Grand Slam: The Future of Star Trek

I figured that when we saw Nichelle Nichols on stage, she’d tell us she’s semi-retired. You know, lounging around in a silk robe, chewing on chocolates and reviewing a great career in hindsight. Actually, I figured that all the Trek actors I saw on stage at the Grand Slam would be like that. Boy, was I wrong!

It’s hard to keep up with Nichelle’s career even though she’s in her 70’s. She spent most of her time on stage just telling us what she’s been up to. She starred in an independent film called Lady Magdalene’s, which is due out in December. She sings in the movie, and even wrote one of the songs!

Of course, she also did Of Gods and Men for Tim Russ, and you can see the first two parts online. And she’s new on Heroes, following fellow Trek star George Takei. She went in for the Heroes audition and discovered “at least 20 to 25 men and women on a raised platform. Who are all of you? ‘We’re the writers!’ ‘We’re the directors!’ ‘We’re the producers!’” They were all fans.

And to introduce her credits, she told us about how she started on a little show called Star Trek. “I’ll stay for a season or so. This will be a wonderful addition to my resume. Yeah,” she added, wryly.

I came to the Grand Slam to see a new Star Trek actor (Zachary Quinto, the new Spock) as well as some familiar ones. And I had a great time catching up with them.

Tim Russ is almost as busy as Nichelle. Who would’ve thought that he’d be one of the busiest Trek actors working? Part of this, I think, is his aggressiveness, as Tim doesn’t seem to wait for things to happen to him. He put together Of Gods and Men, is directing a series of 10-minute short films that star former Trek actors, and appears periodically on the new T.V. hit, Samantha Who? But apparently his biggest acting moment came when he appeared on Hannah Montana. “I didn’t realize (how big it was) until I went to pick my daughter up at school. Talk about Star Trek fans. It’s huge! Scary huge.”

Vaughn Armstrong, who played several aliens until he finally landed a recurring part on Enterprise, is “doing some plays.”

Max Grodenchik (Rom on DS9) recalled how he put the Ferengi teeth in and couldn’t pronounce the letter ‘N.’ Max also reported, “I’m in a serious relationship and it takes up all my time.” I thought that was terribly funny, but he wasn’t laughing.

Suzie Plakson, who played K’ehleyr, Worf’s mate, on Next Gen as well as a mysterious Andorian on Enterprise, reported in. “(The makeup) was a wonderful way of filtering expression. The antennae (on the Andorian) made noises,” and she thought that would interrupt her thoughts during scenes. “They called ‘Action’ and it was the oddest thing. Everything fed the character.”

Salome Jens, who played the nefarious shapeshifter on Deep Space Nine keeps busy acting, directing, and teaching acting. “I was known as the one-take girl (on DS9) on set at 3 am, and you’re very tired – it was a lot of pressure!”

Brent Spiner was at a little table in the convention hallway – much to our amusement – hawking his new CD. When he appeared on stage, he told us he thought that Nemesis shouldn’t have been so badly received by the fans. After all, he said, it’s not nearly as bad as Insurrection. His favorite role was John Adams on Broadway in 1776, “a dream come true.” When one fan asked if he had been typecast by Star Trek, Brent replied that he was never typecast by appearing as Data, but weirdly enough by Independence Day. He played a scientist in that film. And now every script calls for him to be a scientist.

Roxann Dawson appears so much more relaxed in front of the fans than ever before. She hasn’t acted on film in the last three years, she’s been so busy directing. She directed an episode of Lost earlier this year, and is now directing as well as producing Cold Case. In a reference to Voyager, someone asked what it was like portraying a half-Klingon, half-human. “Like being myself,” she reported. “It sort of justified my schizophrenia.”

When the two Spocks came on stage together, the room was packed with fans anxious to hear anything about the new J.J. Abrams movie. The two actors, Nimoy and Quinto, gave very little away except to say that the movie, unfortunately, had been pushed back six months to open now in May 2009. Leonard saw that as an encouraging sign, that the studio thought the movie was good enough to hold its own during the prime summer months. “In 58 years of experience, I have never been involved in a project of this size. Great script, great cast. They feel this film will do very, very well.” And so does he, obviously.

Zachary Quinto, who is still acting on Heroes, appeared to be a quiet, soft-spoken young man. It became obvious that he was wearing his hornrim glasses not just to see, but to also hide his shaved eyebrows. He seemed very intense.

Leonard told us that “it’s been about 18 years since I played Spock. It was a very emotional moment for me.” That comment was when it dawned on me: this is the last movie we’ll see Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. And when he whipped out his own personal t-shirt, the one he often wears to conventions that reads, “#1 Vulcan,” and gave it to Zachary, it was an emotional moment for both of them. And I realized that he just passed the torch to the younger generation.

What a contrast to see how Leonard and Nichelle approach these years after 40 years of Star Trek. One has given up acting for good, and the other embraces that art. Now I really have to see the new Star Trek movie, to watch the end of one career and the beginning of another (Zachary Quinto). And, in addition, I’ll be watching for Nichelle’s new movie, as well as her other projects. After all, we’re not just Star Trek fans. We’re Star Trek actor fans.