I went to a lot of theatre schools, got a lot of training, did a lot of repertory where you do a different play every night. I took a lot of voice, movement, and acting classes.
I always try to make my characters people, and yet I always want to entertain.
I gravitated to acting out of a mixture of instinct, naivete and opportunity.
I also sort of find the idea that not only do actors want to please when they're onstage, I find actors really want to please off stage a lot of the time, don't they?
I think there's something in the human psyche that we're titillated by the person who flies too close to the candle and their wings get singed.
Feelings are universal, and if an actor's doing his job, I think he's making people sit there, and if it's in a movie or a theatre, going 'Hmm, yeah, I know that... I know that.'
Writing has never been a driving force within me.
It's who you know and who can help you.
I had auditioned a number of times, maybe three or four times, for Deep Space Nine. I only auditioned for The Next Generation once, and that’s when they were casting the pilot. All those years, and I was never invited to come in and audition for The Next Generation. Then DS9 came along and I kept getting in the batter’s box, thank you very much. One day I walked in and Jonathan Frakes was directing the episode. I knew Jonathan slightly. We’d both auditioned together for a film some years earlier and we had mutual friends.
The really lovely thing about it was that once I was on set I reconnected with Rene Auberjonois, who I’d done theater with. It just so happened that Rene was starting to cast for what was going to be his very first episode as a director (“Family Business”). Rene suggested me and, bless them, the producers agreed and cast me for Brunt. There was some resistance at first because I’d just done a show, but they went, “Yeah, but no one will know.” So out of that I start recurring, and then they tagged me for Weyoun, and the rest is DS9 history.
It’s all Ira. It’s all Ira. I did not know that Ira had been a fan of my work. He told me a story once. He said, “Even before you were on DS9, I saw you in a supermarket.” I said, “Well, did you come up and say hi?” He said, “No, no, no, I didn’t, but I saw you?” I was like, “Why didn’t you do that?” But it’s Ira. Bless him, and bless him again. I remember the day that I was standing on the sound stage in full Brunt makeup and Ira came up to me and said, “You know, we want to use you as another character, where we’ll see more of your face.” I said, “Oh, wow. That’s great. Thanks.” But I didn’t really believe it. It’s Hollywood. People say stuff. But Ira is a breed apart. He means what he says. And out of that came Weyoun. Of course, they killed Weyoun at the end of the episode, but the writers realized afterwards, “Wait a minute, this is a character we find interesting.” So that’s how Weyoun could be cloned at the drop of a hat. Problem solved.
Tiron had a weird nose, and I had problems breathing out of it. I had gills, and every time I’d breathe in through my nose, the nose would suck in. So I really had to make sure, technically, that I didn’t blow the makeup by breathing! But I got to work with Armin Shimerman. He was the sweetest guy. He was the one who came to me and said, “Welcome. If you want to run the scene, if you want to work on it, I am at your disposal. Just find me in my trailer or wherever. It doesn’t matter. We’re really glad you’re here.” Boy, that was a big thing. That generosity and professionalism is, to this day, what Armin Shimerman is all about.
That headpiece. Even though I had big ears, I could not hear. But, man, did I have the best time playing Brunt. To be able to make Quark squirm… delicious would be the word that I would use to describe Brunt.
Weyoun is your best friend. He really is, and he wants you to know that. He wants to alleviate all of your problems. There’s really nothing to worry about, until the knife is in your back, and then you realize you’ve been had. It was a wonderful counterpoint. I loved being so evil and yet being so good-natured and pleasant about it. That was a decision that I made, honestly, the first day that I shot Weyoun. I had no idea what a Vorta looked like until the makeup was done at 6:30 in the morning, when I looked in the mirror and went, “Who is this guy? OK, make a decision.” I decided right away that he was a very pleasant fellow, very placid. Sometimes you’ve got to run with your initial instinct, and in that case it was a good one.
I loved Krem. He was such a weak sweetheart. That really gave me the opportunity to play the opposite of Brunt, to show that there are sweet and good-hearted Ferengi as well. Of course, Max Grodenchik with Rom could make that argument in spades, but still, for me to able to play that note was really interesting. Also, introducing the Ferengi was interesting. If you notice, they never called them Ferengi in that episode because that would be going against the Trek bible. But, still, it was the first encounter with the Ferengi, and that was very cool.
Ah, Shran was a gift. I loved Shran. I got to play a completely different color, and I was excited about that. And I don’t mean blue. Shran gave me a totally different spectrum than I had with Brunt and Weyoun. I got to play a captain, someone with a real chip on his shoulder. My prototype… I looked at the Vulcans as if they were the British and the Andorians as if they were the Irish, and Jimmy Cagney was my ideal. That’s kind of the guy I saw Shran as, a tough little guy who holds his ground, and you’ve got to go through him, not around him.
Ooh, that’s a good one. I would say Shran, just because I like his attitude and his complexity. And there was still some stuff to explore about him. I think I’d like that.
It started, I’d say, five years ago, when I read a biography of Edgar Allan Poe, and I was just struck by why no one had ever really told this man’s story. To me, he’s America’s Van Gogh, just a compelling, tragic figure.
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