“The one on Fresh Hell is a little easier, because we make it up. It's a strange kind of hybrid of the real me and... Well, obviously it's me standing there, and it's my voice and my face, but it's also kind of filtered through Harry Hannigan's take on the character, the one he's writing.” WritingWellsKindLittlesRealCharacterFacesVoiceHellStrangeEasierStandingHybridStanding ThereReal Me Author:Brent Spiner
“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
“I got Greg Aronowitz, who does [ Felicia Day] sets, to do mine as well, and he's just amazing. He can work miracles with nothing.” WellsDoeMinesMiracle Author:Brent Spiner
“A couple of years ago, I went to see a production of Wicked in San Francisco with a friend of mine, one that Patty Duke was in, and he said, "Do you want to meet her?" And I said, "Yeah!" And I went backstage, and she walked out of her dressing room, looked at me, and said, "I know you." And I went, "Well, uh, yeah, I was in My Sweet Charlie." And she said, "Yeah! You were the guy in the car on the road!" And I was. It was amazing.” KnowsWantYearsWellsSaidGuyRoomsCarMinesSweetCoupleYears AgoYeahProductionsWickedDressingsSan FranciscoCharlieDukesDressing Rooms Author:Brent Spiner
“I had a fantastic teacher in high school. I had one of those guys you dream of having, who molds your life and inspires you to go in a particular direction, and he was quite brilliant. His name was Cecil Pickett, and a lot of the kids from my high-school drama class are in professional show business and have done quite well.” WellsDoneShowsDreamKidsSchoolGuyNamesClassTeacherInspireParticularDramaHigh SchoolBrilliantFantasticShow BusinessMoldDrama Class Author:Brent Spiner
“I did a great show Off-Broadway called Leave It To Beaver Is Dead that was at the Public Theater in New York. It was written by Des McAnuff, who's an illustrious director now, and it starred... Well, I was in it, Mandy Patinkin, Dianne Wiest, Saul Rubinek, and Maury Chaykin. It was an amazing show. But it was definitely ahead of its time, and people didn't quite get it.” PeopleWellsShowsWrittenNew YorkDirectorsTheaterBroadwayShowing OffBeaversMaury Author:Brent Spiner
“[Trey Parker and Matt Stone]called me one Saturday morning and said, "Can you do an impression of Conan O'Brien?" And I said, "I don't know." Because that was really... He hadn't been on the air that long, and to be honest, I hadn't watched much of him at that point. So I went to Santa Monica to their studio and said, "Well, what does he sound like?" They said, "Well, just try it one time. Read the copy." And I read the copy one time, and they went, "Okay, that's fine. Thanks a lot, that'll do. That's perfect."” KnowsTryingWellsLongDoeSaidSoundPerfectMorningAirHonestFineStonesOkayStudiosImpressionThanksBeing HonestCopiesOne TimeThey SaidSaturdaySantaMonicaConanSaturday MorningSanta MonicaConan O Brien Author:Brent Spiner
“I assumed, "Well, I must've sounded like Conan O'Brien, or a reasonable facsimile or something." And there I am in the movie [South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut ]. I was very lucky.” WellsLuckyBiggerSouthParksReasonableConanConan O Brien Author:Brent Spiner
“One of the things about working on Star Trek that was always so great was that we all got along as well as we did. We really became family.” WellsStars Author:Brent Spiner
“I was, like, "Wow, is this ever going to happen again? Am I ever going to work with another bunch of people I get along with this well?" And then, sure enough, Threshold was just a great bunch of people, and I thought, "Hey, I could hang with these people for a long time!" But, unfortunately, it was 13 episodes and we were out of there.” PeopleWellsLongEnoughHappensLong TimeBunchHeyWowEpisodesGoing To WorkThreshold Author:Brent Spiner
“John Logan was kind of wrapping up - "Well, thanks for coming in..." - and I thought, "Oh, God, this is over and I'm out of here, and I really don't want to leave."So I said, "Can I ask you a question?" He said, "Sure." "What movie do you think you've seen more than any other movie?" And he said, "Wow, let me think about that. I guess probably The Searchers." And I said, "Well, oddly, that's the movie I've seen more than any other movie." And I wasn't just BS-ing. It's true. It's my favorite movie.” ThinkingWantWellsKindSaidAsksLet MeMy FavoriteThanksWowWrappingSearchersWrapping Up 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
“It really was not that difficult a process, because I was playing [Data from Star Trek] something that doesn't exist. So it was really based on... Imagination was the key element in that, and whatever I could think of, I could do, because there was no precedent for it. It wasn't like someone was going to say, "Well, an android would never do that." They didn't know!” ThinkingKnowsWellsStarsProcessDifficultImaginationKeysElementsDataPrecedentAndroids Author:Brent Spiner
“I had no idea I was part of what was going to be a big mega-hit. I thought I was doing a B sci-fi movie [Independence Day]. And, actually, it was Jeff Goldblum who looked at me one day and said, "You know, I think this is going to be really something." And I said, "Well, I hope you're right." And sure enough, it turned out to be.” ThinkingKnowsWellsSaidIdeasEnoughBigsOne DayIndependenceNo IdeaSci FiIndependence DayMegaSci Fi Movie Author:Brent Spiner
