Actor/director Jonathan Frakes is no stranger to television, movie-making or Star Trek. For seven years he portrayed Commander William Riker, first officer of the USS Enterprise D on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” and followed that long performance with four feature Star Trek films. In the final film showcasing The Next Generation cast Riker and Deanna Troi get married and he finally accepts promotion to Captain with command of his own starship.
Frakes is also very comfortable behind the camera in that real center seat. He cut his teeth on directing in his Next Gen TV days taking the helm for eight episodes of the highly acclaimed series. From there he directed three episodes of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine,” a Trek video game, three episodes of “Star Trek: Voyager” and two Trek movies — “Star Trek: Insurrection” and “Star Trek: First Contact,” considered by many (and box office and DVD sales) to be the second most popular Star Trek film after the TOS blockbuster “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.”
He continues directing and acting today with his most recent gig as one of the chosen directors for the upcoming “Masters of Science Fiction” series this fall. Frakes hasn’t given up acting in front of the camera either. He will be in the 2009 release of “Castlevania.”
With all that experience under his belt — most of it with Star Trek (20 years worth), what better person to ask about J.J. Abrams’ attempt to jump start the Trek franchise for a whole new generation of movie goers? That is exactly what was done recently when Jonathan was being interviewed by Trek Movie Report. They put the question to him and here is how he responded.
“J.J. Abrams, who created Lost, which I think is one of the greatest shows on television, has been given the keys to the spaceship and I for one, being the eternal optimist that I continue to be, am very optimistic about what he will do with the franchise, what he will do with the next film and I think all of us who are excluded are reacting in different ways. My feeling is, from the work that he has done and the passion that he has for the franchise and the legacy and the vision of Roddenberry that it will be in good hands…It’s going to happen so we can’t be upset. And I’m very glad that the franchise is carrying on, obviously, but it could be great. And that’s what I hope.”
