McNeill: I’d Have Run Voyager Differently
2 min readChuck Director Robert Duncan McNeill, best-known to Star Trek: Voyager fans as Tom Paris, would have changed how the show was run had he been in charge of the show.
As reported by TrekMovie.com, McNeill was not happy with the studio attitude towards Voyager. “I heard someone at the studio saying one time that the ship was the star of the show, and that the actors were really irrelevant, which I found offensive,” he said.
“I come from a place, being an actor,” said McNeill, “a) that I really value the actors’ process and the actors’ contribution a lot. Because if we don’t have dynamic performances and happy actors, and actors that feel like they’re really contributing, then who cares, you know?”
But according to McNeill, the studio did not share his attitude. “I think they did believe that the ship was the star,” he said. “And the actors were there to wear uniforms and say their words. I like to produce from a place of real collaboration, and I want people to feel heard and valued. Certainly there should be a vision for the show that comes from one person…I think the workplace in Star Trek, generally, was not the most productive. It was not always encouraged to bring in something unexpected or do something interesting.”
McNeill is not ungrateful about his time on Star Trek: Voyager, even though he felt that mistakes were made. “I owe so much to Star Trek and to the studio and to the producers that ran the show,” he said. “Having said that, I also learned a lot of what not to do. I feel like I behave very differently.”
About The Author
