Dr. Phlox Actor To Appear On 'Roswell'

Enterprise actor John Billingsley (Dr. Phlox) will be makign an appearance in an upcoming cross-over episode of UPN's Roswell, along with Jonathan Frakes (William Riker).

As reported previously the Roswell episode will be entitled 'Secrets and Lies' and will be the fourth episode of the show's new season, its first on UPN. Teenage alien Max Evans is set to end up on the Paramount lot in Los Angeles where he is investigating a possible conspiracy. He is able to get onto the lot thanks to an opportunity to audition for the part of an alien on Enterprise.

According to a new report on Zap2It, the story of having an alien try out for the part of an alien was too fun to resist. "The notion was to do a crossover [...] having Max brush up against the entertainment industry," said Roswell executive producer and former DS9 and TNG scribe Ronald D. Moore. "There was just something irresistible about the core idea of it all, which was to have an alien try out for the role of an alien. At one point, the story was bigger - he was going to get the role, be on the stage, put on the prosthetic. But [...] it became a much simpler, smaller gag. So now it's the right size, because it's a single scene, a single gag."

The episode was originally set to feature Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer.) But the actor turned down the role as he thought it was to early to break the fourth wall. Jonathan Frakes will direct the Roswell episode, in which he will also appear - ironically as an Enterprise director.

John Billingsley won't appear decked out in his Phlox make-up. "The scene isn't set up that way," said Moore. "It's a casting scene, and he's the guy that's reading with Max, as himself."

'Secrets and Lies' is set to air on UPN on Tuesday October 30th. More information about Billingsley's appearance on the show can be found here at Zap2it. Thanks go out to David Henderson at PsiPhi for this.

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