Picardo: I Wanted To Play Neelix

Over the years, Voyager's holographic doctor has become one of its most endearing characters. But Robert Picardo, the actor who brought the irascible Doctor to life, originally wanted to play Neelix.

The actor revealed that he originally intended to pass on the series. "I read what it said when the Doctor makes his first appearance in the pilot script," he told Gregory L. Norris and Laura A. Van Vleet as part of the Trek Galaxy Voyager retrospective. "I read the scene and didn't get it, and I threw the script on the floor, unread."

The character of Neelix did capture the actor's imagination, however. "I went in and read for his character, very successfully," he said. "I played Neelix kind of as a 'dry drunk in a twelve step program', who had a weaker side and was trying to be a better guy, but he just couldn't always do it and kept sliding back to his basic, weaker self."

Despite an effective audition, Picardo wasn't selected for the part of the Talaxian jack-of-all-trades, and the role went to Ethan Phillips instead. The producers still wanted him on board though, as the character he had initially intended to pass on: the holographic doctor.

In his test for the Holodoc, the actor managed to capture the spirit of another famous Star Trek healer. "I made a now-famous joke where the Doctor's final line in the script was, 'I believe somebody has failed to terminate my program'," he said. "I took a long, deadpan look around the room and said, 'I'm a Doctor, not a nightlight!' They all laughed big-time. I didn't know at the time that I was channelling DeForest Kelly."

Once Picardo got into the role, he realised what he could do with the Doctor's character. "I saw the pilot and learned the audience was reacting well to the Doctor and his exaggerated distaste for everything," he recounted. "In the first episode after the pilot, it started to dawn on me what the arc of the character might be, and where the source of his ill humour came from. It was like a big revelation to me, to finally have an insight into why he acted the way he did."

For the complete interview, in which Picardo talks about his favourite memories and his new-found love for the science fiction genre, head over to Trek Galaxy.

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