Dreamwatch 1996
After a
childhood spent on Air Force based all around the world, Tim Russ and his family
settled in Sacramento, California. In 1985 – eight years after landing his
first role while at university – Russ became a full-time actor, appearing in
film, TV and theatre. Some of his more notable genre appearances include
episodes of Freddy’s Nightmares, the pilot to Journey to the Center of the
Earth, and three Trek-related appearances, beginning in The Next Generation
episode Starship Mine, in which he played the terrorist whom Picard repeatedly
knocks out with a hypospray.
John S Hall
recently spoke with Russ on one of his rare days off the Voyager set about the
joys of playing his logical Vulcan character…
Tim Russ:
Reading for the
pilot of Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Encounter at Farpoint, and being the
second choice after LeVar Burton [for Geordi LaForge]; it was going to be
either me or him. Gene Roddenberry chose LeVar, who at the time was right for
the part and was the only recognizable American name. I think it worked out fine.
After that, it was must a matter of going back and reading for the show. I read
for a regular role on Deep Space Nine’s pilot, but they changed the part and it
disappeared. I continued reading for parts for three or four years, and finally
got onto The Next Generation as a guest.
It was a
pleasure to work with Patrick Stewart. We had a chance to talk between the
scenes about some of the differences between our two countries – politics,
social structure and so on – and it was really quite interesting. He had a lot
of good things to say about America and the way things are run. He’s a very
gracious actor and very easy to work with.
Well, I
grew up with the original series and I’ve always preferred that version. I’ve
always liked the characters and some of the stories and concepts they dealt
with, but primarily the character relationship was very strong and relatively consistent.
As a matter
of fact, I think that was a roll of the dice in terms of destiny because out of
all the parts I could’ve played in that film, I was lucky enough to get the
only scenes with William Shatner, Walter Koenig and Jimmy Doohan on the bridge.
It was an amazing stroke of luck, and apparently an omen of things to come.
Yes, I
played a Klingon, T’Kar, in Invasive Procedures. The make-up process was very
painstaking. You get very little sleep and long days, but once you’re made up and
transformed it’s very easy to get into that character.
Of all the
characters that were available to play, that was probably the best. In the
original series, Spock was one of the most popular and most interesting characters.
To be able to continue that legacy in this character is quite a thrill, not to
mention an honor. It’s the most interesting character on the show, I think,
although I like the Doctor, too, but Tuvok, as a Vulcan, has a lot of latitude
and a lot of things that can be explored through his culture and philosophy.
It’s also a lot of fun to play opposite human characters, if only to comment on
humanity and our emotional unpredictability.
You’ll
probably be seeing an image of my wife, and you will also hear about my kids.
As a matter of fact, Elogium has a comment about my family.
Definitely.
I mean, one of the producers is probably salivating over that moment! They want
to take any opportunity they can to try to make this character more human-like.
They try their best, much to ma chagrin! I’m fighting them tooth and nail every
step of the way, but I’m sure they’re looking forward to that opportunity to
let loose with my character.
As a matter
of fact, that’s the character. I prefer consistency in the character. Tuvok can
make choices, which I think is perfectly fine – the saboteur in Star Trek VI
was a Vulcan; so be it. That was her choice. However, Vulcan philosophy is
pacifist, so Tuvok does not go looking for a fight. As a matter of fact, he
usually tries to avoid it. He chose a career in Starfleet as a tactical
officer, probably because he would be very calm and cool under fire, which is
very important for that position. He only fires in order to protect himself
and/or his comrades, or when he’s ordered to do so, but if he didn’t feel it
was right he would probably say something about it.
I don’t
like having the attributes and philosophies that are Vulcan compromised, and
sometimes they are. Sometimes, a couple of the producers go out of their way to
make Tuvok more vulnerable or human-like in that respect, and he has natural,
built-in vulnerabilities which have not yet been exploited. I wish they’d go in
that direction and not bother with the things that make him unique.
Probably
not like that one, no. More than likely, if they can at all avoid it, they’ll
try not to repeat anything that has been done since the beginning of the
series. People come up with ideas and others say, “We can’t do that – that was
done in episode #42 of The Original Series or #100 of The Next Generation”, so
it’s difficult not to duplicate oneself, and they go out of their way not to do
that.
They can make
the comparison, but if I recall that wasn’t nearly the same. I thought Phage
was quite original, actually. The purpose the organs were harvested for was
quite clever in its design. A very, very unique set of aliens with these unique
problems and how they try to solve these problems, and how we happened to be
there. I thought it was an excellent story.
They’re a
lot of fun, those guys. Was Faces bizarre, or what? Very bizarre, and a
brilliant make-up job as well.
Only about
an hour and ten minutes. The ideal, of course, would be to come in and get just
straight make-up, but it’s not a bad middle ground to be in.
I think,
initially, the thought had crossed my mind. I thought it was interesting that
the character would be black to begin with. From my standpoint as an actor and
from a creative standpoint, I thought it was a very clever idea, because if
you’re going to put another Vulcan on the bridge, twist the concept. They were
compelled to do that – the character was either going to be female or black,
one of the two. If we are to assume that we’ve encountered this many humanoid-type
aliens and accept this, then we can accept – I would imagine – just about
anything. It makes perfect sense, given the way the sun is on the planet
Vulcan. And we’ve only seen a handful of Vulcans; if someone from another
planet crash-landed in Asia, he wouldn’t think anybody looked anything else but
that. I anticipated the publicity, which of course they must have loved and
applauded. They had two things: the female captain, and me, so from a publicity
standpoint it was a very smart move because it generated talk and attention.
Kate
[Mulgrew] and I hopefully will have a story together in the near future that
explains our relationship and how it was established. It’ll be a flashback-type
episode, with the B-story being something going wrong either with me or with
her. We’ll be together and one of us is in trouble. We want that story to come
together.
I’d also
like to see a story that involves Tuvok’s built-in Achilles heel – his
inability to use intuition, sixth sense, gut feelings, what have you. Maybe it
would involve him being in command of an Away Team or the ship, but whatever
the situation, the logic he’s using isn’t working properly, and he has to find
a way out of the jam without logic. I think it would be interesting to see
that.
You and Kate Mulgrew seem to have a good acting
rapport.
It is a
challenge. We have a good rapport in terms of character, but I think in terms
of actual work experience it’s difficult, because Kate almost always has her
dialogue tight. Perfect, as a matter of fact. She rarely makes any mistakes,
and when you’re prone to make them on occasion it tends to put extra pressure
on you to get it right all the time or the first time. It’s sometimes very
difficult to actually work with her; nobody else in the cast has that cast of
ability in terms of dialogue. I mean, we all make errors on occasions, and she
rarely does. The way she works is amazing.
And now the obligatory ‘Favorite Episode’ question…
Well, I
have favorites for different reasons. I was not heavily into The 37s but I
liked the whole premise a lot, meeting Amelia Earhart, the ship landing, all
that good Star Trek stuff. My favorite performing in would certainly be Ex Post
Facto because Tuvok had a complete storyline and it was a chance to see how he
works, and getting to do the mind meld.
I understand you have quite an interest in music and
writing?
I’ve been a
musician for 25 years, a guitarist and a vocalist; I used to make my living at
it six nights a week. I’ve played in all sizes of bands and played solo. I
really haven’t been doing it that much lately although I played a gig last
night – I’ll do that every two or three months. It’s very easy material and
fairly well-known and recognizable stuff which doesn’t take long to put
together. I generally collaborate when I write; I don’t enjoy the process that
much, but I do like writing ensemble, whether it’s film, music or television.
On the
writing side, my associate and I have co-written a feature film which we’re
trying to do for next summer. It’s basically his story – an inner-city project
dealing with some social issues. Left to my own devices, I would probably write
everything from satire to science fiction, action-adventure to thrillers. I
enjoy developing, creating and building projects from the ground up, but not as
a solitary writer.
“If I were to write anything for Trek it would either be a story for the show or maybe a comic book story.”
Could you
handle a Star Trek novel?
If I were
to write anything for Trek it would either be a story for the show or maybe a
comic book story. I don’t know if I would have the discipline to sit down and
write an entire novel; it’s not my forte. I’m more into constructing and building
ideas and concepts as opposed to sitting down before a blank computer screen
and banging out dialogue from scratch! It takes a certain individual and
temperament – and also a desire – to do that. You have to feel compelled to do
it, because basically it’s a solitary function.
Tim Russ, thank you very much!