The cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine offered up their collective experience to potential cast members of Star Trek: Discovery at fan convention Star Trek: Mission New York.
Though little is known about Bryan Fuller’s (Hannibal, American Gods) upcoming Star Trek show, we do know this: it will have a cast of actors. Actors who, if all goes according to plan, will draw crowds to the convention halls of the future. Actors whose lives will forever be associated with Star Trek utopianism and the acolytes enkindled by the sci-fi institution’s eternal optimism.
Being part of a Star Trek cast is unlike any other job in acting. So with a broad swath of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ensemble before him — Rene Auberjonois (Odo), Michael Dorn (Worf), Terry Farrell (Jadzia Dax), Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko), Armin Shimerman (Quark) and Nana Visitor (Kira Nerys) — moderator Jordan Hoffman, of the official Star Trek Engage podcast, asked what advice they have for future Star Trek alums, once the USS Discovery NCC-1031 is finally decommissioned (hopefully after 30 glorious seasons).
Dorn, whose real-life practicality seems to mirror Worf’s straightforward demeanor, offered up some practical finance advice. “Don’t buy anything for three years. You can get a car, but no houses.”
“Airplanes,” Auberjonois suggested.
“No airplanes,” Dorn said. “As everybody on this panel knows, these moments are fleeting. And if you prepare for the future really well, then when this is over — some people are really fortunate and go right into something else, but 90% of the time you don’t, and you’re basically unemployed again. And if you take care of yourself during this time in your life, the stuff you want to do after won’t be based on money.”
Lofton, who was 14 when he was cast as DS9 ’s captain Benjamin Sisko’s son, had more experiential advice. “Enjoy the experience. Embrace the fact of what you’re a part of. Also, be conscious of what you do, because it will have a lasting memory. So if you approach it with that mindset, I believe that the result will be something you can be proud of and look upon as something where you can say, ‘I did my job properly.’”
Visitor agreed. “Respect the culture. Know how important it is.”
Auberjonois, who played head of security Constable Odo, under a thick facial prosthetic befitting his shapeshifting species, had some advice for those poor souls stuck in the makeup truck every morning before filming. But it’s not his advice.
Instead, Auberjonois opted to relay to the Star Trek: Discovery cast advice given him by Roddy McDowall, a fantastic character actor (luv u Class of 1984!) best known for playing various chimpanzees, including Cornelius, throughout the Planet of the Apes series. As you can guess, this involved many hours of makeup.
“I asked him, ‘how do you deal with the makeup and the prosthetics?’” Auberjonois said. “‘I thought about the money,’” McDowall told him.
But despite his mercantile outlook on the discomfort of prosthetics, Auberjonois relayed some fantastic acting advice for the Star Trek: Discovery crew later in the Q&A. Asked what it was like getting in character as an alien, Auberjonois replied simply, “We all played humans. Just different aspects of human character.”
You’ll make sure the Star Trek: Discovery cast hears this advice, right Mr. Fuller?
