Creation Entertainment's Official Star Trek Las Vegas Convention concluded Sunday afternoon, August 3, on a very high note, with representatives from each of the five series: William Shatner, Michael Dorn, Nicole deBoer, Ethan Phillips and John Billingsley.

Nicole deBoer

The "Ezri Dax" actress was impressed that she was on stage right after George Takei and right before William Shatner. "I'm in a real old-school Star Trek sandwich here. And pretty damn proud of it!" She described her first encounter with Shatner, which did not go particularly well. Long before Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, deBoer went to audition for Shatner's TV movie "TekWar," not aware he would be in the room. She decided to start her audition scene with a dramatic turn in a swivel chair, and when she did so, she saw him and shrieked, "Oh my God you're William Shatner!! Oh my God!! Oh, my God, this is so cool!!" Shatner jumped up from his desk and said, "Are you done?" She was too shaken to give a good audition, so she knew she didn't get the part. But now that she was at the same convention with him, "I might just hang out afterwards and meet him, now that I'm, y'know, part of the team!" she said proudly.

DeBoer spoke at length about what it was like to "replace" a character that the audience had spent six years getting to know and love. "Everything happened so fast for me when I got that part ... I didn't have a lot of time to really realize the magnitude of the whole thing — the magnitude of first of all being on Star Trek and what that would entail, and the magnitude of taking over a character. I was a little apprehensive because I felt that the audience might see me as replacing Jadzia, and I am to a degree. But, you know, Jadzia became just one of eight other people inside me... So I decided to incorporate the hands clasping behind my back when I walk, and thought that would be a nice nod to Jadzia."

"I'm just grateful that people did like me in the end," she continued. "I really like it when someone will come up to me and say, 'I didn't want to like you — I really didn't. But I did.' That's a huge compliment to me, because I think everyone should love Jadzia."

Ezri had a couple of romantic possibilities in her one season on DS9. Who did Nicole want Ezri to end up with? "Well, you know, I wanted to be with Worf because I wanted to be in the movies." The audience broke into riotous applause. "I thought, that's my ticket in. But it didn't work out. I love Julian, that's great, but he ain't gettin' no movies."

About half of her session was spent talking about her role of Sarah on The Dead Zone, and she laughed at how many times her character "dies" on the series — including that very night.

William Shatner

The captain himself can take virtually any story about his life and turn it into a tour de force dramatic presentation. He spoke with great panache about his collaboration with "avant-garde" musician Ben Folds, with whom he will record an album this November in Nashville. He also spoke of his new relationship with the Sci-Fi Channel, which has been running his low-budget movie "Groom Lake." Shatner and the head of the Sci-Fi Channel agreed to do another film, but the network executive told him the criteria was that he must come up with an alien that hadn't been done before. "He said, you come up with a pterodactyl, we've done three. If you come up with a Martian, we wouldn't even look at it, we've done 17. So come up with the alien of the week, and we can talk." So he strained and strained to think up something entirely new and different, and finally, "I've got it! I've got it -- Fire!! That's all I'm gonna tell ya."

He wouldn't give any story details away, but he said the project is tentatively scheduled to shoot in January, and he's been toying with the title. "It's called 'Fire of Hate,' which may go to 'Inferno of Hate.' It's a better word. 'Fire of Hate' is good, but 'Inferno of Hate' — seventeen people more might watch that!"

He also described in dramatic detail some of his experiences with last year's paintball competition 'Spplat Attack!' — such as how he got pelted with thousands of paintballs by his teammates and competitors, and it was all filmed — and he promoted the second such event which will take place in Binghamton, NY, during Labor Day weekend. It will benefit children's charities associated with his annual Hollywood Charity Horse Show (for more information, visit WilliamShatner.com).

Shatner also revealed another new project: A TV show based on one of his most famous books. "A friend of mine, dyno-big producer — I only know big producers — wants to sell to series based on 'Get A Life.'" It would profile two or three fans in each half-hour, what they do, why they're into Star Trek, etc. "Interesting idea for a show, isn't it? Called 'Get A Life'."

While going to conventions, sometimes in disguise, to research that book years ago, he realized some interesting things. "You know what I learned on 'Get A Life'? What I learned was that, you're here to see each other! Leonard [Nimoy] and I sit around and talk about, 'Yeah, I drew a big crowd.' We didn't draw a big crowd! People came to see each other!"

He also admitted to meeting "all kinds of strange people" during his research. "I met a woman who had at least seven personalities. All of them Star Trek! Swear to God! She did Leonard better than she did me, I gotta tell ya."

Michael Dorn, Ethan Phillips, John Billingsley

In an interesting trans-series combo that quickly turned into a comedy act among three cut-ups, the men behind the makeup of "Worf," "Neelix" and "Dr. Phlox" came on stage together in a themed session about the highs and lows of being an actor hidden beneath prosthetics.

"I kind of dig it, to be honest with you," Billingsley began. "My job is pretty simple — I sit in the makeup chair for a couple of hours and read The New York Times, and they put a rubber head on me ... The guy that does the hard work is the makeup artist." He said that his job is made even cushier by the fact that his character is not one that is a regular on the bridge. "I kinda just go one or two days a week." He even made up a song about it, sung to the tune of the "Banana Boat Song (Day-O)" — "Character actors have more fun / Eleven days off and the checks still come."

To Phillips, "It's not like digging ditches, but it does have its drawbacks." He enjoys the anonymity his makeup affords off-set, but it's very uncomfortable and restricts the ability to eat, drink, sleep, see or hear. "The makeup is something that you have to accept, just like if you break a leg and they say you're gonna be in a cast for nine months. So, that's the way it's gonna be, I'm gonna be in rubber for seven years." Off-mike he heard Dorn make "a very very gratuitous and licentious comment — but that's Mickey Dorn for ya!"

Dorn added his perspective. "You know, you've always got to be careful what you wish for." Before TNG, the movies "Mask" and "The Elephant Man" had just come out. "I said, you know, it would be great to do something in makeup. I just didn't put a time limit on what I wished for, which is always important." Like he's said many times before at conventions, he actually hated the makeup, but he agreed with the others. "It was a small price to pay for creating a character, for having the anonymity that you have, and also, y'know, working — steadily — for seven years." He made fun of himself when he complains: "God, that makeup, I've gotta go to work every day! From 5 in the morning till 8 at night! And those checks, they keep coming in! What am I gonna do?"

The fans had plenty of questions for the stars that didn't involve makeup. Asked how he dealt with acting opposite deBoer as the reincarnation of his character's wife, Dorn replied, "Well, if you're an actor, that's what you do, y'know, you kind of have to — pretend." Billingsley slapped his head and exclaimed, "Oh, THAT'S the secret!" Later, when Dorn described how deBoer surprised him with a very passionate kiss as Ezri, Billingsley interjected, "It's all pretend, Michael, it's all pretend." Dorn came back, "Let me tell you something — I don't care!"

When Phillips talked about playing a Ferengi in Enterprise episode "Acquisition," Billingsley asked him how much he got paid for that guest spot. "I earned as much as some poets," Phillips dead-panned. "It wasn't a lot. I remember I went to the bank and the teller said, 'How do you want that, heads or tails?'" Billingsley remarked, "I'm here mostly to supply him with set-up lines!"

A fan asked Billingsley if he came up with the name "Phlox," noting that's the name of a flower. No, it was the writers, he said. "They wanted to call me Dr. Pansy — but they put the kibosh on that for some reason."

"Living in Walter's World"

 As a nice change of pace sandwiched between guest talks, a short film starring two Star Trek actors was shown to an appreciative and receptive audience. The piece, titled "Living in Walter's World" is a funny, poignant film that veers between fantasy and reality, a la "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." Armin Shimerman, one of the film's stars, was full of praise for his co-star and fellow Star Trek actor Ethan Phillips. "You get to see Ethan playing something besides Neelix, something very different than Neelix. And he does a brilliant job. You have the Ferengi's word of honor that you will love it."

And love it they did. The director, Phil Kaufmann, was also on hand for the screening.

Audience Feedback: Boldly Going ... Where?

Subtitled "The Star Trek Universe's Future," this fan forum was hosted by Larry Nemecek ("Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion" author and editor of Star Trek Communicator) and Tim Gaskill (STARTREK.COM editor) to field questions on the state of the franchise.

The audience response ranged from strong support to mixed feelings about Enterprise. Nemecek reminded the audience that it took Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine a couple of seasons to find their footing and establish their audience. Gaskill commented on how Enterprise features the best production values in Hollywood and that the future of the franchise also depends on the support of the fans. Many fans commented that Enterprise was one of the better shows on TV, while some felt the show wasn't compelling enough to keep them engaged.

Coda

All in all, it was an exhausting, exhilarating, emotional, extraordinary weekend for Star Trek fans. The annual Las Vegas convention is truly an experience. What's more, with so much to do and so much to see at the convention, few attendees found any time to lose their money at the blackjack tables!

See you next year!