Trinneer Jumps Science Fiction Franchises

Connor Trinneer talked about trading in Trip Tucker's engineering credentials to become part-Wraith on Stargate Atlantis and said that he believes he grew up during Star Trek: Enterprise's run.

In a long interview with Stargate fan site Gateworld, Trinneer said that he more often gets recognized for playing Tucker than Michael, though many fans follow both franchises. "Some people prefer [Michael] over Trip," he explained. "They're so radically different. And they come from such different places...it's a compliment." He had asked to read for the Atlantis part and was told that if he wanted the role, it was his; he said it was coincidence that both characters had southern accents, since he is from the state of Washington and does not speak that way himself.

Trinneer said that Enterprise "remains the most remarkable experience I have had thus far in my professional career" in front of a camera, adding, "I cut my teeth on that show....when I go in front of anywhere, on any set, I'm not uncomfortable. I know what I'm doing, and I feel that I've got something to give." He described himself as "awfully proud" of the series, saying that he thinks history will be kinder to the show than its contemporary reviews.

The actor pointed out that Enterprise did not have substantially lower ratings than Voyager during its later seasons, but Enterprise lacked "the internal fan base at the studio. I think that the network was, well, they folded...a lot of stuff was happing that had nothing to do with us." Personally, he does not believe that people were tired of Star Trek or disliked the show. And despite the disappointment of the cancellation, "four years and syndicated, that's amazing. That doesn't happen very often. There's a handful of shows in the pantheon of television that have done that. We will live on in perpetuity."

Meanwhile, Trinneer added, he got married and had a baby. "I found myself an adult when the thing was over. I didn't feel like that in the beginning," he admitted. "I've got a level of comfort that I didn't have before in a profession that doesn't generally give you that...I'm out there more." If he has been typecast in science fiction, he added, "typecasting means you're getting work. If it's in one genre, so be it."

He is uncertain what the future holds for Michael on Atlantis, only that he remains angry and now has an army to do something about that. The prosthetics are very uncomfortable for him so he hopes that Michael remains more human. But working with the cast has been "a great deal of fun...they all have a good time. It reminded me of our own show in a sense that everybody's going to work, they're working hard, but they're having fun doing it."

Trinneer is looking forward to resuming theatre work when his son is a bit older, though he is quick to add that it is impossible to make a living doing only theatre in Los Angeles. He has filmed a pilot for Showtime, Manchild, in which he plays a recurring character, and is working on scripts for the Sci Fi Channel. "I'm not the writing guy," he was quick to add, saying that he would appear in the projects written by his partners.

The original article, which contains spoilers about Atlantis, is here.

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