Keating, Montgomery Talk Cancellation Regrets

Anthony Montgomery and Dominic Keating spoke about their regrets at Star Trek: Enterprise's cancellation, the fun they have on the set and the question they ask themselves when they have trouble coping with a situation: "What would Scott do?"

The actors who play Mayweather and Reed spoke to Chase Masterson at TheFandom.com, covering territory from their educations and audition processes for Enterprise to their gratitute toward the fans trying to save the series from cancellation, though they don't believe the efforts are very likely to succeed. "Friday night, me and Connor [Trinneer] shot the last scene we're ever going to shoot in engineering," revealed Keating, who described it as a very sad moment. He said he believed that the set might already have been struck, though Montgomery noted that it had likely been put into storage rather than destroyed.

Masterson, who is intimately familiar with the end of a Star Trek series - she played Leeta on Deep Space Nine - begged for details on the finale, which both actors said that they could not reveal under penalty of death. "They're panning the whole script on the internet," laughed Keating, who said he had read details online before receiving the gray envelope marked "open at your peril" with the pages. Montgomery blamed the lack of publicity for the show's cancellation, saying that while Star Trek may be a phenomena, many fans weren't even aware of Enterprise. Both actors thanked fans for their efforts to save the show, calling the rally in Los Angeles last week "a convention outside the Paramount lot" but saying they expected the next big Star Trek announcement from Paramount to concern another feature film, possibly involving Next Generation cast members according to Keating.

Asked about how they were cast, the actors joked about having "met Rick and Brannon in a gay bar" before explaining that Keating went through several varieties of British accent and Montgomery came in from a children's adventure show after auditioning to play Tuvok's son on Voyager. Asked by Masterson whether this much joking goes on while Enterprise is filming, they both said yes, and Keating added, "We drink more, though."

"You become a family," said Montgomery, noting that he was sure Masterson understood from her own experiences playing the wife of a Ferengi. "There are family members that you want to strangle, there are family members that you want to hug every day." Both said that they would not tell humiliating stories about other castmembers, and they cited Scott Bakula as a role model in work and life. "I have never heard Scott speak ill to or of anyone," Montgomery declared, to which Keating added that Bakula's behavior provides a model for them of how they should be acting if they want to reach his position in the business: ""He had that much of an impact on me."

Neither actor had firm plans for working after Enterprise wraps its final episode next week. Keating said that he was trying to get auditions now and most of the cast have had a few already, "but it's tough out there, I've got to tell you, it is not easy. THey want big names and they're getting them. The guys who used to only do films are now doing TV." Montgomery said that working with technobabble and Trek's notoriously difficult shooting schedule, in which the actors sometimes receive the final scripts at 6 a.m. on the day they're being filmed, has made him more comfortable going into meetings now.

When will they be on TV again, asked Masterson? "When syndication starts!" they exclaimed. Keating said that they would probably be seen on Enterprise more often in reruns than they were on UPN, and Montgomery said he expects to be stopped in the street by people saying, "Hey, you're that dude on Star Trek!" He said that he was very excited to have a love interest in the upcoming final episodes, and said that one of his biggest regrets was that every time he came up with a backstory for his character, the writers changed it.

Keating admitted that his family, while supportive, were not big fans. "Mum watched the pilot," he said, saying she then asked him, "'The Vulcans, they're not from Earth, are they?' She could have watched that for ten years and never have gotten it!" But she did say that his performance was one of his best. Montgomery said that his mother's ambition for him had been singing in the church choir, which he did, but he felt hypocritical "behaving like a heathen downstairs" after praising God upstairs and switched to R&B. He has been a fan of comics and animation since childhood, while Keating said his favorite show is Will and Grace. Both of them poked fun at William Shatner, with Montgomery imitating Bakula as he would play Kirk, leading them to joke that they would not be appearing on Boston Legal any time soon.

The original interview may be found at TheFandom.com, where it can be downloaded as an MPG.

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