Brent Spiner's Star Trek pride
09 September 2006
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It's been 40 years since Captain James T. Kirk's first voyage into space, the final frontier. Since then, several other crews have boldly gone where the crew of the Starship Enterprise became legends and household names.However, despite the iconic status of the original series, it was the second incarnation of the 'Star Trek' universe - 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' - that captured the hearts of millions around the world.
Like the series' predecessor, the cast and crew of TNG became some of the most recognisable faces on TV, and on the big screen in films including 'Generations', 'First Contact', 'Insurrection' and 'Nemesis'.
Among the most recognisable of those faces is Brent Spiner who played the android Lieutenant Commander Data.
Away from the 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'' universe - a place he has long left behind - Brent is a regular performer on the Broadway stage and has also starred in a string of blockbuster films including 'Independence Day' and 'The AviatorNow, Brent has been given the honour of representing the Star Trek universe in the UK as fans celebrate the franchise's 40th year. Find out how his world, and the worlds behind his world, have been influenced by one of the most popular and most successful television shows in history.
You must be very proud to have been part of something so big and so well loved by fans.
I'm delighted to have been a part of it. I hope there is always an interest in it. It has just exploded, even though the original series wasn't wildly successful in it's time. No one had any idea 'Star Trek' was going to be as successful or as influential as it has been. It changed the face of sci-fi TV forever.But 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' is now more popular than the original show.
I think it's because we came along at the right time. 'Star Trek' had come back as a movie, and had been successful, but when we came along it seemed impossible to people that we could do a 'Star Trek' without the original cast. However, it was the dubious nature of that that actually worked in our favour in the end.So why did people take to 'Next Generation' but not the other 'Star Trek' shows like 'Enterprise'?
When we started people said we could never do another 'Star Trek' but when we did and it was good it was a bigger deal. The shows that came after us didn't have quite the same opportunity to prove something and so everyone had high expectations. People had no expectations of us apart from failure... which made our success bigger than ever. I really don't think people's issues with the other shows had anything to do with quality. I think the other shows were just as good as our show. If you look at all the other shows that are on TV now like 'Stargate', 'Babylon 5', The 4400' and '24' they all have writers on their staff who have written for 'Star Trek'. 'Next Generation' just came along at the right time. People were hungry for more 'Star Trek'. We never had any expectations attached to us, the people came after us did.The list of guest stars on the show reads like a who's who of Hollywood. You had some great cameos on there.
We did, but back then we never knew those people would become as big as they did. We didn't have a clue. Ashley Judd was a guest star and we had no idea she was going to become this hugely popular actress. She wasn't even that good on the show. She was a novice, she didn't know what she was doing. She was okay, she looked adorable but we never knew she would turn out to be so truly gifted. Most of them were kids when they did the show, like Kirsten Dunst. I don't even remember her being on it. I remember Famke Janssen being on. It was one of the first things she did and she still had a sort of an accent at the time. I do remember Teri Hatcher being on the show though.Do you ever look back at the shows and look at all the now-famous people you had on?
I don't. I hardly saw any of the shows. To this day I have only seen about 20 episodes of the show and so I don't really remember things about it. I remember doing certain things.Why did you never watch it?
It just seemed kind of redundant. I was reading them all, I was acting in all of them so watching them was like just gilding the lily. I spent enough time with the show without spending even more time watching it. I knew what was going to happen at the end of the show so there wasn't much point really. I was working 16 hour days so I spent more than enough of my time on 'Star Trek', I needed to pay attention to other things.So when fans come up to you and want to talk about specific episodes and specific things about your character, how do you handle that?
Sometimes I remember what they're talking about but for the most part I don't. For me it felt like one long seven year episode.So do you find it weird that fans do take notice of every little thing to do with the show?
Kind of but not really because everyone has to be interested in something. If that's what they happen to be interested in then so be it. There are people who can just reel of sports statistics that go back 100 years or whatever. I mean I know a lot about movies and the history of movies so I know lots of stuff that some other people wouldn't find interesting at all. Everybody needs something to be a fan of.So when people call Trekkies weird, how does that sit with you?
I don't think it's fair. I think there's something about people who attack Trekkies use it as a scapegoat for the stuff they're interested in. I think 'Star Trek' fans are among the most normal fans there are. When you look at sports fans like football fans in England, you don't see 'Star Trek' fans fighting and punching each other because they don't agree on stuff. I see people at basketball games standing up and screaming, I saw Jack Nicholson stand up at a Lakers game and start yelling at the players - these guys who are throwing a ball at a hoop - and because of that the fans are laying into each other and those are the people who call 'Star Trek' fans weird? Just because someone goes to a convention or wears a costume doesn't make them strange, it makes them passionate. At least they're not punching each other.So do you go to a lot of conventions?
To be honest, if I was doing it for free I probably wouldn't do it. I know that fans don't like to hear that but for me it's really lucrative to go to a 'Star Trek' convention. It's also painless for me. Walking out on stage and being greeted by hundreds of people who have affection for you is not hard. It's all a positive experience.There are group of fans called 'The Spiner Femmes' who are a little obsessed with you.
I've heard about them...Apparently one of them had an entirely photograph album of pictures of your neighbourhood purely because you lived there...
I heard that... I don't live there anymore. Not because of that but...Do fans every send you things these days?
Not anymore really. They did when I was doing the show but not now because they don't know where to send it. I don't work at Paramount anymore and they don't know where I live. I always discourage fans from sending me things or giving me things to be honest. If someone comes up to me at a convention and says they have something for me I am flattered, it's nice of them and I appreciate the gesture but I try to tell people not to waste their money on me, giving me stuff, because really, I'm doing fine.That's a really commendable thing to do.
It's not that magnanimous though really. It's more like they don't need to be doing that. If they like the show that's good enough for me. I do know of celebrities though that do the opposite and will hint at the things they would really like and then people start turning up and giving them that stuff.That's terrible.
I know, but it happens.Has anyone ever given you anything really strange?
Oh yes. I have had some very strange things sent to me at the studio. Things I can't even mention to you. It was a rare occasion when that happened because most of the fans' interest in the show is entirely healthy but there was always the odd one that's slightly off. It's the law of averages. Did you ever take any keepsakes from the show?
Not really. I took a few little things but nothing big. The thing is though that in time I found I didn't really want them anymore and then I was like, 'How am I going to get rid of this?'. They were things that I thought were cool at the time. I do have a head of myself as Data though. It's not one from the show. A guy called Michael Westbourne did a cast of my head and then put them in these plexi-glass boxes - he only made a few of them and he gave me the first one off the line. The only value it has is that I have a four-year-old my son and maybe one day he'll want to look at it and see what his father looked like at 40.Does he understand what all the fuss is surrounding you and Data?
Not really. He hasn't really seen the show and he's only seen a bit of 'First Contact' but it was too scary. He comments on it occasionally and asks things like,By Simon Thompson. 
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