As you all may of heard Jonathan Frakes, (Commander William Riker) beamed in to spend some time with the loyal fan base at the SF Ball which was held over the 11 th through to the 13 th of February, what you may not have heard is the fact that just the day after Frakes had beamed out to frontiers unknown, his Former Captain Patrick Stewart (Capt Jean Luc Picard) beamed in to share some of his latest news with the fans. Suffice it to say there was not a dull moment to be had at the SB Ball which was held in Bournemouth . Below are some of the highlights from the two actor's stage appearances which were staggered due to a temporal time displacement anomaly called ‘Too many trips to the well'. TMTTW for short...
For his part of the proceedings Patrick Stewart was more than happy to discuss his pending projects as well as address some questions pertaining to his role in Star Trek and X Men. The actor was only initially scheduled to appear for 2 hours, (which was supposed to work out as an hour signing autographs and a one hour talk) however his talk went on for a good 90 entertaining minutes. Meaning that the conventions attendees got more value for money.
There was one moment during Stewart's talk where he rather cheekily asks the back stage crew for a cup of tea. Note that there was an empty pot sitting back stage which he had noticed on his way toward the stage area which ironically cued the actor to relate the subject of Tea with how Earl Grey was selected as Captain Picard's drink of choice.
“When the subject of Tea first came up which I think it did in ‘Encounter At Far Point' I actually suggested that it should be lapsaang soo chong and I remember one of the producers saying, ‘what is that?' So we settled for something a little less sophisticated in Earl Grey.”
As many people already know Patrick Stewart has been involved with a number of animated features of late. Of note is the fact that he has put down some voice work for ‘Bambi 2' which is a direct sequel to the Disney movie but most prominent of late is the voice work he has done for the Manga animated feature ‘Steam Boy', the actor told the gathering throngs of fans this project.
“This is a Japanese made animated movie. This film is called Steam Boy, and the irony is although it's a Japanese movie it's actually set in Manchester . Manchester England and London, and its set during the, I guess the late part of the 19 th century and it's about what can be done with the power of steam. It's a very ‘Thrilling Movie' and the quality of the animation is unlike anything I've seen before.”
The actor also revealed that the play ‘A Life In The Theatre' in which he stars alongside Dawson's Creek actor Joshua Jackson has been given an extra week and he joked that audiences will get to see more of Joshua Jackson than they do of him, “In terms of bare flesh”. Beyond the play the actor revealed that there is the possibility of a Television series which may start in the spring. But he did state that X Men 3 was an absolute certainty although it could be July or August by time X3 starts filming. He also revealed that he has some exciting plans for 2006 which he isn't permitted to talk about.
In regards to Star Trek episodes the actor stated that he liked different episodes for different reasons, but from the acting view point he enjoyed Inner Light, “because it was a brilliant script and also it was the first time that I got to work professionally with my Son Daniel who is an actor.”
The actor did mention an episode which he thinks illustrated exactly what Star Trek is about both philosophically and in terms of what the cast and crew were able to present.
“I think if, supposing there was somebody who had never ever seen Star Trek: The Next Generation, and there's got to be someone somewhere (Audience Laughs) and I wanted to show them what it was other than perhaps showing them First Contact. I would say watch the episode ‘Measure of A Man', which also happened to be Jonathon Frakes first directorial work on the series.”
One question which was volleyed at the actor was how he felt about Data's death in the movie Nemesis; this question had the following comical response.
“Oh we all love Data… You know how many times have I heard that? Picard is great but I love Data. [The actor mocks] Am glad he died he should have gone years ago. I have to tell you that it's somewhat of a sad little story this but flipping through the channels with a friend the other night looking for something to watch. I came across Nemesis and my friend hadn't seen it so it had only just started so we watched it. I have to admit that Data's death brought tears to my eyes. It's still so effective particularly the whole notion of self sacrifice which is very much at the heart of the philosophy of Star Trek.”
An interesting question which pertaining to acting was the subject of accents. One fan wanted to know if doing a character with an accent made the process of developing the character more difficult.
“The accent becomes at times a kind of conduit into the character. I'm currently playing an American and I warm up for the play. In fact Joshua Jackson and run are first scene which is about 12 minutes long, so we warm up and for me doing the accent is part of becoming the character because the inside of your mouth feels quite different when your doings accents. It has to because it is. So that's a physiological change that occurs and in the course of ‘A Life in the Theatre' I do two other very broad accents in addition to the characters own accent. I've always enjoyed doing that there was a time wasn't very good at it but have got better at it have had some good coaches.”
As many people know Patrick Stewart has over the last few years become as well known for his movie role of Professor X from the Movies than he has for his Television and movie role of Captain Jean Luc Picard. The actor admitted that he was initially somewhat apprehensive of taking on another Iconic role and revealed that he had initially turned the role down. He went on to reveal how he was cast in that role.
“I felt that carrying the weight of Captain Picard was enough without the possible weight of Charles Xavier. I also couldn't understand why they would want to have me in their movie accept for the obvious reason that I did actually look quite like Professor Xavier.”
As to how he came about finding out about his striking resemblance to Professor X. The actor revealed that he first discovered his doppelganger during a break in filming from the movie conspiracy theory. It was meeting with Lauren Shuler-Donner the wife of movie director Richard Donner that first drew Patrick Stewart's attention to his comic book double.
“So I went to see her and she welcomed me in and she said, ‘Is this familiar to you?' and she held up this comic book and I said, ‘Why am I on the cover of this comic book' and she said, ‘Exactly'. And for the very first time, because I'd never heard of X – Men she said, ‘That's not you that's actually Charles Xavier.' And I thought I shouldn't do it, only two meeting with director Brian Singer persuaded me that I should.”
During the course of his talk which lasted one and a half hours the actor shared many a humorous stories about his distinguished career in Theatre, Movies and Television. What is above is just a few of the highlights. There was one nice little moment where guy who was with his younger daughter a toddler was about too leave due to the toddler chatting away, and the actor took the time to stop the man and his daughter from leaving and shared a few moments with the youngster who soon went very quiet.
With regards to Jonathon Frakes time on stage, due to a technical problem am unable to give you exact quotes, however I can give you a sampling of what he shared.
As you are all no doubt aware the actor did confirm that he will be appearing along with his “Imzadi” in the series finale of Star Trek Enterprise; however that was not the be all and end all of the time he shared with the convention attendees. When he talked about his pending appearance on Star Trek: Enterprise it was referred to with a sense of sadness on his part. He said that it will be great to hook up with old friends amongst the production crew who he has known for 18 years, but he also referred to his appearance in the finale and possibly the last episode of any Star Trek show for some time to be a “Somewhat bitter sweet feeling”.
One funny moment of the talk was when Frakes was asked about Lt Thomas Riker who last appeared in Deep Space Nine. The actor went on to joke that he was hoping to be invited back to reprise the role in Deep Space Nine, but they chose not to follow it up, which left the actor mockingly joking about how the writers had stranded Thomas Riker on Cardassia in a prison where there is no escape because the writers seem to have forgotten about Thomas Riker.
Frakes also had a great deal of fun demonstrating how he and his fellow cast members had to pretend to be thrown about when the ship was under attack by enemy fire.
He also shared a funny little story about a certain young actor called Wil Wheaton who in this story had just turned 17 and had gotten his very first car. This got a huge laugh from the audience. As you would expect the actor turned director took some stick for Thunderbirds, but he did take the criticism gracefully.
With regards to DVD's the actor informed the audience that he had recently recorded the director's comments for Star Trek: Insurrection. When he was asked about Insurrection he said that the movie originally ran too long and needed some of the “air” letting out.
Overall although both actors were only able to attend for a couple of hours they certain drew a crowd and they well and truly entertained. Frakes was hilarious and very energetic where as Patrick Stewarts dry British Wit reaped equal rewards with the audience. As to the actual SF Ball if you ever want to go to a Sci Fi Convention pick SF Ball because not only do you get more bang for your buck, you also get entertained and have a chance to partake in a number of interactive games which I will talk about in my actual overview of the event.
Speaking as someone who only registered for the event to see Patrick Stewart and Jonathon Frakes, I have come away from the event with a lot more than I went there for and have made a number of new friends because of it.
For information about the 12 th Annual SF Ball and the various charitable causes which it raises money for click here.
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