Beltran on the Changeless Chakotay

In that past, Robert Beltran (Chakotay) has made no secret of his displeasure with his role on Voyager and, now that the series has official wrapped, nothing appears to have changed - including his character, Chakotay.

"Chakotay has not changed enough for my taste," he told freelance reporter Ian Spelling. "Although they come up with a scene here or there that's tolerable, I think the character has not progressed since season four," Beltran says, adding that he thinks that the character might have actually regressed.

"When you're given these throwaway scenes," he continues, "with not much thought put into who's saying it and its importance to the whole story - and I'm talking mostly about seasons five and six here - it just makes me feel like the writers don't care. Therefore the producers don't care, therefore the show isn't that important, therefore why am I busting my a-- trying to make this stupid scene worth anything?"

"I'm just sorry that it has gotten to the point where I'm feeling so unexcited, that I got to be so disillusioned with it. I'm sorry that happened. I'm sorry the writers didn't see the possibilities. I'm sorry for all the missed chances, not only for my character, but for the whole 'Voyager' story."

Having said that, if he had been in complete creative control of his character, what would we have seen? "I would have explored his past," he says, "his spirituality, the inner conflicts he might have, and most definitely his relationship, not just with the captain, but with everybody else on the ship. I would have liked more revealing scenes with the other cast members, which were sorely lacking with Chakotay."

Beltran might one day have that complete control, expressing a wish to form his own production company. For the time being, however, he's somewhat limited. "I'm an actor," he says. "I do television. I do films. I do stage. I'll do whatever feels right." However, he adds that he can, of course, only choose "from the list of what's offered to [him]" based upon "what [he thinks] is the best thing to do."

For the full interview with Robert Beltran, follow this link to the original article by Ian Spelling.

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