STARTREK.COM: How did you approach the part of Dr. Phlox?

John Billingsley: When I had read the script...they asked for a slight alien accent. I wasn't sure what that meant. My initial conception was the idea that this guy was a philosophical optimist and so I decided that the alien accent would be that I would squawk. I figured that on his home planet he comes from kind of a bird-like species. So I squawked quite a bit and they seemed to like everything so they called me back to read for the studio folks. Got the job. I'm not really responding to your question but this is my funny Star Trek story so I'll tell it anyway. We went and had a table read and I asked, "So was I hired in spite of the squawks or because of the squawks" and they kind of said, "Oh we don't know about the squawks, we'll see." So we get to the first day of shooting and we ran through my first scene and I (AAAAAWK!!!!) in a couple of instances where I thought the character would squawk and the director came up and said "what are you doing?" I thought that was a gentle way of telling me I was not to squawk. But it was sort of love at first sight, thank god.

Q: How did you get started in Acting?

JB: I was in the fifth grade. Mrs. ... uh...Mrs. ... uh ...Oh I should remember her name. I should drop her a card every now and then. She's probably dead by now. They insisted that everybody in the 5th grade audition for the school play which was a Christmas Carol and since I was one of the few kids who actually read I could read the words from the page with some semblance of feelings. They cast me as Scrooge. I was sort of this bespectacled Geeky kid that everyone picked on and for one brief shining moment I actually got to shine in something.

Q: Is it difficult to wear so much make-up?

JB: You know for me it wasn't such a bad process. I know that Michael Westmore came up with something like 40 different designs. I gather Rick and Brannon are very, very meticulous when it comes to making these kinds of decisions. They went through an extraordinarily lengthy process. By the time they got me in the make-up chair to try out some prototypes they had pretty much narrowed it down to what they wanted with a few points outstanding. One of them was the chin. There was a ten or 11 hour day when they went through 10 or 11 chins. I would just remove chin after chin after chin until they decided what they wanted but it really was pretty straightforward. There was some talk about the nature of eyes, whether they would be blue or purple I believe. They settled on blue. It takes about two hours, down from three. I mean they are so good. They're definitely not the unsung heroes, they're definitely sung but they should be sung more because they're just extraordinary. Three hour process and within a matter of days he'd gotten it down to two. So, how long does it take to remove? If I had my way it'd be about 30 seconds. Just one great rip. But half an hour.

Q: How much does the make-up affect your character?

JB: It really doesn't, to be honest with you. I know that there are other characters...I know that Armin Shimerman for instance, who played Quark, given the nature of what he had to wear on his mouth and given how incredibly restrictive everything was it really made certain demands on him as an actor that limited or perhaps I shouldn't say limited but really defined what he could and couldn't do. I don't have any of those problems. It's a fairly light set of appliances, not in the least restrictive. I have nothing hampering my mouth and nose. It's not a full head, it doesn't encase everything so I can breathe fairly easily through my skin. Not a problem

Q: How do you see your character evolving?

JB: I would love, of course, to see the character evolve and grow. I think that is sort of what any actor is going to want. Without some sense of inner conflict there is ultimately going to be...you get bored and I think the audience would get bored too. I think the challenge will be and what interests me about this guy...and we talked about this when I got the part, I think one of the things they liked about the sensibility I brought to the table is that he's sort of Eastern and I said "Yeah, I think he's sort of the laughing Buddha". But what intrigues me about that philosophy, which is a very positivistic philosophy is what happens when you're actually in a situation where your philosophy is tested by your experiences. I think he's somebody who has been...yes, he's a physician and yes he's seen his share of death but he's never been placed in a position where he's going to have to be on the front lines in a way. And I think what he actually experiences as he has to put his philosophical attitudes to the test will define him as a three dimensional character. But of course, I'm only an actor. You show up you learn your lines and you don't bump into the furniture. Beyond that I have no control over it.

Q: Do you enjoy working with the cast of Enterprise?

JB: So much of it starts with Scott Bakula. I just really can't say enough about the guy. He is one of the warmest and friendliest guys I've ever met - in or out of this business. And the tone he sets for everybody of true camaraderie, I think, has allowed everybody to feel extraordinarily comfortable. So much of that first episode is successful because I think we all showed up and right away, in large part because of the way Scott went out of his way to be friendly and warm to everyone, we all thought "Ah, we can relax. We don't have to push - we're not going to be tense." And I think that's one of the things that is built into his character too.

Q: Are you enjoying playing Dr. Phlox?

JB: I don't know that I've ever had the chance to play a character like this who's closer to my own belief system. And especially, it's the probably the only time I'll make mention of this in this conversation, in light of recent events. Having been a big studier of Eastern Religion, particularly Indian history and culture and the rise of Gandhi, I'm very honored to play someone who is, I think, a pacifist. And I certainly don't espouse non-retaliation as a reaction to these events I think there is much to be learned from what Gandhi had to teach us about peace as an organizing principle in this world. I have to say, and again I'm probably not being directly responsive to your question but one of the things that I really did take away from watching the pilot last night. It's been a mantra of everybody who's ever worked on Star Trek that the show is optimistic in its vision and yada yada yada yada yada. I find myself mouthing those phrases without really believing them. Watching the show last night in light of recent events it did have meaningfulness for me. And I really had the feeling that — in spite of the fact it seems sometimes that making the statements that it is possible for the world to live in peace — it seems naive or foolish. In the absence of this statement we have nothing. Gandhi said something to the effect of "If you don't speak peace...what is the alternative?" And I think Star Trek is a really lovely example of that. And I was very pleased to see the pilot last night because it reinforced it for me. It probably wasn't answering your question directly. Other favorite characters I've had have all been killers and demons so what's that polarity about? I don't know.

Q: What is your favorite Star Trek episode?

JB: I usually like the quirky ones where they would play the deetdiddledeetdee-dee music. I loved the music on the original Star Trek. They've never come up with tone music as good. I can still (sings) the Spock's in love music, the leprechaun music (sings) Brilliant, Brilliant, brilliant. I hope we come up with music like that. I loved the one where they landed on the planet, I think it's called "Rest Stop" or whatever it was where everyone on the planet got a break and it turns out it was a giant amusement park...Shore Leave, yes. I loved Trouble with Tribbles. I liked the one where Spock fell in love and Kirk has to arouse him by calling him all kinds of horrible names. I liked the episode where it's a little chess game between Kirk and Mark Leonard playing the Romulan or Klingon commander? Romulan — Balance of Terror. Oh, you're good. Let's see, what else. The original is really my ...I loved the pilot which they later turned into The Menagerie loved all the ones with the Borg. I loved Hugh, the little Borg boy that they had to give back, I thought that was terrific. I like the one, although it didn't make sense if you stopped to think about it. I liked the one where Picard was in a coma and during the time he was in a coma he was living an entire life on another planet.

Q: What would you like to see on Enterprise in the future?

JB: I would love to see there be a Muslim on this show. I think that would be very interesting and important statement to make. I know that Roddenberry, as I've done my homework on the history of this show, was not a particularly religious man and I think he wanted to suggest that there would be a time in the history of the world when we would have transcended religion. And as much, being an agnostic myself, as I would like to believe that's possible I don't think it's possible. I think that actually interesting to accept and recognize the fact the religions of the world if we are ever to find a way to make peace will have to come to some understanding about what their basic organizing principles are and have everyone subscribe to those instead of the nutty aspects of their ideologies. That's something I'd like to see Star Trek explore more. Since we are closer in this particular show to our own day and time. I'd like to see us begin to talk about world religions and how they have learned to cooperate.