Question: How did you get the spot on DS9 and have you ever auditioned for others?
TRAN54

AS: I did a movie called "A Dangerous Man" back in 1992, and Rick Berman saw it. He thought I'd make a good Sisko. Then when he saw how young I was, he thought he'd cast me as Dr. Bashir.

Q: How do you enjoy playing Dr. Bashir? Do you like his character?
LeiDM

AS: I enjoy it very much. As far as the character, every year I enjoy it more. I like his character, I'd find it hard not to because, after all, I'm inventing him. I hope you like him, too.

Q: Have you ever directed a DS9 episode and are you planning to?
LeiDM

AS: I've directed one this season, called "Business as Usual." I believe it airs tonight in Los Angeles. If it's boring, blame the writers. If it's exciting, it's all my fault.

Q: What is your favorite episode of DS9 and why?
TRAN54

AS: I think my favorite episode is one that features me... "Dr. Bashir, I Presume." It's about time my character figured out, or at least told the world, why he is so screwed up.

Q: Are there any plans for a spin-off of DS9
net_patrol

AS: I don't believe so. Technically, Voyager is already the spin-off.

Q: Do you think there should be more episodes dealing with moral aspects and issues in the world?
LeiDM

AS: No. There are quite enough already. I think it's important that there are those episodes, but everyone has to live a little, as well.

Q: Were you a Star Trek fan before you joined the cast of DS9?
Greg_Magnus

AS: I'd seen about 10 episodes of "The Next Generation" and liked them very much. But by our standards now, I wouldn't have qualified as even a grunt fan.

Q: Why were there not more DS9 cast members on the Defiant in First Contact? Would you like to have been in the movie?
Greg_Magnus

AS: I would have loved to have been in the movie, but it really was a "Next Generation" movie, and they had two doctors already.

Q: Sid, Do you miss England?
AgentB

AS: Sometimes. I miss feeling it in my bones when spring arrives.

Q: What others roles have you had besides DS9?
Greg_Magnus

AS: Very few. Professionally, that is. Probably on television, two, and on stage, two. One was a young character Yousef in a series called "The Big Battalion" that was on in England. And another was the character of Prince Faisal in "A Dangerous Man." It was a sequel to "Lawrence of Arabia," that ran on PBS.

Q: Who are you're favorite actors? Which actors have influenced you the most?
Greg_Magnus

AS: I've always liked James Stewart, I thought he was a thoroughly decent chap. I thoroughly enjoy Avery Brooks.

Q: Sid, What have you been filming today, anything you can tell us about?
AgentB

AS: The most recent thing I've been filming is Michael Dorn's directorial debut on DS9. It's a Nog/Jake script. I'm only in it one day.

Q: Did you grow up wanting to be an actor/director, or was it just luck?
wiredawg

AS: I grew up wanting to be a director, it was just luck that I ended up as an actor. I went to acting school in England and on graduating, found that I was one of the only Arab-looking actors in the country. So I got the parts.

Q: Sid, Robert Picardo has talked about how he would like to have a scene with DeForest Kelley in an episode, would you like to have a scene between Dr McCoy and Dr Bashir?
AgentB

AS: I would quite enjoy it. Now they've invented the Bashir holo-program, I'd have a lot of fun building a scene in which Bones was frustratedly trying to figure out how to get us both to work.

Q: How different is it acting/directing, from when you actually view the finnished product?
wiredawg

AS: As an actor, it's almost always better to see the final product. As a director, it's almost always worse because your favorite scenes have been cut. But it's no longer a shock. I've been stripped of my vanity... Most of it.

Q: What non-Star Trek projects do you have lined up in the near future?
Greg_Magnus

AS: I spend nearly all the hours God sends us trying to build a garden shed. I hope to have it finished by the time the show ends.

Q: Do you hang around with any of the cast after shooting, or do most of you go your own ways?
wiredawg

AS: When we first started, I used to go to a local bar with Colm Meaney. Since then, that particular bar was closed and now I have a son to look after. The son with Nana Visitor.

Q: What kind of music do you listen to?
assimilator

AS: Usually classical music. That's the kind of music I actually listen to, but I'm quite prepared to hear rock music.

Q: What is the single, best, practical joke you have ever played on one of your fellow cast members?
Svrgn1701E

AS: I directed "Business As Usual."

Q: Mr. Siddig, Are you looking forward to making movies of DS9 or do you like the series production better?
Wargirl

AS: I am looking forward to making DS9 movies. I suspect to start filming the first scene on or around the first of January... 2067.

Q: What was the worst job you had before Star Trek Deep Space Nine?
Dreamseat

AS: Selling insurance. I sold a policy to myself and one to my mother. And then I was fired. It lasted four months.

Q: Your accent is very continental. Where are you from?
VToni

AS: I was born in Sudan, North Africa and brought up in England.

Q: Did your parents ever have dreams of you becoming a Doctor like the you play on DS9?
elainere

AS: No. I don't know what they dreamed for me. Maybe they dreamt I'd be a doctor NOT like the one on DS9.

Q: Did you think that DS9 would be as big a hit as it is today?
assimilator

AS: Yes, I did, shockingly. It's a good show. I never thought it would be as big a hit as "The Next Generation." That really was lightning in a bottle.

Q: What kind of reading material do you enjoy?
cameronmb

AS: Generally, non-fiction. I read a least one script a week and it's invariably Sci-Fi. The only literature I can stomach is from the very real world.

Q: What is your favorite movie?
Blue_Beard

AS: I don't have a favorite. I have ten favorites and they revolve. But one of those ten was, appropriately enough, "Star Wars."

Q: If it isn't too personal to ask, Mr. Siddig...How has Nana Visitor been lately?
assimilator

AS: She's on top form.

Q: How long did you live in Sudan? Do you remember any of it?
cameronmb

AS: I lived there for four years, and I remember colors and snatches of imagery from the revolution that was going on at the time.

Q: What do you think of fatherhood and how is the newest edition to your family? Congratulations by the way
62192

AS: I love fatherhood. I think that Django, who is 7 months, is my ideal 7 month old. I'll keep you posted. Something new happens every day. We'll have to try and hide Django in a suitcase or something on the day we get married this summer.

Q: What do you think about these internet chats where you get asked questions by people curious about you?
BKOriginals

AS: It's actually not a bad thing. It's always nice not to know who's asking the questions.

Q: Do you enjoy the time you get with your son???
bradpark

AS: I love it. I don't know the first thing about being a father. I can see it... I just can't quite grasp it yet.

Q: What brought you and Nana Visitor together?
cameronmb

AS: Star Trek. We really met for the first time on the set.

Q: Do you believe in UFOs?
Tuvok74656

AS: I firmly believe in UFOs. The only difference being, that I don't believe in aliens. I think all UFOs are just us a few hundred years from now.

Q: Where did Django's middle name, "Bashir" come from? It is very interesting (and sounds very familiar)...
cameronmb

AS: Bahir is my father's name. Technically it should be after El Siddig, but it's so hard to say.

Q: Do you speak any other languages?
Dreamseat

AS: I used to speak Arabic and forgot it all. I speak schoolboy French and whatever is smaller than a pigeon of Spanish.

Q: Do you expect production to go beyond the 6th season?
cameronmb

AS: 50/50 literally. I'm surprised that it's that likely.

Q: The charater Bashir has a charm that he's known for, would you account that for growing up in the manners of England?
Dreamseat

AS: God knows. Where does charm come from and is it charm in everybody's eyes?

Q: Which of Mozart's symphonies do you love the most?
LeiDM

AS: Symphony No. 41.

Q: Sid, when your character blabs out a ton of techno-babble, do you understand any of it?
Dreamseat

AS: No, never. If I did, I'd never be able to remember it. It's like learning your ABCs as a kid. It means nothing, but you obviously have to repeat it to please your parents.

Q: Do you find privacy difficult to obtain now the you and your fiancee are identified with the biggest cult phenominon of the past 30 years?
62192

AS: No, not at all. We have a lovely house and we spend lots of time in it.

Q: Why aren't there any gay characters on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine?
Chip Carter

AS: I don't know that there aren't. I can think of any number of regulars who might be. Bashir might be... I might not even know that.

Q: If you could accomplish one thing in life, one goal, what do you think it would be?
bradpark

AS: I would like to make a film about my great, great, great grandfather. He was an unbelievable holy man.

Q: Are you planning to attend any Star Trek conventions in the near future? Do you enjoy the conventions?
Greg_Magnus

AS: I am going to Cincinnati, the first weekend in May, I think. I do enjoy them. The last one I went to, in Alaska, gave me my first experience of mushing. We went three miles with eight dogs. It was great.

Q: What is your favorite or funniest take that never made it or should never have made it to screen?
BKOriginals

AS: There was one in "If Wishes Were Horses" when Dax woke me up by kissing me. A particular technique that she employed on the first take threw me clean off the bed.

Q: As you play a doctor, do you ever get the feeling that you could really heal someone? When someone yells, "Is there a doctor in the house?" do you answer?
Lynn

AS: No, I feel guilty because inevitably three or four people turn their heads, and I feel like a lummox.

Q: Is it true that Malcolm McDowell is your uncle?
MarkD.

AS: Yes! My mother's brother. He rang me before he accepted the part of Soran, and told me how thrilled he was at the prospect of killing Kirk.

Q: were you a popular kid or did you get picked on? do you have any interesting nicknames from childhood?
Dreamseat

AS: I wasn't a popular kid, because I was very insular. I day-dreamt. The one nickname that I remember, that I'm embarrassed of was "Soggs". Because when I was 7, it only took a mild wind change for me to burst into tears.

Q: I remember it being brought to my attention a story about you and Nana in a tabloid once. Do those things written bother you when they are about you or your co-workers?
Dreamseat

AS: It depends. If we have given birth to an ape, or if Nana is secretly a male tap dancer, or abducted, I hate them. But if I (or Nana) are one of the sexiest people in the universe, I find them essential reading.

Q: I love star trek and I wonder, do you wish you were on another star trek show or do yo like it on DS9?
KACKSLASH

AS: I love it on DS9! I never wish to be on another Star Trek show. The grass is plenty green beneath us.

Q: Do you like any sports?
KACKSLASH

AS: Sports that mean nothing to Americans. The Cricket fans will understand what I like about Cricket, and the Soccer fans will understand what I like about Soccer. But, as of yet, I don't have the faintest idea why 60 men in bullet-proof vests run around and stop each other from running around.

Q: How have the other cast members reacted to your involvement with Nana?
Svrgn1701E

AS: Very politely. They were unfazed. But it's hard to be fazed when you spend your working day talking over conspiracy theories with Cardassian tailors.

Q: How do you feel the Bashir/Garak relationship will progress?
assimilator

AS: I think that my job was to introduce him and give him a reason for getting involved. Now he has to let go of my hand and get on with it, basically. The O'Brien/Bashir relationship will continue, I'm quite sure about that.

Q: What do you think of the Cardassian architecture of the station?
LeiDM

AS: It's spiky! There's nowhere comfortable. You can't lean comfortably against the walls anywhere.

Q: Sid, what will you do when DS9 ends?
AgentB

AS: I should have my garden shed built... then I'll try to get another job. I'd love to try a bit of directing. I'll probably go to a country where there aren't a lot of Arab actors.

Q: Are you a pet person? Do you have any?
Dreamseat

AS: We have three dogs and a bird. Oh, and a terrapin (turtle). I keep forgetting to feed the turtle, that's why I forget him.

Q: Your character plays darts, how do you play???
Dreamseat

AS: I used to play darts only in a recreational way.

Q: "Business as Usual" is about to come on. Any thoughts or reflections on your directorial debut?
cameronmb

AS: Everybody was horribly normal. Everything on our show was horribly normal. If you have to have a pee during the show, take it during the first fifteen minutes. After that you'll miss a complicated plot line.

Now here's an interesting tidbit: There's a teddy bear in O'Brien's opening scene, it's actually Django's! Given to him by Uncle Malcolm!