Picardo On Trophies, Theatre and Trek

Robert Picardo (The Doctor) said that he was flattered fans want to put his name on a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame, but he has mixed feelings about the honour given the number of talented actors who are not included and relative unknowns who are.

"I was flattered that a group of people felt strongly enough about my work to want to immortalise it in this way. Then, on the other hand, I felt that there are many, many wonderful well known actors who are not on the Hollywood walk of fame," he explained to Sci Fi Pulse. "I don’t think it makes you any better a performer to have that kind of honour, but on the other hand it shows that a certain critical mass of people have watched you and have had a positive opinion about you over the years...if it were to come about, I would be honoured and would be delighted to be at the dedication ceremony."

Though he is now known for Star Trek: Voyager, a recurring role in the Stargate franchise, numerous movies and other television roles, Picardo is also remembered as the villain in The Howling, "a werewolf story where I play the tortured and quite sick werewolf protagonist. People remember that -- they were impressed with that movie, especially if they saw it at a young age in their late teens or whatever and they’ve never forgotten it." Asked about the balance of playing heroes and villains, Picardo explained, "Most actors would answer that it's fun to play the villain, because often the hero roles are very two-dimensional and not terribly interesting and you have much more freedom on how you interpret a villainous character." He also appreciated the outlet for darker feelings provided by such roles.

Though Picardo said he enjoys working on film as well as in theatre, "On stage, you're much more in control of shaping your performance and the whole emotional arc of the character is really in the actor's hands." He prefers that challenge, saying, "I love going back and forth. I think there are great challenges to both, and I still believe that a really good actor can work on both stage and screen, but there are really good screen actors who don’t come across on stage."

Picardo said that if Voyager had continued, the Doctor would have suffered from the same problem as Data, since the characters are not supposed to age but the actors playing them inevitably do. "I don’t think any actor, and I think Brent Spiner would feel the same way, wants to be in a position where he is trying to portray a character that supposedly hasn’t changed at all from the moment the audience first experienced him," he explained. "After ten or fifteen years have elapsed and the illusion can no longer be maintained, then I think it's time to say goodbye and just remember what a great experience it was and keep seeing the Doctor in re–runs."

Picardo said he had good expectations for the upcoming eleventh Star Trek film and believes "there is excellent fodder there for a savvy science fiction writer to show us that there are consequences to every choice you make, and how in fighting a very difficult enemy. There’s tremendous potential to become the thing you are fighting to a certain extent and in certain ways. So if there were a new Star Trek to come along, I’d like to think that they would be dealing with some of those issues."

For more, including Picardo's refusal to comment on alleged cast feuds and his recollections of working onstage, see the full article.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!