Enterprise Actors Cautiously Optimistic

Dominic Keating (Malcolm Reed) and Connor Trinneer (Trip Tucker) have recently made statements that indicate both are hopeful the show will return for a fourth season.

Keating recently revealed to Dreamwatch magazine (via StarTrekUK.com) that construction for the set of Enterprise's set for the fourth season is scheduled to begin on May 12th. Keating is hopeful about the likelihood of the show's return: "It's a good sign," he said.

Keating also made reference to the lack of promotion for the show. "I don't think we get horribly, ridiculously low ratings for a show that's never promoted," he commented.

In a chat yesterday afternoon at StarTrek.com, Trinneer expressed guarded optimism about the show's future, and also encouraged the fans to keep up the letter-writing campaign to save the show. "I think everyone is cautiously confident that that (next season) is going to happen," he said, going on to add, "Keep writing letters, they get read. I think there are things that the fan base can affect. But at the end of the day it's out of my control and frankly, I'm glad that it is." Trinneer himself is hoping for another season. "The show deserves to stick around for a while longer, I think we just got our sea legs," he said.

Trinneer took questions from the fans about the show and his personal interests. When asked about how his role in the Star Trek universe had changed his life, he told fans that it had less of an effect than they'd expect. "It has afforded me to do some of the things I've always wanted: travel. It allows me to select projects as opposed to taking whatever comes," he said. However, he added, "I still have the same friends, I still do the same stuff, I don't allow it to change me, you have to constantly be aware and not eat the carrot in front of you. I'm also old enough. I got this at 31, at 20 it would've been different!"

Trinneer fielded questions about the episodes he found most challenging. When a viewer praised "Similitude", he responded that it was one of his favorites. "That would probably be my favorite episode in terms of the challenge of it," he said. "I thought that was an episode that really came out well in terms of what they were going for there was no need for an apology in terms of the 'Sim' character, they really tackled that nicely, and LeVar [Burton] is extraordinary in terms of helping me with the nuances of the two characters. I was really proud of that one." Trinneer also mentioned that he found Burton and Robert Duncan McNeill to be the directors he most enjoyed working with of the group of former Trek stars turned directors.

Though he praised co-star Jolene Blalock, Trinneer told fans the love scenes he's filmed are more uncomfortable than the general viewer might assume. "I really enjoy working with Jolene. I think she's quite good," he said. "Those scenes are what they are. They're never particularly comfortable, because behind that lens there are 30 people looking at you."

The actor revealed that sometimes even he and his co-stars are kept in the dark about certain episodes and plotlines. "Yeah, at certain times, specifically beginning and end of the season," he said of the times when scripts are kept most under cover. "We were receiving scenes in a need-to-know basis, and everything that came arrived in two and three-deep confidential envelopes. I thought I had state secrets, but it was just a scene with Phlox."

Trinneer also told fans that he has big summer plans: he's getting married. He made it clear that he would not be having a Star Trek themed marriage. In response to a fan's query, he joked, "Yes, I'm going to use the theme song as we walk down the aisle. Now take a breath and ask a real question." He did say his fiancee is a fan of the show. "She was a huge TNG fan and of course likes our show because her man's on it," he said. He also added that though the wedding ceremony itself would be small, the entire cast of Enterprise has been invited to the reception.

Trinneer ended the chat with an expression of gratitude for the fans at SaveEnterprise.com, who have organized a letter-writing campaign to save the show. "I can't tell you how good it makes me feel and how important it is," he said. "The amount of support that you the fans give us and in trying to keep us on the air is quite impressive and I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

To read the rest of Trinneer's chat, please visit StarTrek.com. The full interview with Keating can be found in the latest issue of Dreamwatch, available at newsstands now.

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