“We had lunch that day [with Chris Ellis], and I was talking about this idea. I toyed with it a little bit on Twitter in story form at one point. And he thought it was a great idea, and he thought, "Well, let's bring my friend Harry Hannigan in, who's a wonderful writer, and let's see if we can put something together."” IfsWellsLittlesIdeasStoriesTogetherFormBitsTalkingWonderfulLittle BitMy FriendsLunchGreat Idea Author:Brent Spiner
“So we [with Chris Ellis] did [Fresh Hell], and we did the first five episodes as a lark, just to see if anybody would respond or be interested, and we got enough feedback that was positive that we thought, "Let's keep going with this and see if we can flesh it out a bit this season." We've had 10 episodes, and they've been longer and a little more complete.” IfsFirstsLittlesEnoughBitsHellFiveSeasonsFleshKeep GoingEpisodesFeedbackLarks Author:Brent Spiner
“Harry [ Hannigan] and Chris [Ellis] are sitting there while we're doing [ Fresh Hell], and Chris is directing, obviously, but if we start fooling around a little bit, Harry comes in, and he's got some addition that makes it even funnier. But we start with a complete script.” IfsLittlesBitsHellLittle BitSittingScriptsFooling Around Author:Brent Spiner
“Although I could be wrong. If Roland Emmerich's thinking about doing that at some point, I'd be glad to don the long hair again. But sometimes you can just go a little bit further out with something you're only going to be doing for a short run” IfsThinkingLittlesLongSometimesRunningBitsHairLittle BitGladLong Hair Author:Brent Spiner
“Basically, my deal is that I choose roles based on three criteria. One is the role, obviously, if it's something that speaks to me. Two is, are they gonna pay me? And three is, who am I gonna work with? And, really, if one of those is there, I'm pretty likely to do it, but it's particularly important to me who I'm going to work with, 'cause that's part of the joy.” IfsTwoImportantJoyThreeSpeakCausesDealsPayRolesGoing To WorkCriteria Author:Brent Spiner
“We were kind of never one of CBS favorites [with Threshold], even though we'd gotten really good reviews for the pilot. We were on at, what was it, 10 o'clock on a Friday night? That's kind of where you bury a show if you don't want it to last. But, wow, what a cast, huh? You could never get that cast together again.” IfsWantKindShowsTogetherLastsNightCastsClockReviewsWowPilotsFridayThresholdTogether AgainFriday Night Author:Brent Spiner
“John Logan is maybe the No. 1 screenwriter in the world today, not to mention that he won a Tony for Best Play for Red. So he may just be the best writer period right now. He wrote The Aviator, and I was in New York doing a play, and he asked if they would see me for the film, just meet with me. 'Cause that's what Martin Scorsese does.” IfsWorldMayDoePlayTodayFilmCausesNew YorkPeriodsRight NowRedBeing The BestWorld TodayScreenwritersAviatorScorsese Author:Brent Spiner
“We [with John Logan] started talking about The Searchers, and then he went on to tell me a story about when he first met John Wayne, and he said, "Hey, you be me and I'll be Wayne," and I said, "No, let me be Wayne!" Anyway, it was a very pleasant conversation, it was clear to him that I was a big movie fan, and by the time I got home, there was a phone call, asking if I'd mind doing one scene in the movie [The Aviator].” IfsMindFirstsSaidStoriesHomeBigsTalkingClearFansMetsSceneConversationLet MeAskingPhonesHeyPleasantPhone CallsWayneHey YouBig MovieAviatorSearchers Author:Brent Spiner
“I don't know if the character's come back and it was someone else playing it, or maybe they never did it again. But I loved it. It was a great part [The Joker] to play.” IfsKnowsPlayCharacter Author:Brent Spiner
“I can tell you one other story about Rent Control. The lead actress in the film, her name was Elizabeth Stack, and it turned out she was Robert Stack's daughter. The only problem with that - and she was lovely - was that she was basically hired because [Gian Luigi Polidoro] thought she was [film producer] Ray Stark's daughter. And he figured that if he ran out of money, her father would kick in some more. I can still remember the day he freaked out when he realized she was actually Robert Stack's daughter. He was just screaming "Untouchables!" over and over.” IfsStillsI CanStoriesProblemRememberFilmFatherNamesDaughterActressesLovelyProducersRanKicksRaysStarksUntouchablesRent Control Author:Brent Spiner
“It wasn't exactly a cattle call. I had an agent, and they were seeing people for the parts, so my agent said, "Here's the script, see if there's anything that speaks to you." And I did, and I called my agent and said, "I think this character Data is kind of interesting," and she said, "Well, okay, I'll get you the appointment with Junie Lowry." I had to read with the casting agent first, 'cause nobody really knew me then. Then after that, I had, I think, six different auditions for the role. And finally it was me [on Star Trek].” PeopleIfsThinkingFirstsWellsKindSaidDifferentCharacterSpeakStarsCausesInterestingRolesSeeingSixOkayScriptsAgentsDataAuditionsCastingAppointmentsCattle Author:Brent Spiner
“I think everyone agrees First Contact was our best film, and even at that, they're kind of... I don't know, they're sort of movies. But they're kind of really Star Trek movies, if you take my meaning. It's hard for me to say. I was glad to be doing them. Whether they were good isn't really up to me to determine, and it doesn't matter what I think. I thought we had a really nice script on Nemesis, and the audience didn't seem to care for it, so what can you do?” IfsThinkingKnowsFirstsKindMatterHardSeemsCareFilmStarsAudienceNiceAgreeScriptsDetermineGladContactReally NiceNemesisBest FilmFirst ContactStar Trek Movie Author:Brent Spiner
“I think Rick Berman just called me and asked me if I wanted to do the show [Star Trek: Enterprise], and he said they'd write an arc if I'd do it.” IfsThinkingWritingSaidShowsWantedStarsEnterpriseArcs Author:Brent Spiner
“I think that Enterprise was getting better and better, actually, and if it had kept going, I think it would've turned into as good a show as any other in the Star Trek franchise.” IfsThinkingShowsStarsGet BetterEnterprise Author:Brent Spiner
“So it was a really pleasant surprise when [Independence Day] turned out to be a successful film. I don't know if you've heard that they're going to be re-releasing it next Fourth of July in 3-D. I've actually only seen it once, and it was in Hawaii, in a little theater in Oahu shortly after it was released. But Roland Emmerich is a really smart guy, and he makes really fun movies to watch.” IfsKnowsLittlesFilmGuyNextFunWatchesSuccessfulHeardSmartTheaterIndependenceSurprisePleasantFourthHawaiiJulyIndependence DayReally SmartSmart GuyPleasant SurprisesFun Movie Author:Brent Spiner
“If you look around at the people in show business today they are basically the people who didn't give up.” PeopleIfsGivingLooksShowsTodayGiving UpShow Business Author:Brent Spiner
“I think the potential for man is so enormous, if we can stay alive long enough, we're going to be seeing a lot of what Star Trek is projecting.” IfsThinkingMenLongEnoughStarsAliveSeeingEnormousStay PositiveStaying Alive Author:Brent Spiner
