Wang Talks Hard-Luck Harry Kim

From his unsuccessful love life, to his status as the Eternal Ensign, Harry Kim was not the most fortunate crewmwember on board the U.S.S Voyager. Garrett Wang, his alter ego shared many of his frustrations.

"I didn't like the fact that they really dropped the ball with Kim and Seven," Wang told the official Star Trek Magazine ( via Voyager's Delights). "At one point Kim was into Seven, and then Seven calls his bluff and offers copulation; Kim turns that down - like a fool! - and then all of a sudden the Doc has a crush on Seven."

"I suggested to the writers that they should have a B storyline where Kim is competing with the Doctor for Seven's attention, which would have been very funny."

Kim's closest friendship on Voyager was with Tom Paris, played by Robert Duncan McNeill. "It started with Paris and Kim," he said "But obviously scenes between them decreased once Paris began dating and then married Torres, so that kind of cut down on the relationship a little bit. But they were still buddies throughout, so that's probably the character that Kim has been paired up with the most."

The actor would have liked to have seen more interaction between Kim and Chakotay. "There really wasn't a lot of Chakotay-Kim interaction other than the standard Chakotay asking for a status report," he said. "That's about the extent of it. We haven't had any really in-depth conversations. I think Kim and the Doctor had some good scenes together, and Kim and Janeway, and Kim and Kes, and Kim and pretty much everybody, but the Kim-Chakotay relationship I don't think was ever really fleshed out as much as it could have been."

Despite these setbacks, Wang remained happy with his character's development. "Kim has gotten to the point where he's given the responsibility of the bridge whenever Janeway's not there, and he has definitely become a much more integral part of the crew," he explained. "And Garrett Wang has changed in that he's over the seasons gotten more and more relaxed with acting in front of a camera, which is very, very unnatural!"

More from Garrett Wang, including a discussion of his favourite episodes and directing, check out the latest edition of the official Star Trek Magazine on sale now. In addition, a transcript of this interview can be found here at Voyager's Delights.

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