Montgomery Likes 'Enterprise's' Uncertainty

If there's one thing Anthony Montgomery (Travis Mayweather) loves about Enterprise, it's the fact that each day holds new surprises.

"You don't have to know everything about everything," Montgomery told Star Trek Monthly (via his official web site). "This is the discovery that is Enterprise. Travis has that knack for space exploration, but he's still learning, too. He knows how to work the helm, but you've got to see the human side of everything. I love that about this series. I never want to go to work going, 'Captain, there's an ion storm up ahead, what do you want me to do?' Because it's an ion storm! Who's to say this ion storm is going to be the same as the last one?"

And if he ever does get bored on set, there's always the helm console to fiddle with. "I'm constantly playing with that," Montgomery said, laughing. "I don't really know how to fly a spaceship. Best-case scenario, I could go to NASA and watch some of those guys, but that's not going to happen. I've gotten some [computer] flight simulator [programs] and I'm going to actually go to a flight training school and see about riding in a cockpit with a pilot, just trying to get an idea [of how pilots work instrument panels]. It's my job to come up with what is it that I do. And I'm up for all of these challenges. I look forward to all of that stuff."

One sequence that appeared quite challenging to shoot was the 'sweet spot' scene in 'Broken Bow.' But Montgomery said that he didn't really get to sit on the ceiling. "The whole set was upside-down and I was sitting on the floor," the actor said. "When you saw Connor [Trinneer] flying, there are actually devices that they used to hoist him into the air. All I was doing was sitting on the floor, but my grandmother called me and said, 'Baby, did you get dizzy?' She really thought I was upside-down. A lot of people think that.

"I was hoping that they were going to have me on some kind of cool device, but I was just on the floor, and then they turned the camera – they would reposition the numbers on the set, so when they shot one angle of Trip coming out of the floor, everything looked one way, and the you'd see me, and we'd get closer to me being off the floor/ceiling, the numbers are a different way. So it's kind of like a magic trick. It's really cool."

The full interview, in which Montgomery also talked about the theme tune and 'Fortunate Son,' can be found in the February issue of Star Trek Monthly, out now. Alternatively, a transcript is available at AnthonyMontgomery.com.

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