Question: Bob, nice work in last night's Voyager episode. Did you have fun going outside your doctor role and getting to play the bad guy?
David

Robert Picardo: Anytime I have the opportunity to sexually harass my female co-stars and get paid for it is welcome. I must admit that this was probably my most evil performance since "The Howling" in 1980 and I have different feelings playing such a role now that I am older and have children of my own. I just don't enjoy being a creep anymore.

Q: Is working on Star Trek different qualitatively from your other projects?
baronius

RP: Working in genre material like Star Trek presents different challenges, than, for example, a naturalist contemporary drama like "China Beach." I enjoy the freedom that working in Star Trek has afforded me. I feel particularly lucky not to be a Starfleet officer in the conventional sense because I get to break all the rules of protocol and decorum. I can 'diss' Capt. Janeway, for example.

Q: Did we get to hear your actual voice on the episode where you were on the holo-deck and were auditioning divas for La Boheme? If so mighty impressive!! Any / what formal training have you had?
SwampyNO

RP: I'm flattered to death by the question. That was my own singing voice. I pre-recorded the excerpt and then lip-synched it on the set. I studied voice while I was an undergraduate at Yale and, although I have sung on stage since then, I have had little formal training in the interim. Jeri Taylor felt that the opera hobby was a good idea for the Doctor and quite funny the first time we used it, so I have every expectation that we will reprise the notion next season.

Q: Hi Mr. Picardo- Your character has advanced from being Emergency Medical Hologram to almost a real person--Have you as an actor had any input on scripts that deal with that development of a character? If so, how?
RXsBrasel

RP: Unfortunately I have no experience with being a real person to draw from... just kidding. One of the great strengths of our team of writers on Voyager is that they write to the particular strengths of their actors. When the writers discovered that I could make the humorous moments work they began writing more of them and, I might add, more wonderful ones, as the series has progressed. I also think that I have a particular skill in playing characters that are initially unlikeable... that you grow to like in spite of your first impression, and I think that's because of the essential paranoia and insecurity that I invest in every role.

Q: Are you a Shakespeare buff like Armin Shimmerman? Would you like to do a Shakespeare role on stage or screen?
Surfnerd

RP: No, I would never compare my Shakespeare experience with Armin's. I have played only three Shakespearean roles... interestingly, I had to turn down an offer to play Macbeth.

Q: Was it a good experience working on the "Wonder Years?" Do you think that the work you did on that show helped you get the job on Voyager?

RP: It was a wonderful experience working on "Wonder Years," Fred Savage is one of the most naturally skilled and interesting actors I have met, and I felt that way when he was only 12 years old. I don't think that playing that role helped me get the role on Voyager, but I do believe that they are essentially the same character, give or take 70 IQ points.

Q: I trust you enjoyed your last visit here. Would you like to return? What impressed/disappointed you about Australia?
Kent

RP: I enjoyed my trip very much and had firm plans to return this summer before our shooting schedule was abruptly changed, thus ruining my highly anticipated return to Australia. I am extremely bitter about this turn of events, but trust that none of the producers of Voyager will ever read this.

Q: Are you where you want to be at in your career? Are you living the dreams you have of your life?

RP: I think it's very hard to give a completely honest answer to such an all-embracing question as that. I can honestly say that I am thoroughly enjoying my experience on Voyager. I had no idea when I took the job that it would prove to be as interesting and varied in its challenges as it has proved to be. I think I am where I'd like to be at this point in my life, I just wish I were better dressed.

Q: I love your character. I love his sarcasm. Will the doctor being going on more away missions now that he has a portable emitter?
PI110

RP: The Doctor will go on a quest for the most talented lap dancer in the Delta quadrant... just kidding. I think that the autonomous emitter has afforded the writers much more freedom in writing for my character. I'm particularly delighted that none of the fans have complained that the appearance of this 29th century technology in the 24th century is a serious breech of the temporal prime directive.

Q: Are there any new roles in movies or TV or cameos on DS9 that you can tell us about that you have coming up?
Drewlet

RP: I appear in the upcoming HBO original movie entitled "The Second Civil War" as well as a Showtime movie called "Menno's Mind." You will see me also in a Lifetime short film with the wonderful title "Women Without Implants" playing a cosmetic surgeon with a terrible bedside manner. I also have a large guest role in another science fiction television program with the unlikely title "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine." My programmer, Dr. Lewis Zimmerman, comes to DS9 to investigate the suitability of Dr. Bashir as the template for the next generation of medical hologram. Needless to say, I fully intend to find him unsuitable. That would mean replacing myself. I also surprise Leeta while she's in the shower. That was fun.

Q: I love your Character! Did you enjoy doing First Contact?
MPMDRoberts

RP: Yes. My entire experience was 2 hours and 30 minutes long, but it was great fun. I loved working with Jonathan Frakes. He had directed 3 or 4 Voyager episodes, and the episode "Projections," which featured the Doctor, is apparently a piece of work that was shown to the studio executives and Patrick Stewart to show off Jonathan's skill as a director. Of course, he was obligated to pay me back in any way he could, so I demanded a 27 second part in the film. I should have gone for 40. :)

Q: Love your character!!! Is The Doctor ever going to pick a name?? I know he's mulled several over, but hasn't really decided on one..
RXsBrasel

RP: The Doctor will get a name as soon as Viacom has closed the appropriate promotional consideration agreement. Top contenders are: Dr. Pepper, Dr. Scholl (free mole skin for all series regulars) Dr. Seuss, Dr. Brown and Dr. Kevorkian.

Q: Where can I get one of your "I Brake for Holograms" bumper stickers?
Tuvok74656

RP: The "I Brake for Holograms" bumper stickers are sold at conventions that I appear at with all proceeds benefiting the Pediatric Aids Foundation. They are also available through my fan club, but I forget the address.
(Here's the information for Mr. Picardo's fan club: T. Ledel RNC Box #373 1277 Linda Mar Shopping Ctr. Pacifica, CA 94044 Fax: 415-736-0192 E-mail: randeg@aol.com)

Q: How do you feel about your character's relative baldness?
WEPAWET

RP: What do you mean? I believe that my excess of male hormone is well advertised by the extent of my forehead.

Q: If you had to pick a character from Voyager to be stuck with on a long shuttlecraft ride back to the ship....who would you pick and why?
GREENKITE

RP: Torres, but I'm afraid I can't tell you why.

Q: Is it difficult not being able to age? "My character, being a hologram, will never age or gain any weight. He'll never get deep, dark circles under his eyes or bags after 8-10 years -- in syndication." He pauses. "I aspire to that quality myself." - People Magazine
pat

RP: Not at all because you all have such wonderful imaginations.

Q: How were you introduced to acting?
Locutus6

RP: I started acting in Jr. High school because I wasn't very successful in organized sports. I went to an all-male school and the play was one of the co-ed extra-curricular activities. I also wanted a respectable outlet for my class clown impulses. I didn't, however, consider acting as a career choice until I performed in Bernstein's "Mass" at Yale.

Q: What do you think of the medium of "online computing" and how it contributes to Star Trek's success?
Rich_AGM

RP: I think it's wonderful to be able to read our reviews within 60 seconds of the show's completion. In fact, we can get East Coast reviews before it airs. I suppose that's as close to working on stage as film acting gets.

Q: You initially spoke of the Doc as the Spock/Odo/Data "commentator on humanity" successor on Voyager. Do you feel the role has fulfilled this promise? If so how far?
JLResnick

RP: I wouldn't presume to say that the role has fulfilled this promise, but I believe that the Doctor's dramatic function as an outsider who comments on humanity, is alive and well. I was worried early on that the concept of my role was too similar to Data's and I would be forced to compete with the perhaps the most popular character in the entire Star Trek world. However, the Doctor's programmed emotions... however self-centered and self-righteous they may be... have given me an essential difference from Data (pre-emotion chip). And, of course, he's merely hardware and I'm software.

Q: What type of acting do you prefer? What would be your favorite role as an actor?
DanDevine

RP: I enjoy playing a role like the Doctor that affords me the opportunity for both comic and dramatic moments. I like to think that part of the Doctor's appeal comes from the fact that, as an actor, I juxtapose very large choices with subtle ones. That is to say I overact and underplay, often in the same sentence.

Q: Congrats on your directorial turn this year. Is that your first for TV, was it what you'd hoped and are you pleased?
JLResnick

RP: Thank you very much. I was very pleased with how "Alter Ego" turned out. I thought Tim Russ did a splendid job and I found Garrett to be funnier in this episode than in any other in my memory. I hope to have another directorial opportunity next season and, of course, your thousands of letters to Rick Berman will help.

Q: Bob, do you ever have trouble with all the technobabble lines in each episode?
davidwel_msn

RP: If I've received the dialogue at the last minute, that is to say, the night before, and I have a lot of technobabble, I sometimes resort to little cheat-sheets taped to tricorder displays, pads, and even the top of the clam shell.

Q: How did you accomplish the incredible transformation to the "Evil Schmullus" in "Darkling"? Was it makeup, lighting or just incredible acting?
michellerw

RP: (Laughs) First of all, I was just the "Evil Doctor" not "Evil Schmullus"--that sounds like a foot disorder. I used a small dental appliance over my bottom teeth to give me a more animalistic curl to my lip, and I had special contact lenses made to narrow the size of my corneas because I felt that would create an unsettling, but difficult to pinpoint, change. There was also some additional shading on my face, but primarily it was simply incredible acting.

Q: "Do you find it an interesting coincidence that your last name is extremely close to that of a certain famous Starfleet captain?"
cameronmb

RP: I do find it interesting coincidence, I don't know what it means. We both wear Calvin Kline underwear. I mean, we both wear Kevin Kline's underwear. :)

Q: Robert, I'd like to explore the character side of this. Taking the case of the doctor, how much is you, and how much is the Doctor?
Cameo

RP: I think that the Doctor is a major extension of a facet of my personality. My wife has been known to call me anal-retentive and I'm delighted that I've been able to parlay that into a career opportunity. The Doctor is much more self-righteous and snippy than I am. I wouldn't have the courage to treat people that way.

Q: How old were you when you played The Cowboy, in InnerSpace?
Maryanne

RP: I was 30 years old, but I had the body of a 19 year old.

Q: "When, if ever, are the Doc and Kes going to "get busy" ??"
SMHOME

RP: What do you mean by get busy?

Q: "What's Tim Russ like in real life?"
cameronmb

RP: Tim is very funny, loves to joke around, is cool and hip, unlike Mr. Tuvok, and is a consummate professional as an actor. Impeccably prepared and always on the money.

Q: "What's one of the funniest things ever to happen on-set?"
cameronmb

RP: Ethan Phillips took it upon himself to try and crack up Mr. Tuvok. It was a close up of Tim, and Ethan was delivering his off-camera line, which was, "Wow!" (He was watching something on the viewscreen). Unfortunately, I cannot describe in words how Ethan managed to make a seven-course meal out of the word "Wow," but needless to say, by the time dessert came, he had cracked Tim up.

Q: Bob, you are now adored and admired the world over. Can it get any better?
gleknar

RP: I'd love to find out. That's very flattering. Please send me a picture.

Q: Bob, how's your wife doing? Does she believe that you really had to "work late" today, and do this chat?

RP: I can't believe you asked me about my wife after what I just said. Yes, she knows I'm doing an on-line chat and she surfs the net herself, so I'd better watch my butt.

Q: When are you coming to the UK?
MPMDRoberts

RP: I have been to the UK twice in the last year. Including the Royal Albert Hall appearance for promoter Simon Jenkins, who turned out to be an incredible thief. I think that defrauding charities is about the worst karma a person can earn. I hope he's somewhere doing penance right now.

Q: How come you are bald on the show? Shouldn't you have holohair?
Drewlet

RP: I have holohair in an upcoming episode.

Q: What episode did Bob feel was his best performance?
EmpireMkr

RP: I am very excited about an upcoming episode titled "Real Life" where the Doctor programs a holographic family for himself who do nothing but flatter and fawn over him.

Q: Are you looking forward to going to Oklahoma City for Thundercon this year ?
Raolin

RP: I am looking forward to going to Oklahoma City.

Q: What is your most embarrassing moment, if any, on the set of Voyager?
Furgerson

RP: I have split the crotch of my space suit in two episodes. Now if I drop something, I pay someone to pick it up for me.

Thank you all very much for having me visit. I hope that you will all watch "Doctor Bashir, I Presume" on DS9 next week. When Leeta surprises Doc Zimmerman, wet and nude as she is, I do the only quadruple take every photographed for American television.