By GustavoLeao / 05:32, 28 August 2012 / Star Trek: Nemesis

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StarTrek.com posted a two-part interview with TNG/DS9 actor/director Michael Dorn and here are excerpts.

How much does it freak you out that it’s 25 years since you started work on TNG?

Dorn: It’s surreal. It really is. It doesn’t feel like 25 years. The only time you know it’s 25 years is when you look at people’s kids who were two or three years old and now they’re out of college and working and getting married. Then you kind of go, “Whoa.” But otherwise, it’s an amazing thing. What I reflect on, just speaking for myself, is how close we’ve been all these years. It just doesn’t happen like that in this business. You have people in your life that you’ve known for 25 years, but it’s not usually people you worked with. These people are still in my life. I still have a ball with them when we’re together. That’s more than just surreal; it’s really special and I always feel extremely fortunate to have been in Star Trek at all.

We are not going to ask you to go through TNG and DS9 episode by episode, but what were the developments that intrigued you/challenged you most as an actor during your time on the two series and what was a storyline you wish had never been broached?

Dorn: The one challenge was the son, having a son, because Worf was not a great father. He basically shoveled his son off to someplace else. That was a big challenge and the episodes were pretty good. The evolution of Worf was great, especially on Deep Space Nine. It was just fantastic. The father thing, I thought, was a real challenge. What do I wish was not broached? People may expect me to say the Worf-Troi romance, but I actually liked that. I felt that was a good thing because Troi was so not like Worf. That worked for me, but Marina didn’t, of course. She and Jonathan (Frakes) just go, “Oh, that was stupid. We hated that.” There wasn’t anything, really, that I wish they hadn’t done. There was an episode I wish they hadn’t done, but luckily I wasn’t in it. That was “Code of Honor.”

Picking up where we left off yesterday on your Kickstarter campaign for Through the Fire, you have several familiar Star Trek figures attached to it if this all comes together. Who are those folks?

Dorn: Marina Sirtis would play my best friend. Armin Shimerman and his wife, Kitty Swink, will be in it. There’s a wonderful part for Nana Visitor. She’d play a decorator who’s based on a good friend of mine. This character would be as acerbic as anyone you’ve ever met and she doesn’t suffer fools lightly. Robert Pine would also be in it. Robert and I worked together on CHiPs back in the day, and there’s a Star Trek connection there. He was on Voyager (and Enterprise) and his son is Chris Pine. Anne-Marie (Johnson, Dorn’s writing partner) was never on Star Trek, but she’d play my blind date and she’s been around a long time, doing shows like JAG and a bunch of sitcoms. I think there will be a few more Star Trek actors involved, but I’m not yet in a position to contact people and say, “This is what we’re going to do.”

How different a set, how different an experience was TNG versus DS9 for you?

Dorn: Deep Space Nine was more of what a set is usually like. The TNG set was totally different. For some reason, we just really bonded with each other. I think it was our personalities just meshed. It’s not like we took each other’s personality. It was nothing like that, but the way that we were worked for us as a cast, definitely, and as people, too. Deep Space Nine, although each of the individuals are really cool people, as a cast there were definite separations. Certain actors didn’t hang out with certain actors. Other actors were bonded with this person or that person. Individually they were great and I got along with everybody. I still do. But it was a very serious and quiet set when I got there. Who knows what that came from? Probably that was from the captain. The stars usually dictate the way the set is. Avery (Brooks) is a very serious guy, and so I think they just took that (tone). When I got over there, I was like, “Oh, my God, no. I can’t do this.” I was like, “If you guys want to be quiet, that’s fine when I’m not around. But when I’m around, let’s have some fun.” It wasn’t like we were joking and doing practical jokes, but you just liked each other and you just laughed, and you made the experience a lot easier to do, especially with the long hours.

Last question: have you seen the first-season TNG Blu-ray set yet?

Dorn: No. I’m looking at the package right now, but I just haven’t had a chance to put it in yet.

The full extensive interview can be found here and here.