EXCLUSIVE! Interview with Gary Graham

Here's another Exclusive Vulcanology interview.  Enterprise's Ambassador Soval, Gary Graham, agreed to answer a few questions for us.

SCOTT: How did you prepare to play a Vulcan? Was there much research involved? Did you ask any other actors who had played Vulcans for tips?


GARY: I asked Rick Berman (exec. prod) who the Vulcans are.  I had gotten the role, so I had an inkling.  But Rick told me -- they aren't beings without emotion; on the contrary, they are so passionate, they realized they needed to learn how to supress those emotions for their society to survive.  That was my key to understanding Vulcans.  Also, for my key to playing the Ambassador, I took a cue from Archer's line in the pilot, when I react emotionally to his words: "Raising your voice to make your point? Ambassador, you HAVE been on Earth too long."


SCOTT: Did you or the writers come up with any interesting backstory elements for Soval that we never saw or heard about on screen?


GARY: I came up with the notion that T'Pol is my long-lost daughter (just based on the fact that she is a spitting image of my younger sister when she was very young, who everyone told me looked like me).  I thought it was a slam dunk when I suggested it, but it was never picked up.

SCOTT: You've had quite a bit of history with Star Trek. Is it true that you were one of the final actors considered to play both Sisko and Janeway?  If so, what was that audition process like?


GARY: That's what I heard, from my agent and also from another source at Paramount.  I never heard it from either Berman or Braga, so I can't give it full veracity.  You'll have to ask them.  And the audition for any lead is always pretty exhaustive.  I think I remember the initial audition and two subsequent callbacks.


SCOTT: You also played an Ocampa called Tanis in the Voyager episode "Cold Fire." How did working on Voyager differ from working on Enterprise?


GARY: Though I enjoyed most of the cast members on Voyager, the tone on the set was tense.  It wasn't like the very relaxed and joyously creative set I'd grown used to on Alien Nation.  The Enterprise set was also a very relaxed set. The people all got along, the DP played rock music while they were changing lights, the mood was light and playful and Scott Bakula was extremely welcoming and made the experience fun and wonderful.  Scott's a very hard worker, but also kept the mood light and fun.


SCOTT: In 2007, you played a freedom fighter called Ragnar in the Star Trek fan film Of Gods and Men.  How did you come to be involved in that project and do you have any plans to work in fan films in the future?

GARY: I was approached by a guy named Sky Conway who sent me a script and said they've got Walter and Nichelle and Russ and J.G. and Ruck; All actors I respect.  I liked the script, and... wait for it... they paid me what I asked! Badaboom!  The working conditions were abysmal, but once the camera rolled, it was lovely.  I LOVED making the movie WHEN WE WERE WORKING. Once they said cut, back to Hell.  LOL.


SCOTT: Outside of your Star Trek work you've had a long and varied career as an actor. You've also written a book about how to become a working actor. Are there any career highlights you'd like to discuss?


GARY: Yeah, read the book: Acting & Other Flying Lessons.  I discuss 'em all!


SCOTT: What new or upcoming projects should your fans watch for?


GARY: Right now I'm working on being a rock star!  Hahaha... I'm joking, but music absorbs most of my time.  The Gary Graham Band is appearing at the Whiskey a Go Go on March 29th.  Apart from that I've co-written and recorded ten original songs (available on iTunes and Amazon) called American Rebel Part One with my partner Lisle Engle.  They rock!

Also, I did a feature movie in South Dakota last summer that should be coming out this spring or summer.  It's called Dust of War.  As the director describes it... "Road Warrior kicks Terrence Malick's ass."  Hehehe...pretty accurate really.


The official site for Engle & Graham is at englegraham.com

I'd like to thank Mr. Graham for taking the time to work on this interview with me.

LLAP

EXCLUSIVE! Interview with Tim Russ

Greetings, my fellow Vulcanologists!

I have a special treat for you today.  The one and only Tim Russ has agreed to do a brief interview with me.

Vulcanologists will of course be most familiar with Tim Russ as Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager but he also played three separate characters on Star Trek: TNG, Star Trek: DS9 and in Star Trek: Generations.  His history with Star Trek goes even farther back to 1986-1987 when he auditioned for the role of Geordi LaForge.

Since Voyager ended in 2001, Tim has continued to provide the voice of Tuvok in Star Trek video games and in 2007 he directed and starred in the fan film, Star Trek: Of Gods and Men.  Outside of Star Trek, Tim has become highly recognizable from his stints on Samantha Who? and iCarly.  In addition, Tim has released four EP albums and his songs are now available on iTunes.  Keep an eye out for more new songs on iTunes as well.

Recently, Tim has been directing and starring in a web series called Bloomers. He'll shortly appear in a new film called Rampart and he's looking at several new directing projects between now and the spring.

It may surprise you to know that Tim's favourite Voyager episodes are not Tuvok or Vulcan-centric.  "I liked the "Distant Origin" episode which dealt with evolution--many of the sciences are interests of mine."  Another favourite is "Living Witness", an episode he directed that deals with revisionist history.  "I think history is profoundly important to examine and learn from."

Like Leonard Nimoy with Spock, Tim brought many of his own ideas to the character of Tuvok.  I asked Tim if he and the writers had ever discussed backstory elements for Tuvok that hadn't appeared on screen and he replied "No.  The few ideas I talked with them about eventually became episodes in one fashion or another."

When Voyager premiered in 1995 there was some sexist and racist discourse about having a female captain and an African-American Vulcan on the series. Tim admits, "Well, it's part of the fabric of this country."  But he's quick to point out that he never had any negative experiences with fans.  "It seems counter to the typical Trek fan who tend to be above all that."

Tim is perhaps the studio-Trek actor with the most fan film experience, having directed the short film Roddenberry on Patrol and directed and starred in Of Gods and Men.  I asked him about the differences between working on studio versus fan films.  "Well, the budgets obviously are bigger for the network's shows.  For the cost of shooting one episode of Voyager, you could shoot an entire low budget feature, or two.  That makes a difference in production value and options for shooting."

Though Tim has no present plans to return to the fan film world he notes that he "will entertain any project that comes across my desk."

Finally, I asked Tim about whether or not he would be interested in playing Tuvok again if the opportunity presented itself.  He said, "The timeline has to be correct to play Tuvok in a feature, but otherwise, I would certainly play the character again if asked to."  (Hear that J.J.?).  On the subject of the new J.J. Abrams Trek and the destruction of Vulcan, Tim has little to say except that "We blew up Vulcan in Star Trek: Of Gods and Men long before J.J. did."  It seems as though the universe has it in for our poor planet Vulcan.

I'd like to thank Tim Russ for taking the time to answer my questions.  Be sure to keep an eye on his website for updates on his projects and appearances.