From: mholtz@sactoh0.sac.ca.us (Mark A. Holtz)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.startrek.info
Subject: From Fidonet: Brent Spiner at Con.
Followup-To: rec.arts.startrek.misc
Date: 5 Oct 1992 19:28:34 GMT
Organization: Sacramento Public Access Unix
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Originator: griffith@xcf.Berkeley.EDU


- Area: Star Trek: The Next Generation ---------------------------------------
  Msg#: 54              Sent K/Sent                  Date: 28 Sep 92  08:28:00
  From: Cindy Hill                                   Read: Yes    Replied: No 
    To: All                                          Mark:                     
  Subj: Brent Spiner
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Hello All!

I went to a 'cattle' con this last weekend, but every minute of claustrophobia
was made worthwhile by an appearance by Brent Spiner. He was on stage about 45
minutes on Saturday, and an hour and 1/2 on Sunday. His talk on Sat was short
because he had to get back to LA for LeVar Burton's bachelor party. Brent's the
best man, the wedding is next weekend. (They went out and saw Frank Sinatra,
and Brent did not seem hung over.) Notes about his talk to follow:

First off, he would neither confirm nor deny a seventh season. He made an
allusion to how much money Paramount would be willing to pay. He will be
keeping the gold makeup, which takes 1 hr. 15 mins. to apply every day,
"whether we rush or take our time". The contacts are prescription. He's trying
to get Lore back on, says the producers are 50/50 on it right now. They are
filming a Western episode right now, directed by Patrick Stewart and involving
Worf, Troi and "several Datas". They shot a couple days on location at Warner
Bros. western street lot in 103 degree heat. He said he was petrified that he
was going to pass out. When asked if he gets to ad lib, his response was no,
but the "Ow" in TA 1 was his.

He was asked if he ever got angry on the set and answered essentially no, but
added that Friday night he had worked until 3 AM, and was a bit upset when they
decided his favorite scene would be cut because it ran too long. He loves all
the cast members, says working with Whoopi is fabulous, and working with John
DeLancie is like "swimming in a rainbow". He talked about getting into the mood
for Data. He also said that Spot (he thinks the cat should have been named
"Spock") will appear again this season, but the original died. Spot II is what
he called the new one. He also said he did a scene with the cat in which Data
is holding it on his lap. He called the cat by name and it turned its head and
looked right at him.

The talk on Sunday was much more complete. He was SO friendly, polite and
funny. I also managed to get up close for a couple photos. He looked RIGHT into
my camera, and I was so overwhelmed I almost didn't get the shot. Felt like a
giddy teenager, fer cryin' out loud...

His hero is Orson Welles. He avoided publicity and conventions because he felt
it was counterproductive to the illusion of the character, until Patrick came
back from a con and told him he was really missing a lot. He also said the last
paragraph of the PEOPLE rag article was not his words (alluding to his
loneliness and need for a woman). The response was "frightening. Some of you
people are really weird."

He rehearses scenes several times, to allow himself to get rid of the emotions
that would ruin the scene if they came out. His days go on average from 5:45 AM
until about 6 PM, then he goes home and studies up for the next day. He has no
pets because he feels they need more attention than he can give them, and it
would be cruel. (Got a very positive reaction from the crowd about this.) He
said he has no intention to do any directing, feels Patrick and Jonathon do a
wonderful job of it, and that Alan Nimoy (Leonard's son) will direct an ep of
TNG this season. He is writing a screenplay with a writer friend of his, but
would not reveal the plot.

He likes doing films because the lines are new every day, but feels the stage
is the "actor's medium". He'll do a play about 6 months before boredom sets in.
No plans right now for any other projects other than TNG because it keeps him
so busy. He said they film about 10 months a year and he needs the extra two to
recover!

He went to Belaire High School in Houston with several now famous people. Most
noted were Randy and Dennis Quaid, Robert Wuhl (Batman and stand up comedy),
Cindy Pickett (St. Elsewhere) and Marianne Williamson (the newest "love" guru).
His principal was Harlan G. Andrews, brother of Dana Andrews. He started
singing at 15, but now only has time for it in the car. He plays "bad guitar,
like everybody who grew up in the 60's." He wouldn't sing for us, but did say
that his faovrite types of music are the stuff he sang on his album, and some
of his fave artists are Roy Orbison and Doug Kershaw.

He drives an 86 Toyota Corolla. He said Bob Wheeler was born out of teenage
silliness. He and his friends would go to Denny's in Houston and act goofy, and
that's where Bob was created. He also said he auditioned for the part of Arnie
Becker on LALaw, but was turned down because he looked too young. He said that
no one on TNG has been offered a part that is important, and that Gates
auditioned for the part on LALaw last year. He said to look for some Bob
Wheeler to come out in this western episode they're filming.

He loves playing Lore because he's more like Brent is in real life. He loves
being an immortal character and teased the kid who asked about it. He hasn't
time for personal correspondence, but will autograph a photo if requested by
mail. He digs Michelle Pfieffer. His favorite episode was "Elementary, Dear
Data" because he had fun with the Holmes character. His favorites were the
Basil Rathbone films. He thinks the best TNG ep was "Measure of a Man" because
he thinks it portrayed the very best of the Trek philosophy, promoting equality
and tolerance for all life. He also thinks Data is totally different from
Spock, inasmuch as we have discussed here before; Spock denys his human side,
Data aspires to humanity.

He felt pressure when the show first came on from die-hard TOS fans, but feels
they've gotten well beyond that now. He loved working with Nimoy, but says
Shatner is a jerk. He feels the women's roles should be expanded beyond the
romance stories. He has great respect for the Troi character and feels Dr.
Crusher should have her character expanded as well. Initially he didn't think
that TNG would last, but has happily been proven wrong. He won't do Trek
cruises because he hates sailing.  He's not sure if he's afraid of typecasting,
but doesn't worry because there aren't that many roles for androids out there.
He talked about how Art Carney's career went; first and foremost he'll always
be Ed Norton, even though he did some great work later in his career. He feels
he'll be lucky if he can have such a career.

Spiner says the set of TNG is "raucous", and that they get a bit stir crazy
being indoors with no windows all day. He really drove the wagon in TA 2 and
loved it. He loves Reading Rainbow and respects LeVar's work on it very much.
He does a really good imitation of Stewart, as well as Jimmy Stewart. (It was
hilarious!) He hasn't seen DSN yet, but did say the pilot episode completed
filming on Friday, 9/25. He would not mind a crossover guest shot on the show.

When he was a kid, he worked as an orderly at Saint Luke's Hospital in Houston.
He told a really funny story about how he was working in the recovery room,
when one day a very ill patient was brought in from surgery. Brent was supposed
to take the man's blood pressure. The guy's eyes opened and he asked Brent, "Am
I dead?" Brent responded, "Not yet." He then felt a very strong hand on his
shoulder and was dragged from the room. A very hot Dr. Michael Debakey (sp?)
then proceeded to chew him out and fire him. <G>

He doesn't think Data is based on Asimov's robots, except for the concept of
the positronic brain. (Perhaps now we can quit arguing about the Asimovian
laws??) He did mention that it's a fantasy of his to do Data doing Elvis.
(Hilarious commentary!!) He said he's interested in marriage, but has no time
for dating with his work schedule.

He was told that the questioner felt he is a genius. He blushed at this and
responded that he has only met two geniuses in his lifetime, and both are
associated with TNG. Number one was Gene Roddenberry, who took a bit of
inspiration and turned it into a cultural phenomenon. Number two is Michael
Westmore, who can get a script that says "three aliens show up" and work
miracles of magic with his makeup talents.

Couple more tidbits: He learned sign language on the fly from Howie Seago (Riva
in "Loud as a Whisper") and called Howie the "Kissinger of the Universe". He
would not mind working with him again anytime. He was excited to work with Jean
Simmons in "The Drumhead", because they had worked together years before in a
movie called "The Dane Curse", based on a Dashiell Hammett novel. He also did a
part in the mini-series "The Life and Times of RFK". He said he was so excited
to work with Ms. Simmons again, so when she came into the makeup trailer the
first day, he arose and greeted her. She said, "Why hello, Mr. Data." It was
then he realized she didn't remember him!

I'll tell you, if you get a chance to see Brent Spiner in person, TAKE IT! He
was so funny and personable, and as cute as he could be. He was warm and
friendly, and I don't regret one minute of back pain I got waiting around to
see him. But go in early and grab a seat, he's well worth the wait!!

(Geez, I hope I got all the info...  :)

Cindy

-!- GoldED 2.40
 ! Origin: That's enough, Data!  ((1:104/43.104)
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