Bakula: I Didn't Set Out To Be An Actor

Scott Bakula (Jonathan Archer) might look at home in the Captain's chair of the NX-01, but he almost headed off in a quite different career direction.

"I was in a pre-law program," Bakula told News Day. "I thought I wanted to be a lawyer. My dad's a lawyer, my brother's a lawyer. I loved to act and sing and did all kinds of theatre, but it was never with the idea that I would earn a living at it."

While at school the actor was taunted over the similarities between his name and a famous vampire. "[It was] mostly Dracula. That was the big thing," he recalled. "I had a big white streak in my hair from the time I was 4. So that was mixed with 'grandpa' and 'skunk.' I really was made to suffer. But you know, it made me strong."

Bakula explained what drew him to Enterprise. "The script was great, and I really liked [Rick Berman and Brannon Braga]. We were on the same page about it being more human, more humourous, more reality-based," he said. "Because 150 years isn't that far away. You can almost get your head around what this planet might be like in 150 years. And when you spin that with a Roddenberry twist, which is positive, it's gonna be good and we'll have solved a lot of the baggage we're carrying around."

"And then, to be the first guy to go out into space, and take humanity with him. There's a nice reality to that. And then you add to that I get to be home. I've got four kids. I don't have to travel. I don't have to be in Canada every three months shooting another movie. I get to be home almost every night."

The actor also thinks the adventures of the NX-01 crew could be similar to the way our future might unfold. "In some form, yeah, I do. What we'll find out there, I don't know. But I think it's human nature to want to find out, and I think it will be to our good. "

More from Scott Bakula, including his early career and more about Enterprise can be found in the full interview at News Day.

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