Trinneer Makes His Debut On The Con Circuit

Connor Trinneer ('Trip' Tucker) made his first convention appearance last weekend in Portland, Oregon and judging from the audience's reaction, he was a big hit.

Trinneer fielded questions on subjects ranging from his first acting job to working with Porthos, according to a report by Linda Burnett and Gayle Stever at The Edge of the Frontier. But there was one burning question for the actor - what was it like to be pregnant in 'Unexpected'?

"How do you prepare for that? I wasn't prepared but I was really intrigued and why not?" Trinneer said. "I'm an actor. It's fake; it's not real. They wrote it pretty well. It was a lot of fun to do. How often does that scenario play out?"

The episode ranked as one of Trinneer's favourites so far. "I liked the pregnant one," he said. "That was good. I also liked 'Shuttlepod One' I did with Dominic [Keating]. They've said some really nice things to us about how it turned out. He's a good actor so it's really easy to work with somebody like that. 'Strange New World' is my favorite one. Why? When I watched it the show went by really quick - versus some that don't."

Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed), who appeared earlier in the day, had told the audience Trinneer had broken three phase pistols during the shooting of 'Broken Bow'.

"There were two prototypes of the phase pistols. I broke them both in about 8 minutes," the actor confessed, but playfully denied Keating's allegation he had broken three. "He wasn't even there! I was doing my own stunt, and then I fell on them. I didn't know they were that expensive."

Most of the set dressings are supposed to be hands-off - at least for Trinneer. "You're not allowed to touch a lot of things, like if you're not doing anything. You're not supposed to play with a lot of stuff. Or actually I should say I'm not allowed to play with a lot of stuff."

The actor was asked about Tucker's ongoing character development. "I think he's on a pretty good track," he said. "They keep trying to dumb him down. Which is a mistake. He's the Chief of Engineering. I think they need to give him a situation where he leads people out."

When push comes to shove, Trinneer's not afraid to express his thoughts on a script. "It's my butt up there. If I don't think something's working, I'll skip them [the director] and call [executive producer] Brannon Braga. Of course, you can't let your ego get in the way. But before we've ever gotten to the scene, I've probably made a phone call. Is it true to the story, is it important?

"Have you heard, suddenly, I'm from the Florida Keys? I'm not doing the Florida Keys accent at all so we've had to have some conversations about that because the good folks in the Bible belt don't believe a word I'm saying now! Any time you feel strongly about something, you call and see what you can get done. And if you can't, tough luck."

But does he mind being upstaged by Archer's dog, Porthos? "The old adage, never act with animals or children. They steal everything. They steal every scene they’re in. And I'm glad the dog's not mine." Apparently the dog also makes the most money. "You should see his trailer," Trinneer quipped.

The full report from the Portland convention can be found here. Thanks to ScottyDS9 for this!

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