Actor Brent Spiner (Data from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” [TNG]) recently sat down with Film Focus in the U.K. and talked about his days on the set of TNG, the four Trek movies he did and his appearances on “Star Trek: Enterprise”. He even had a few words to say about “Threshold” and his answers to some of the questions are quite telling about his feelings toward some of the management folks at Paramount.

Film Focus (FF): Are you a Star Trek fan yourself? To have such an investment in it I imagine you don’t hate it but at the same time you say you’ve yet to see your Enterprise episodes…

Brent (BS): I’m a mild fan in that I like it but it’s not my favourite thing. If I was on a desert island and I could only have five shows to watch for the rest of time I don’t think that Star Trek would be one of them, but I do think it’s very good. I think it’s way better than Star Wars!

I’ll tell you what, when you look at it there’ve been five hundred and something episodes of Star Trek and ten films. Not to denigrate George Lucas because he’s a great artist and God knows I’d be happy to work with him if he ever wanted me to! But the fact of the matter is that after the original three Star Wars Movies – of which the first was spectacular, the second was pretty good and the third one was OK – he had twenty years to think of the next three and they were horrible! In the meantime, we did five hundred and something episodes. It took him twenty years to come up with something lousy.

FF: ……Star Trek has kind-of endured. Enterprise wasn’t necessarily as successful as some of the other shows and didn’t have quite the lifespan but, regardless, we’re already seeing plans for another movie.

BS: As far as Enterprise goes, frankly I think if the regime running Paramount had stayed the same Enterprise would have seen a full run. They came in with a whole new agenda and it was based strictly on numbers without ever fully understanding that all of the Star Trek series eventually got good. And Enterprise was getting really good when they took it off. I think it was premature, but there you go.

FF: Is your work on Star Trek something you’re proud of?

BS: I’m not proud of it and I’m not ashamed of it but I feel that way about everything I’ve done. There’s nothing I could point to and say, “That I’m really proud of,” or, “That I’m really ashamed of.” I mean I’ve been in some of the worst movies ever made and I’m completely fine with having been in them. I had a really nice time doing them. The very really is, “to do.” I enjoy the work and to reflect is really not my bag. Bob Dylan said, “Don’t look back,” and it wasn’t just even him. There was a wonderful black baseball player – a pitcher named Satchell Paige – who pitched in the major leagues when he was fifty and struck everyone out – he was a genius – and he said, “Don’t look back, they may be gaining on you.” I really embrace that. There’s no reason to look back and there’s nothing you can do about it. So I just like to do it and what it means to be isn’t really anything. What it means to me is that I did it. I got to do it, you know.

FF: Would you like to be involved in more Star Trek? I know Data had something of a goodbye in the last movie.

BS: Well I wouldn’t necessarily have to play Data… I could play Worf! *laughs* I could play Counsellor Troi! I’d be happy to be in more Star Trek but I don’t think I could play Data again because I think I might look a bit ridiculous.

You can catch the entire interview with Brent at the Film Focus UK website.