Last weekend's Creation Entertainment 9th Annual Grand Slam convention in Pasadena featured special events, souvenirs of all kinds and video tributes, but the main attractions, as usual, are the celebrity appearances and behind-the-scenes moments. The first day of the convention, Friday March 30, featured a smorgasbord of Star Trek actors, from the Original Series through Star Trek: The Next Generation and beyond.
BEHIND THE SCENES OF STAR TREK
The convention kicked off in the main auditorium with a slide show delivered by long-time Star Trek expert (and former assistant to Gene Roddenberry) Richard Arnold. The emphasis of Richard's slide presentation was on the Original Series crew and featured some great before and after revelations. The first slide was a test shot of the 11-1/2 ft model of the U.S.S. Enterprise dating back to 1964. This early, not quite finished version of the Enterprise was one of the oldest Star Trek related pictures in Richard's large collection. The next slide was an early version of the castle from Rigel VII as seen in "The Cage." Then, overlaid with this shot was the final version of the castle, as aired, complete with added ivy and aging. Showing these two shots back-to-back served as an example of how the artwork on a TV show evolves from early concept to final version.
The presentation included several more before and after slides, including model shots of the Botany Bay, then overlaid with the starscape background, a before and after effects picture of the Tholian web-spinning ship, the model of the revamped Enterprise while in space dock from "Star Trek: The Motion Picture" and the so-called "memory-wall" sequence from the same movie. Other movie shots included the set of dust-riddled Ceti Alpha V from "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" and the bare Genesis cave set prior to the added visual effects.
There were also some assorted pictures of actors off camera, including a touching father/son photo of Leonard Nimoy ("Spock") on the Bridge being surprised by his young son, Adam, who turned up wearing Vulcan ears. Other pictures included Susan Oliver ("Vina"), playing an Orion slave woman, Michael Forest ("Apollo") standing in front of a blue screen prior to his being enlarged to appear as Greek god, a black and white shot from the making of "The Cage" pilot, with Gene Roddenberry, Susan Oliver and director Robert Butler.
GEORGE TAKEI
The first celebrity to take the stage was George Takei ("Sulu"), who pointed out, "This year, we're celebrating something we never thought that we'd be celebrating -- the 35th anniversary of Star Trek. It's an amazing, unprecedented phenomenon." He said that when the pilot was being shot in 1965, "We didn't realize we were making history." Takei spoke of Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future and his prophecies of technology, many of which have already come true, such as voice-activated computers. He added, "I can't tell you how earnestly I pray for the early invention of the transporter, where we can beam from here to wherever in the world - you know, just sparkle and you're there."
ALICE KRIGE
South African born Alice Krige, who originally went to college to study psychology, is forever immortalized in Star Trek history as the original Borg Queen. Krige, who spoke in the Little Theatre on Friday, revealed that she did two movies recently, including "Falling," which deals with the recent upsurge of racism in Western Europe.
Alice studied acting for three years at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Her first role out of drama school was a TV version of "A Tale of Two Cities," followed by her big break as Sybil Gordon in the Academy Award? winning film "Chariots of Fire."
When asked bout her most difficult scene in "Star Trek: First Contact," she said that it was the initial "joining" of the Borg Queen's upper torso with the rest of her body. She was lifted up on a crane, put in a cradle and wrapped in blue screen cloth, then lowered from a great height. The height factor presented the most difficult part of the scene for her. Added to this technical scene, she had to act! There was, she said, "So much stuff going on!"
Alice, previous to her role in the movie, was not too aware of the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe. Therefore, some crucial insight into her character was provided courtesy of Brent Spiner ("Data"), who told her that the Borg Queen wanted Data to be assimilated more than Picard, as the android represented the ultimate challenge to her. And how was it working with the TNG actors? "Quite wonderful," she said enthusiastically. Adding that, "Jonathan Frakes did an amazing job" directing "First Contact."
As for defining her roles, she mentions that, as an actor, you must look for truth in the character and know the character's journey. She said that in playing the Borg Queen, she was inspired in part by reading "A Brief History of Time" by Stephen Hawking. "Just the whole idea that energy is not created or destroyed, but always there, made me think that that was who she was, that she'd always been there and she always would be," and that was the trigger to help her define the character, she said. But she also said it was interesting and "kind of wildly exciting" to portray a character "without conventional morality, without conscience, without any kind of sense of the need for human kindness or compassion."
Krige's Q&A turned into a discussion about why the Borg are so intriguing to the audience. "Is it that there is a darkness in ourselves as human beings," she conjectured, "and maybe the character is popular because it's a way of exploring that potential without causing damage--a way of fantasizing about it without actually acting out on it? I don't know, but it's a fascinating question."
JAMES DOOHAN
James Doohan ("Scotty"), who is now 81 years old, is moving and speaking a little slower now than he has in past years, but it didn't keep him from taking the stage and introducing his wife Wende and daughter Sarah Christina Ann, who will be one year old on April 11. He was proud to announce that as of January 12 he has been an entertainer for 55 years.
Among the other things he talked about Friday were his claim to the Klingon language, which he said he created "more than a year before that other guy" (referring to Marc Okrand, author of "The Klingon Dictionary") for the first film, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture." "Before we started shooting it, I was having lunch with Gene Roddenberry and his assistant," he related, "and I said to Gene, 'How are you coming along with the Klingon language?'" Roddenberry told him he was waiting on a professor at UCLA, but Doohan told him, "Well, I'll do it for you after lunch." And he was true to his word, he said. He explained that he based the Klingon words on the Mongolian language, but he "cut out the vowels as much as possible."
MICHAEL DORN
Having portrayed Star Trek's most prominent Klingon through not one but two series, Michael Dorn ("Worf") affably accepted the crowd's standing ovation when he took the stage. He mentioned that he had been at a recent dinner party hosted by Marina Sirtis ("Deanna Troi") for John Logan, screenwriter for the next Star Trek film. Dorn fielded a number of questions about the upcoming feature, which has yet to begin filming pending the outcome of the potential upcoming strike by the writers and actors unions.
While specific details of the film weren't discussed, he did say he felt LeVar Burton ("Geordi La Forge") would be a good choice for director. Burton has directed numerous Star Trek episodes, from TNG to Voyager.
Dorn also recalled his old days on the series CHiP's, and the unlikely Star Trek connection - his character had always been written as "J. Turner," and it was only when standing around with a guest star between takes that the "J" was defined, by the guest star, to stand for "Jedidiah." The guest star? Andrew J. Robinson ("Garak"), whom Dorn would later work with on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Dorn responded to numerous fan requests by performing sound bytes from the Cartoon Network series I Am Weasel (for which Dorn provides voice talent), reciting the famous Worf quote "I am not a merry man!" (from the TNG episode "Qpid") and graciously granting handshakes and hugs until time ran short.
Despite all of his convention appearances over the years, Dorn said it was "amazing that the crowds are still out there." One fan from the audience replied, "We'll always be there!"
LEONARD NIMOY
As the audience applauded wildly at the mention of his name, Leonard Nimoy cordially waved to fans before taking the microphone. A veteran of Star Trek conventions, Nimoy at first was at a loss for topics of discussion before launching into a good-natured series of jokes at the expense of his long-time costar, William Shatner ("James T. Kirk"). Running the range of anecdotes about Shatner stealing DeForest Kelly's morning bagel on the set to gags about Shatner's Priceline.com ads, Nimoy also mentioned his ongoing work with John de Lancie at their production company Alien Voices.
While at one time Nimoy may have shied away from his Vulcan counterpart, nowadays he's right at home with Spock. When asked by a fan "How much of Spock is in you?" Nimoy entertained the audience with his response, "It ranges between 63-68% depending on the day, the humidity..." Clad in his "Vulcan" sweatshirt, he ended his appearance by delivering the classic Vulcan hand salute to the fans.
Reports on celebrity appearances over the next two days of the convention are forthcoming, come back to STARTREK.COM for all the details.
