Bakula On Star Trek Fandom
3 min readScott Bakula (Captain Archer) is a science fiction fan who finds it difficult to say “No” to science fiction roles.
“I look back now, it’s like, ‘How did I end up in all these science fiction things?,'” Bakula explained during an interview at the Toronto Film Festival. “And then I look back at the stuff that I loved when I was a kid, and the TV shows that I liked, and the books that I liked and Ray Bradbury, and all the things that I loved reading.”
“And then I say, ‘Well, you know, it’s kind of…’ when I open up a script that says, ‘The guy, he wakes up and he’s in a bed, and nobody knows, he looks in a mirror and he’s somebody else, and they can’t figure it out, and this hologram appears,’ I’m just sucked right in. I’m not going, ‘This is stupid.’ I love it. So, it’s, I’m drawn to it. It’s hard for me to say no to science fiction stuff.”
Bakula has to decline science fiction roles sometimes, as difficult as it is for him. “I just can’t keep doing [science fiction] over and over and over again,” he said.
Part of working on a science fiction show or movie is dealing with science fiction fandom. “Well you know,” said Bakula, “science fiction fans. If they love you, they’ve, you’ve got them…If you’re in, you know, then you’re in forever. And they’re demanding fans. They expect that you be honest in your science fiction, and correct in your science fiction. And they expect you to be available, and a part of the world of science fiction. And they claim you. So, there’s kind of a responsibility about that.”
Going into Star Trek: Enterprise, Bakula was prepared for the demands of its fandom. “I knew when I took Enterprise that I was perpetuating that,” he said. “But they’re loyal, and they ask you to be really good. And they really watch. And, you know, for a performer, that’s, you can’t really ask for more than that. They’re not casual. They’re intent. And you better have, you better not screw up your facts, your logic, they’ll ring you up on that one. And so, you know, that’s who you work for. We work for our fans, and for an audience. And so I love them. They’ve been great to me.”
When asked about the rumor that Quantum Leap, another series on which he worked, might be rebooted, Bakula laughed. “That rumor’s always out there,” he said, admitting that he would like to see it happen. “It would be fun. I would always, you know, you talk about this stuff, and you’d have to see how it would manifest, you know? In terms of a script. And, I always have joked that they’ll do it, but it won’t be with me and Dean, you know? Because that’s just the way that Hollywood is. If they did a feature, they would recast it. And make it better.”
Bakula also gave a video interview to Collider.com where he spoke about his role in the Steven Soderbergh movie The Informant, Quantum Leap, Chuck, Men of a Certain Age and a bit about Star Trek XI.
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