.
It not only took much longer for March to be made
up, but the completed costume and make-up was extremely hot and uncomfortable.
A fan asked why there was no mention of Lursa’s child following “All Good Things” – March said she had no idea, and that she
thought it was odd that Lursa should be pregnant, when B’Etor is younger.
Yours truly told March that until that day, March was
believed to be black by us.
She was very surprised, and asked why; the reply
was that her voice, speaking style, and features seemed black.
Todd Bryant later said that many thought he was
black as well.
Walsh pointed out that a fan brought a
poster of Walsh and March in full character.
There were several female fans dressed as Klingons at the con in general, so of
course they were present at this session.
Walsh mentioned that to play a character in heavy
makeup/costume it requires stage experience, as your body movements are important
in conveying your character’s emotions.
Deliberate hand gestures, especially.
Bryant spoke of his current work as Will Ferrell’s
double in the current movie, “The Other Guys” (Bryant does mostly stunt work
now) and of his time doing stunts on “Friends” “Lost” and many other movies/T.V. shows.
A good time was had by all.
Next up was the
cast of
“Enterprise” – Dominic Keating, Connor
Trinneer, Anthony Montgomery, John Billingsly, Matt Winston, (son of the late
special effects wizard, Stan Winston) and Stephen Culp. There was the
usual clowning as they entered, followed by the
“interviewer”
(who was to their right) asking questions of the cast, such as their impressions
of Scott Bakula, who was viewed as the “big brother” of the cast. John, who is
always
hilarious at these things, said “I slept with him!”
Dominic then said, “He’s not the only one!”
Matt mentioned that Scott would tend to little details, like “spitting down my
hair” (using saliva to smooth Matt’s hair) to which Anthony replied, “I never
needed that, since I have an Afro.” Matt was asked about his father, and said
that his father said to never take show biz too seriously, but be a
professional.
Matt spoke of getting bit parts in “Jurassic Park”,
“Terminator” and “A.I.”
Anthony described his character on “Enterprise” as
a positive everyman, with youthful exuberance.
Anthony mentioned that he had gone up in the space
shuttle, but his character, “Mayweather” hadn’t.
J
Connor said that at first he thought “Enterprise”
was somehow “not (significant) enough” premiering so soon after 9/11, (September
26, 2001) but that his own father told him the show was aired at the right time,
as it gave hope for the future.
Connor
said when his character’s sister was killed, (“The Expanse”) he decided to
play his part as grieving 9/11, to add weight to his performance.
When asked about the Trip/T’Pol romance, Connor
said that since Vulcans only mate every 7 years (“pon farr”) the sex must be
“really good!”
He also said that Trip was “spineless” in that
relationship, and that it was one-sided, as T’Pol never gave back.
John then chimed in saying, “You
slept with my (character’s) wife!”
Connor replied that since T’Pol only mates every 7
years, Trip had to fulfill his “needs.”
Culp asked himself, “Why am I here?” in regard to
his character.
So, Culp decided “Major Hayes” was a man of action,
not words, since the character had few lines.
He went on to say the character was selfless.
Dominic later said, “I told them not to hire you!”
John started paying fans,
if he liked their question/comment!
When asked about his character’s (“Dr. Phlox”)
species, Denobulan, John said there were a great number of his species about the
galaxies, since they “breed like rabbits” have 3 penises, and that he would
show the fan this, backstage.
J
John lamented that when he had the steady work (he
thought for 7 years) on Enterprise, he had six days off, then a check, but now,
no check.
He said he has to depend on his wife, Bonita Friedericy
(“General Beckman” now a regular character on the series “Chuck”) who was in the
audience.
John said he was now a “kept man.”
When yours truly got to the microphone, John was
told that as military people (Air force officer/AF veteran) we were pleased at
how accurately, and humanly Ms. Friedericy played her character, as most movies/T.V. shows
rarely get it right.
Yours truly also asked to meet her, if possible.
John said, “That can be arranged” and Ms.
Friedericy waved to show where she was seated.
Not wanting to blind Ms. Friedericy, a couple of
shots were taken of her without flash, in
shaking hands, so it’s rather poor.
Ms. Friedericy gave yours truly a very big hug, and
thanked both of us for our military service. It was
fantastic.
John was asked about his costume, and mentioned
that the contact lenses often blinded him for up-close vision, to the point that
he “didn’t know Reed wasn’t gay.”
He went on to say he tripped a lot while wearing
the costume, whereas Scott Bakula was so comfortable, that he “had a wet bar in
his dressing room.”
Apparently a tape exists that has John on an obscenity-laden tirade,
regarding his discomfort in full makeup.
One fan brought in the very bizarre “Pegasus
Unicorn” – seriously – which of course
flummoxed everyone but that particular fan.
A fan (perhaps the same one?) said she lived at the
Grand Canyon, to which Dominic replied, “I hope you don’t sleepwalk!”
Bruce Greenwood was unable to attend the con, so
David
Gerrold (writer of the TOS episode, “The
Trouble With Tribbles”) took Greenwood’s place.
Gerrold mentioned that he also writes episodes of “New
Voyages” and had made cameos in the DS9
episode, “Trials And Tribulation” as well as in “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.”
When asked about J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek movie,
Gerrold related that he thinks Star Trek should be primarily about exploration,
not relationships, citing that the Enterprise’s mission is supposed to be the
focus.
We next attended the “Xindi
Panel”, featuring Tucker Smallwood, Scott
MacDonald, Randy Oglesby and Rick Worthy. (not in that order in the photo)
As with all of the costumed actors, they spoke of
the difficulties in preparation.
Tucker was asked about his Vietnam service in
regard to his work as “Xindi-Primate Councilor” to which he replied that his
battle training helped in portraying the character, and others of that ilk.
Tucker was wearing memorabilia
of his war service. The others spoke of their work in movies and television.
Next up were the incorrigible
Brent
Spiner and
Sir Patrick
Stewart.
The
action with these two was wild, so the timeline portrayed here may not be
spot-on accurate, however, the antics most certainly are.
Patrick
took the stage first, but he and Brent took turns heckling each other, much like
William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy
did on Saturday.
Patrick began by speaking of his recent lesion
biopsy on the top of his head, which was why
he was
wearing the cap.
He said that he didn’t want to be “unattractive” or
“undesirable” to which many in the audience, (including yours truly) shouted
things such as, “That’s
impossible!” Patrick was
wearing a jacket (from “X-Men” swag?) that he was going to auction.
While Patrick was discussing the charity that would
receive the funds, “Huddlesfield Soccer” a fan yelled “$10,000!
Someone else yelled “SOLD!”
This took everyone by surprise, (was this guy
serious?) but Patrick said that he hadn’t finished “the pitch” yet;
Patrick also said
he planned to start the bidding at
$20,000!
Patrick verified that the fan was serious about the bid,
then
asked the fan to get onstage.
(one would think the fan regretted not bidding less
money) Later,
Brent Spiner pretended to be a fan,
and, using his voice from a character he played on “Night Court” “Mr.
Weaver/Wheeler” – the name changed with various episodes) Spiner asked a bunch of silly
questions, while never addressing Patrick as “Sir” – you really had to be
there.
Patrick mentioned a movie he was currently filming, “The
Water Warriors” (?) saying it was scary, (a thriller) but that, “you’ve seen
Michael Dorn, you can take it.” (may not be an exact quote) Some time later,
Dorn
went onstage with Patrick,
pretending to beat him up, with Patrick ending up on the floor – too busy
laughing, no pix taken, sorry.
After
more assorted silliness from Spiner,
Patrick told Spiner to get onstage, which
Spiner did, briefly, then Patrick dismissed Brent with, “You sir, have said enough!” Spiner
returned to the fan question line. Spiner (as the “fan”) asked “What
are
those dots on your head?”
To which
Patrick replied that during his upbringing, it was considered rude to ask such
questions. When Spiner tried to ask another “fan” question, Patrick said, “Shut
up!” Patrick was asked about Picard being based on Horatio Hornblower, to which
Patrick replied that yes, Picard was based on that character, and that
Hornblower had seasickness, and threw up at sea.
Spiner, as the “fan” yelled “Do you throw up?
To which Patrick replied, “Only when I see
you!” Patrick tried to solicit a
larger bid than the previous bidder on the aforementioned jacket, but, not surprisingly, no one spoke up.
Spiner then referred to the jacket as
“silly” and was again told to get onstage, and this time,
Brent donned the auctioned jacket.
Spiner found pockets, and said they could
be added to the “pitch.” Spiner took center stage, only to be
heckled by Patrick as a
“fan” as well. Spiner attempted to auction his shirt for $5,000 – no takers.
Brent did a bunch of
over-the-top poses for our flashing cameras, then started taking fan
questions.
A fan asked if Brent had
any new projects, to which Brent replied that he would be knighted by the Queen,
he would be in the next Star Trek film, and other equally absurd things.
When asked (after calling Patrick back onstage) why he never directed,
Brent replied that he doesn’t have the energy for it,
then promptly sat down
next to the already-seated
Patrick, pushing Patrick to the next seat.
Someone suggested Brent do a one-man show in L.A. – Brent then said that
if he did a one-man show, at $10,000 per show, he could retire after a few
months, and that it was a good idea.
J
A fan asked what was the funniest incident on the set of TNG, to which
Spiner became very stern,
and said, “Nothing funny
ever
happened.” Spiner says he would never joke about Patrick, but refuses to call
him “Sir” Brent then said that if he thinks of anything funny, he’ll call the
fan, asking for the fan to give his/her phone number to Creation staff.
When asked what part he would most like to play, Brent said he’d like to play
“Sir Brent” then did a dead-on impression of Patrick, singing “Volare!” (there’s
that song again) and affecting a Jonathan Frakes-type swagger.
He went on to say how big and tall Frakes is, while Patrick flexed his
muscles to illustrate.
J
Patrick mentioned that he, Frakes, Dorn, Spiner and others, all had
dinner in Los Angeles recently.
Patrick and Brent broke out in a song, “I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plans”
- we were puzzled by that action.
Patrick said the song would be better if they were both in the same key.
A fan asked about regrets, and Patrick mentioned an on-set incident in
which Patrick said something inappropriate to Michael Dorn, which resulted in
Dorn ripping Patrick, something for which Patrick said, “I deserved it – I was out of
line.”
But he would not divulge the
nature of the comment.
A short time
later, their session ended.
We went over to an adjacent theater to see the 1960s Catwoman, (who portrayed other
memorable characters as well, such as “Eleen” in TOS’s “Friday’s Child”)
Julie Newmar.
She looked amazingly well, despite having needed some
help getting onstage.
She’s nearly 77, but still very sharp-witted.
She has just finished a book on how she maintains her very impressive
body and mind.
She revealed that
she’s just not much of a science fiction fan. (fair enough)
When asked about working with the late Patrick Swayze in “To Wong Foo,
Thanks For Everything, Love, Julie Newmar” she said it saddened her, even back
then, that he was a chain-smoker.
She
wasn’t surprised to hear he had cancer.
Ms. Newmar said she never really considered herself an actress, but more
of a dancer first.
She discussed her
close relationship to Lee Strasberg (famous actor/acting coach, originating
“method acting”) and his
family. She recalled very
finite details of many of her parts, on such shows as “The Twilight Zone” the
1960s “Batman” series, as well as Star Trek.
Her figure and demeanor are amazing for any age, but the fact that she’s
elderly increases the awe factor.
Michael Dorn (scroll down
on that page) was next on the
agenda, but we could only snap some pix of him and leave, as we had another
engagement.
We think this may be our last Star Trek convention, (we've pretty much seen everyone) and are planning to possibly attend Comic Con next year.
But as
Leonard Nimoy said, “Never say never.”
J
willliam shatner/leonard nimoy sir patrick stewart avery brooks jonathan frakes/michael dorn brent spiner
voyager cast enterprise cast "the dominion panel" "the promedade panel" misc. 2010 con report home
