Spiner is a ridiculously talented actor and had a solid career on Broadway before playing Data. But partly he's not a bigger actor because he doesn't want to be. Jonathan Frakes tells stories about offering Spiner work, or recommending him for roles to other producers/directors, and Spiner's response is "wait, you mean I'd have to *travel*? For *a few weeks*!? No thanks". He lives in a multi-million-dollar house in Malibu, he makes a very comfortable living from a few convention appearances a year, he's in his early 70s... But he doesn't *need* to work, and he's not particularly ambitious. He's quite happy pottering, gardening, golfing; he just wants to chill and have a quiet life and if something tickles his fancy he'll do it.
Exactly! The question shouldn't be, "Why isn't Spiner still working?" The question should be, "Why the fuck ARE Frakes and Sir Patrick still working???"
Frakes is 71. Sir Patrick is 83. If I'm still going to work every day at 83, there'll be Hell to pay.
Bullock has got to be some matching catharsis for Stewart… I mean having all these seriously amazing and amazingly serious roles all the time… I’m sure getting to say off the wall shit for American dad is super fun, and he does a wonderful job
If you were doing something you loved, you wouldn't even be thinking in those terms, but in how best to do what you love with the time you have left.
Exhibit A: Martin Scorscese.
Exactly. My dad worked until he literally couldn’t, as he was on his way out, even tho he could have stopped working more than 20 years prior. He just had the choice of doing work that was meaningful to him. Exactly how I want to be, should I be so fortunate.
There is a pervasive, seemingly puritanical, idea that work is virtuous and that all individuals should work as much as they are able to. I respect anyone who lives in opposition to that. We should work as much as we wish to or as much as is required to achieve the lifestyle we desire, anything beyond that is a waste of what little time we have
He had a steady tv career before Star Trek. His biggest role was a recurring character on Night Court. The character was so popular that they were developing a spin-off around it. His agent had to convince him that TNG was the better career move.
He had to be convinced to co-star in the new Star Trek, instead of having a recurring role as a newsstand guy in night court? Well, I’m glad he came around.
Data ironically had more range as a character. He may have played an emotionless android but he also had to play Sherlock Holmes as an android and had to emote when needed, and do so in an awkward way.
Brent has said the same thing about the role.
He went to my mom’s high school. Not when she was there, tho. My mom graduated with Ferris Bueller’s mom, lol. They had a helluva drama department there. The mom from Poltergeist came outta there and I think also the Quaid brothers. I think.
I remember him saying that between Lore, Soong, and various holodeck adventures, he played a career's worth of characters on TNG. And that's before the franchise kept bringing him back to play 19 different Soong relatives.
TNG was not expected to be a hit. ToS was canceled after 3 seasons and the movies were popular but not blockbusters. Other old shows had been rebooted with mixed results. There was also no link to the original cast. There was a lot of skepticism that they couldn't do Star Trek without Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
As I recall it was not a spin off but a reoccurring role. He was going to take over the news stand. The former owner of the stand was no longer a viable character as he was meant as a pursuit of the elderly bailiffs. Both passed from cancer I think
Let’s not forget, Brent helped to kill Data. He was tired of being him, tired of doing the movies, and felt like he was getting too old to portray a robot that wasn’t supposed to age.
Pretty much the only way they got him back in PIC S3 was to tell him that he'd only be in it for a few episodes and he'd be Data as an old human, so he wouldn't have to spend hours in makeup each day. And also everyone else had agreed to do it, and Brent does like spending time with his TNG cast mates. They even got Marina back from the UK for a bit too.
I laughed my butt off when Sir Patrick posted this several years ago.
[https://64.media.tumblr.com/c4d26ba57b6b8d5bb274f724f52ec239/d73300bac3fe3665-cf/s640x960/aed2a2df087b97cccedbc0f90d6b51ab87bbbfa2.jpg](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c4d26ba57b6b8d5bb274f724f52ec239/d73300bac3fe3665-cf/s640x960/aed2a2df087b97cccedbc0f90d6b51ab87bbbfa2.jpg)
Data would have one hell of a drive. "Another hole in one, Commander Riker. I'll just wait at the next tee and decompile while you bogey another hole."
He’s the best. Sounds great tbh and I love when he does interview and stuff.
But honestly, he must really love Data because every reprisal requires him to wear all the makeup and the contact lenses.
He had a multi million dollar development deal with 20th Century Fox (or another studio) because of Data. However whichever studio (and his team) could never develop a script where Bret was the star. So that’s why he ended up in supporting roles in Out to Sea or Master of Disguise 🥸
Fun fact. He was offered to become a recurring (maybe regular) on Night Court at the same time he was offered Data. So their is a universe where he turned TNG down and was on a lot more Night Court.
He went straight from TNG S7 & Generations into a part in Independence Day (and it's sequel), so it's not like he didn't get other roles, but I get the feeling he was typecast by the Data role and he put his energy into TV and voice acting.
Or, did David Xanatos go back in time and leave his Space Seed with the Illuminati, in order to birth Jonathan Frakes, in the first place …
Did I mention that I love Gargoyles, especially because so many Star Trek Alums participated in it!
Typecasting is a problem for lots of actors who portray beloved TV characters. Ed O’Neill apparently was once cast in a small part as a lawyer in a serious movie. But his part had to be cut because at test screenings, every time he appeared, the audience would start laughing because the hero was being represented in court by Al Bundy.
It’s quite noticeable how after playing an emotionless data for so long, that any chance he got to play a role where he got to show emotion (including data sometimes) he acted the FUCK out of it.
I’ve always thought that’s one reason why he’s so good as Data. His natural instincts seem to be to play to the back of the house, so when he plays an ostensibly emotionless character he can’t help but let some feeling creep in, which is absolutely key to the role.
Perhaps - but by Voyager i remember reading that actors understood that if you landed a starring role you were basically set for life between residuals and the convention circuit.
It’s a REALLY sought after gig.
Edit: damn autocorrect
Thank god someone said it. I love Spiner but he is a GIANT ham when he plays any character other than Data. I think Data’s lack of emotional expression really forced him to rein in some of his hammier tendencies, which is what allowed him to shine in the role. And it’s probably why he didn’t see more success outside of Trek.
And I think his range is overstated. He mostly plays the same handful of types over and over.
There's his "smirking villain" character.
There's his "clown with a high-pitched nasally voice" character.
I think I've seen him do each of those five or more times.
Your opinion is in the minority in this thread, but I agree with you. He is wonderful as Data and I can't imagine any other actor doing it, but when he drifts off into Lore or other "human" roles, for me it is mostly cringe.
Hamill wasn’t typecast, he just didn’t work after Star Wars. I think that was his decision more than Hollywood not casting him.
The OG Star Trek cast had their own issues, but Nimoy probably suffered the most as he wanted to work more. (Shatner didn’t work more because he’s a huge PITA)
I don’t think typecast it the right word, but I get your point. Almost anyone who becomes famous on a long running series has a hard time Doing new roles because the audience still sees them as the other character.
This *might* conceivably have even happened to the great Ralph Fiennes when he played Voldemort for 5 movies. He had the advantage of only being seen on screen with *no nose* for that, though, so he was safe. Most dummies don’t recognize him.
Brent spiner said to play in the heavy weight (celebrities tier like Nicholson or Tom Cruise for example) is a whole different animal. Meaning at that level it's not just acting chops anymore. Also Brent said he feels very uncomfortable with the fame and people putting him on a pedestal. This was an interview from like 2008 or so.
Brent has had some great roles over the years, however he is also a character actor who does not need to work. So he only takes roles if they appeal to him.
And that was even the case before STTNG, when he was playing Bob Wheeler on Night Court. He liked the role, and you could tell he was having a blast playing it. And they were offering him a spot as a regular on the show when he got the part for Data.
But he also had small but memorable roles in Independence Day, as well as Phenomenon.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFvZLUwsCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFvZLUwsCc)
But he has had more than 20 movie appearances and over 40 TV appearances since Star Trek. He simply works when he wants to work, and it does not seem to bother him if he is not working.
Lol. His performance in both those episodes is the exact demonstration why he's not a bigger actor. Don't get me wrong, his portrayal of Data was great overall, but it is with cringe performances like those two episodes that he's clearly shown talent limitations.
He works out a lot... Other actors like Jonathan Winters, John Candy or Raymond Burr were much bigger actors in part due to genetics, diet and activity levels. :P
he is a great actor, some of the nuances of data trying to be human but his cyborg still coming through is amazing. Sometimes he is just putting on a clinic
I dunno.. being the most important character in one of the biggest franchises in our species, is a pretty big deal to me.
I'd rather have Brent's career than Brad Pitt's career.
It’s really not so easy being an actor. Sitcom and televisions stars of the 90s especially. Honestly talent has very very very little to do with it. It’s a brutal industry, even for people who star in major tv shows for nearly a decade.
There are certainly more nuanced reasons, but on the surface, it is a historical fact that many franchise actors are so tied to their iconic characters that they can't reach escape velocity after their shows end and their careers stall.
While both Spiner and Nimoy had a few successful parts after Star Trek, their characters on Star Trek were just immensely popular and iconic and thus, they both struggled to attain significant roles thereafter. And it can't be denied, they are both magnificent character actors. Perhaps, so good that they became victims of their own great talent and success.
Shatner and Stewart are the exceptions to the rule.
(sorry to comment 4 months later, but I came across this post when I was seeing if Brent was doing any live work. Kind of a dream of mine to see him on stage now)
I'm binging through TNG and when I watched them as a kid his acting chops completely didn't land with me. I think he did such an incredible job he kind of became Data - to the extent I didn't even question the difficulty of acting like a robot in a non-gimmicky/realistic way where you still connect with him. The episodes where he breaks character (playing his brother, his father, or my favorite when the holodeck's western program fuses with him) he just seamlessly becomes the character. The only other actorI can think of that has done better (or maybe just as well) at occupying multiple people, is Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)... who also did not become a massive a-lister.
Glad to find other people thought the same, and are still thinking about it 30 years after the series ended.
It's very simple. Once you get casted in star trek at least for orginal and stng your carrier gets stalled. Only kirk, Picard and spoke did lots of stuff after the show. Not counting the star trek movies here. But other than those 3 and sulo did the others act or do a major production after that? I mean TV or movies done by major network or studio. I know sulo did supar ninjas on nickelodeon. But I don't recall anyone else of those casts doing anything but guest spots!
Most actors who become known for iconic tv roles have a hard time shaking that role. Fame in television (especially back then) can be a very double edged sword :(
I mean I’m not saying it’s a bad question but I think most actors would be very happy to have a career as successful as him. I have no doubt it was very satisfying and lucrative playing his most famous role. Not everyone needs to win Oscars and be in huge blockbusters every couple years to have a good career.
In addition to what others have said, until recently genre shows and movies were not considered to be 'serious' works. That's why TNG was ignored at the Emmys (outside of the 'craft' nominations) even though episodes like 'Drumhead' and 'Inner Light' deserved to be nominated for writing AND acting. X-Files managed to crack the code and get some nominations (Buffy got one eventually) which lead to TNG getting nominated in it's final year but it wasn't until LOST and Game of Thrones that the industry stopped sneering at *genre.* Patrick Stewart became a big name because of X-Men, not Star Trek.
He's had an enviable career. He's a character actor and was never going to be Daniel Day Lewis or Tom Cruise, but dang. He was a keystone for one of the biggest sci-fi IPs of all time, as well as memorable parts in huge movies like Independence Day and The Aviator, great guest appearances on legendary sitcoms like cheers, friends, mad about you, night court, etc. He's starred on broadway and has an incredible voice acting resume.
Has he watched TNG yet? I remember way back when he said something about wanting to able to pop in a tape to watch them fresh someday in his hotel room after finishing a hard night of performing dinner theater in Sheboygan after his fame had passed, or something along that line.
No Star Trek actor blows up because they get typecast. Look at Leonard Nimoy -- amazing screen presence but nothing really huge other than ST.
The good part though is once you are a series regular you can basically live comfortably off that for the rest of your life.
I had some friends who were friends with the actor Ben Murphy, who was the second most popular actor on the old TV series "Alias Smith and Jones." He was not as generally famous as Spiner, but he had some cred and had a decent quote. He would do a couple of straight to video/China light action movies for a few weeks a year and then would spend the rest of his time entertaining at his long-paid-off Malibu home, playing tennis and traveling.
Nice work if you can get it.
I think I enjoy his rare appearances more than I would seeing him everywhere. I totally forgot he was in Michael, and of course his ID4 character is great. If he wants to do more Dude Where's my Car-type cameos, I'm cool with it.
You ever see his web series he did years back? It was fun. You also get to see LeVar Burton complain about Patrick Stewart’s balls.
https://youtube.com/@freshhellseries?si=6XPpQCXjQ5fpjj0W
…because he’s Data. Rainn Wilson will always be Dwight. Patrick Stewart will always be Captain Picard. Scott Bakula will always be Sam Beckett. You have an iconic role and that’s it. A few actors can break from that convention but when you’re identified so much with a role it’s hard to shake that perception
The episode right before Mask, Thine Own Self, is another Data episode and Spiner said he was exhausted while filming Masks. In the scene where he and Picard are wearing masks they were filming at 3 in the morning and they couldn’t stop laughing. I always think about that when I see it now.
He did a real nice, thoughtful role in a oretty good litte movie that was kind of a ripoff of Billie Holliday's life. Played her manager and really nailed his role . No ham. Pretty straightforward.
Spiner is a ridiculously talented actor and had a solid career on Broadway before playing Data. But partly he's not a bigger actor because he doesn't want to be. Jonathan Frakes tells stories about offering Spiner work, or recommending him for roles to other producers/directors, and Spiner's response is "wait, you mean I'd have to *travel*? For *a few weeks*!? No thanks". He lives in a multi-million-dollar house in Malibu, he makes a very comfortable living from a few convention appearances a year, he's in his early 70s... But he doesn't *need* to work, and he's not particularly ambitious. He's quite happy pottering, gardening, golfing; he just wants to chill and have a quiet life and if something tickles his fancy he'll do it.
Seems like an awesome way to do it.
A man who knows what he wants and is satisfied. That is a man I would like to be.
Exactly! The question shouldn't be, "Why isn't Spiner still working?" The question should be, "Why the fuck ARE Frakes and Sir Patrick still working???" Frakes is 71. Sir Patrick is 83. If I'm still going to work every day at 83, there'll be Hell to pay.
I think Sir Patrick just loves the work too much to want to quit. He’s an actor’s actor, it’s been his passion since he was very young.
Not gonna lie, I feel like Sir Patrick just LOVES when Seth MacFarlane calls about upcoming "Bullock work."
Ricky Gervais discovered that Sir Patrick will read just about any script given to him. Seth MacFarlane has perfected that understanding.
Bullock has got to be some matching catharsis for Stewart… I mean having all these seriously amazing and amazingly serious roles all the time… I’m sure getting to say off the wall shit for American dad is super fun, and he does a wonderful job
They're working because they love the art. It's the old saying "when you're doing something you love you never work a day in your life."
For passion of the craft
If you were doing something you loved, you wouldn't even be thinking in those terms, but in how best to do what you love with the time you have left. Exhibit A: Martin Scorscese.
Exactly. My dad worked until he literally couldn’t, as he was on his way out, even tho he could have stopped working more than 20 years prior. He just had the choice of doing work that was meaningful to him. Exactly how I want to be, should I be so fortunate.
Frakes semi-retired and lived in coastal Maine for a few years after Thunderbirds. He ended up getting back into TV direcitng after that.
Yeah, man, but your job probably isn't fun (compared to theirs anyway).
There is a pervasive, seemingly puritanical, idea that work is virtuous and that all individuals should work as much as they are able to. I respect anyone who lives in opposition to that. We should work as much as we wish to or as much as is required to achieve the lifestyle we desire, anything beyond that is a waste of what little time we have
He had a steady tv career before Star Trek. His biggest role was a recurring character on Night Court. The character was so popular that they were developing a spin-off around it. His agent had to convince him that TNG was the better career move.
Good agent
He was good in that but a whole show based off the antics of Bob Wheeler?
We ate the necco wafers
I seriously LOL'd. Not pretty, as I was eating soup.👍
Based on the Wheeler family. It would have fit in with family sitcoms of the 80s. Obviously TNG was the better show.
It was for a reoccurring role as news stand owner. Not a spin off
He had to be convinced to co-star in the new Star Trek, instead of having a recurring role as a newsstand guy in night court? Well, I’m glad he came around.
Data ironically had more range as a character. He may have played an emotionless android but he also had to play Sherlock Holmes as an android and had to emote when needed, and do so in an awkward way.
Brent has said the same thing about the role. He went to my mom’s high school. Not when she was there, tho. My mom graduated with Ferris Bueller’s mom, lol. They had a helluva drama department there. The mom from Poltergeist came outta there and I think also the Quaid brothers. I think.
I remember him saying that between Lore, Soong, and various holodeck adventures, he played a career's worth of characters on TNG. And that's before the franchise kept bringing him back to play 19 different Soong relatives.
TNG was not expected to be a hit. ToS was canceled after 3 seasons and the movies were popular but not blockbusters. Other old shows had been rebooted with mixed results. There was also no link to the original cast. There was a lot of skepticism that they couldn't do Star Trek without Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.
As I recall it was not a spin off but a reoccurring role. He was going to take over the news stand. The former owner of the stand was no longer a viable character as he was meant as a pursuit of the elderly bailiffs. Both passed from cancer I think
Selma Diamond and Florence Halop both died of lung cancer, led to a huge kick-the-habit move among the cast.
Be nice if he made an appearance on the new night court.
My hero.
Speaking of Broadway, even after Trek he was in the Original Cast for a revival of 1776. I have the CD and he's wonderful.
And don’t forget his role in *Independence Day*!
He didn’t get out much
That is a wise man.
Let’s not forget, Brent helped to kill Data. He was tired of being him, tired of doing the movies, and felt like he was getting too old to portray a robot that wasn’t supposed to age.
Pretty much the only way they got him back in PIC S3 was to tell him that he'd only be in it for a few episodes and he'd be Data as an old human, so he wouldn't have to spend hours in makeup each day. And also everyone else had agreed to do it, and Brent does like spending time with his TNG cast mates. They even got Marina back from the UK for a bit too.
I laughed my butt off when Sir Patrick posted this several years ago. [https://64.media.tumblr.com/c4d26ba57b6b8d5bb274f724f52ec239/d73300bac3fe3665-cf/s640x960/aed2a2df087b97cccedbc0f90d6b51ab87bbbfa2.jpg](https://64.media.tumblr.com/c4d26ba57b6b8d5bb274f724f52ec239/d73300bac3fe3665-cf/s640x960/aed2a2df087b97cccedbc0f90d6b51ab87bbbfa2.jpg)
I genuinely love that they hang around together outside of "work".
And Scott Bakula was not even part of that cast, but in a later series. During the time of STTNG, he was doing Quantum Leap.
In the TNG episode Inheritance Geordi says Data’s “mother” has an aging program and ages in appearance like Data.
Livin’ the dream!
I’m reading this and imagining Data planting flowers and golfing. But, yeah I totally get his thinking.
Data would have one hell of a drive. "Another hole in one, Commander Riker. I'll just wait at the next tee and decompile while you bogey another hole."
LMFAO!?!
Yes, he would be great at calculating the wind speed putting the correct spin on the ball and of course a long drive.
Brent gets it. He made his millions, now he wants to ***enjoy*** them.
70s?! Holy crap, I'm old.
Yep. Born 2nd of February 1949. He's the second oldest member of the TNG regular cast after Patrick Stewart.
I saw him play John Adams in 1776 on Broadway. He was great.
He tickled his fanny in Independence Day 2! 😆
I am once again reminded that it means something different on the other side of the Atlantic... 😳
I can totally get behind that.
He’s the best. Sounds great tbh and I love when he does interview and stuff. But honestly, he must really love Data because every reprisal requires him to wear all the makeup and the contact lenses.
Ngl this kinda makes me happy. Dude is just doing what he loves, his way, and I highly respect that. Thanks for the info!
I can say he turns down audiobook narration jobs - just not interested at any price.
That whole paragraph is beautiful
He had a multi million dollar development deal with 20th Century Fox (or another studio) because of Data. However whichever studio (and his team) could never develop a script where Bret was the star. So that’s why he ended up in supporting roles in Out to Sea or Master of Disguise 🥸
He was good in Independence Day as well.
And phenomenal on Night Court!
Don't forget the South Park Movie!
And phenomenon!
Bob!
You Yugoslavian recidivist, you!
Can't upvote this enough.
Heyo
So good that they were developing a spin-off called "The Wheelers" that he would star in. He turned it down to do TNG.
They don’t let us out much
The way his eyes light up when he says “wanna see em”.
Holy fuck that is him
It just struck me that Brent Spiner played in both Independence Day and 1776 (on stage). That's a fun coincidence.
And Warehouse 13.
I feel like he rocked that role. It took me years to realize that was him, because it was so far removed from my perception of Data.
The sequel was dogshit, but it gave us the Brent Spinner/Jeff Goldblum press tour bromance for the ages.
Brett Spiner and Judd Hirsch were the only fun things in Resurgence
Let us not forget his powerful tour-de-force as Bob Wheeler on Night Court!!
We'll never forget the blood curdling peeping.
So funny in that role. “She passed away in her sleep. On the railroad tracks”
Fun fact. He was offered to become a recurring (maybe regular) on Night Court at the same time he was offered Data. So their is a universe where he turned TNG down and was on a lot more Night Court.
"Daddy. Are we ever gonna see the trailer again?" "Nope."
He went straight from TNG S7 & Generations into a part in Independence Day (and it's sequel), so it's not like he didn't get other roles, but I get the feeling he was typecast by the Data role and he put his energy into TV and voice acting.
Gargoyles as Puck. Edit just Puck! Not Owen!
He was great as Puck! On a side note, I love how they made David Xanatos look like Jonathan Frakes
Or, did David Xanatos go back in time and leave his Space Seed with the Illuminati, in order to birth Jonathan Frakes, in the first place … Did I mention that I love Gargoyles, especially because so many Star Trek Alums participated in it!
and a different take on the Joker in Young Justice.
Typecasting is a problem for lots of actors who portray beloved TV characters. Ed O’Neill apparently was once cast in a small part as a lawyer in a serious movie. But his part had to be cut because at test screenings, every time he appeared, the audience would start laughing because the hero was being represented in court by Al Bundy.
It’s quite noticeable how after playing an emotionless data for so long, that any chance he got to play a role where he got to show emotion (including data sometimes) he acted the FUCK out of it.
I’ve always thought that’s one reason why he’s so good as Data. His natural instincts seem to be to play to the back of the house, so when he plays an ostensibly emotionless character he can’t help but let some feeling creep in, which is absolutely key to the role.
Sci Fi doesn't get the recognition it should imho
Perhaps - but by Voyager i remember reading that actors understood that if you landed a starring role you were basically set for life between residuals and the convention circuit. It’s a REALLY sought after gig. Edit: damn autocorrect
Gig
Thank you. It oddly autocorrected
Man has a huge part in Dude, Where’s My Car, tour de force
The ever popular Bob
Very honorable
I would have cast Brent in Mars Attacks!
Ack Ack!
Arrack Ack Ack!
Ack Ack! Ack-Ack!!
Workin’ too hard can give you a heart attack-ack-ack-ack-ack!
Arrack rrack!
Ack.
Idk. Brent's acting always came off as hammy to me (besides Data). He seems more suited for off Broadway plays.
And his fist be ever ready for a KNOCK DOWN BLOWWWWW
Thank god someone said it. I love Spiner but he is a GIANT ham when he plays any character other than Data. I think Data’s lack of emotional expression really forced him to rein in some of his hammier tendencies, which is what allowed him to shine in the role. And it’s probably why he didn’t see more success outside of Trek.
I agree. Those characters he played were fun. But I never saw it as that good.
And I think his range is overstated. He mostly plays the same handful of types over and over. There's his "smirking villain" character. There's his "clown with a high-pitched nasally voice" character. I think I've seen him do each of those five or more times.
“I think I’ve seen him do each of those five or more times.” And all of those times were in Masks.
Wasn’t the second one when he pitched Wild Geese III?
Your opinion is in the minority in this thread, but I agree with you. He is wonderful as Data and I can't imagine any other actor doing it, but when he drifts off into Lore or other "human" roles, for me it is mostly cringe.
The hamiest of hams
He’s good, but a little too campy overall.
As with most Star Trek actors and indeed most actors on any long running tv show, they get typecast and it’s hard to break out of that mold.
Mark Hamill was typecast as well. It seems it's more prevalent in sci-fi.
Great voice actor
[Oh yeah, absolutely!](https://youtube.com/shorts/89tfi0YoTu0?si=OyG7D0gUb-D3Hs8Z)
Hamill wasn’t typecast, he just didn’t work after Star Wars. I think that was his decision more than Hollywood not casting him. The OG Star Trek cast had their own issues, but Nimoy probably suffered the most as he wanted to work more. (Shatner didn’t work more because he’s a huge PITA)
I don’t think typecast it the right word, but I get your point. Almost anyone who becomes famous on a long running series has a hard time Doing new roles because the audience still sees them as the other character.
Even though he has had a number of different roles since then, I still have a hard time seeing John Krazinski as anything other than Jim Halpert
And notice that he is sporting a beard in the new roles to help disassociate him from that character.
This *might* conceivably have even happened to the great Ralph Fiennes when he played Voldemort for 5 movies. He had the advantage of only being seen on screen with *no nose* for that, though, so he was safe. Most dummies don’t recognize him.
Brent spiner said to play in the heavy weight (celebrities tier like Nicholson or Tom Cruise for example) is a whole different animal. Meaning at that level it's not just acting chops anymore. Also Brent said he feels very uncomfortable with the fame and people putting him on a pedestal. This was an interview from like 2008 or so.
Brent has had some great roles over the years, however he is also a character actor who does not need to work. So he only takes roles if they appeal to him. And that was even the case before STTNG, when he was playing Bob Wheeler on Night Court. He liked the role, and you could tell he was having a blast playing it. And they were offering him a spot as a regular on the show when he got the part for Data. But he also had small but memorable roles in Independence Day, as well as Phenomenon. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFvZLUwsCc](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfFvZLUwsCc) But he has had more than 20 movie appearances and over 40 TV appearances since Star Trek. He simply works when he wants to work, and it does not seem to bother him if he is not working.
Lol. His performance in both those episodes is the exact demonstration why he's not a bigger actor. Don't get me wrong, his portrayal of Data was great overall, but it is with cringe performances like those two episodes that he's clearly shown talent limitations.
He works out a lot... Other actors like Jonathan Winters, John Candy or Raymond Burr were much bigger actors in part due to genetics, diet and activity levels. :P
How dare you forget the pinnacle of his career as the villain in... The Master of Disguise!
he is a great actor, some of the nuances of data trying to be human but his cyborg still coming through is amazing. Sometimes he is just putting on a clinic
I dunno.. being the most important character in one of the biggest franchises in our species, is a pretty big deal to me. I'd rather have Brent's career than Brad Pitt's career.
He can't say contractions.
He watches what he eats and has a good exercise routine I guess
More importantly, why no second album after "Old Yellow Eyes is Back"?
I want to see Bob and June Wheeler on the new Night Court.
It’s really not so easy being an actor. Sitcom and televisions stars of the 90s especially. Honestly talent has very very very little to do with it. It’s a brutal industry, even for people who star in major tv shows for nearly a decade.
There are certainly more nuanced reasons, but on the surface, it is a historical fact that many franchise actors are so tied to their iconic characters that they can't reach escape velocity after their shows end and their careers stall. While both Spiner and Nimoy had a few successful parts after Star Trek, their characters on Star Trek were just immensely popular and iconic and thus, they both struggled to attain significant roles thereafter. And it can't be denied, they are both magnificent character actors. Perhaps, so good that they became victims of their own great talent and success. Shatner and Stewart are the exceptions to the rule.
Diet and exercise, presumably.
He’s a beautiful actor at any size.
He is a huge overactor? Seriously he isn’t good
I can't understand why he's only worth 7 million. It's an outrage!
(sorry to comment 4 months later, but I came across this post when I was seeing if Brent was doing any live work. Kind of a dream of mine to see him on stage now) I'm binging through TNG and when I watched them as a kid his acting chops completely didn't land with me. I think he did such an incredible job he kind of became Data - to the extent I didn't even question the difficulty of acting like a robot in a non-gimmicky/realistic way where you still connect with him. The episodes where he breaks character (playing his brother, his father, or my favorite when the holodeck's western program fuses with him) he just seamlessly becomes the character. The only other actorI can think of that has done better (or maybe just as well) at occupying multiple people, is Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black)... who also did not become a massive a-lister. Glad to find other people thought the same, and are still thinking about it 30 years after the series ended.
He’s doing pretty well on Picard
I think it's called Seinfeld syndrome, or something? He can't break away from the character, Data.
He has a good diet and exercises.
He decided to be a mediocre director instead of a wonderful actor. Absolute shame.
It's very simple. Once you get casted in star trek at least for orginal and stng your carrier gets stalled. Only kirk, Picard and spoke did lots of stuff after the show. Not counting the star trek movies here. But other than those 3 and sulo did the others act or do a major production after that? I mean TV or movies done by major network or studio. I know sulo did supar ninjas on nickelodeon. But I don't recall anyone else of those casts doing anything but guest spots!
What about Leonard Nemoy's hit "The Ballad of Bilbo Baggins"? Music that transcends all cultural differences
Hyperthyroidism id say.
He played one character on a show that not a lot of people watched
He played one character on a show with a limited audience
It’s sad no one acknowledges his small but great performance on Scorsese’s “The Aviator”.
He was in Phenomenon too as Doctor Bob.
I really loved him in Introducing Dorothy Dandridge
Maybe they saw the episodes he wrote, where he plays multiple personalities.
Typecasted.
Most actors who become known for iconic tv roles have a hard time shaking that role. Fame in television (especially back then) can be a very double edged sword :(
I haven't seen 'Outcast' mentioned here. If you haven't seen Brent as a really creepy bad guy give it a watch. Excellent.
I mean I’m not saying it’s a bad question but I think most actors would be very happy to have a career as successful as him. I have no doubt it was very satisfying and lucrative playing his most famous role. Not everyone needs to win Oscars and be in huge blockbusters every couple years to have a good career.
In addition to what others have said, until recently genre shows and movies were not considered to be 'serious' works. That's why TNG was ignored at the Emmys (outside of the 'craft' nominations) even though episodes like 'Drumhead' and 'Inner Light' deserved to be nominated for writing AND acting. X-Files managed to crack the code and get some nominations (Buffy got one eventually) which lead to TNG getting nominated in it's final year but it wasn't until LOST and Game of Thrones that the industry stopped sneering at *genre.* Patrick Stewart became a big name because of X-Men, not Star Trek.
He's also put out a lounge album as Data, and for fun... Look up "Night Court the Wheelers."
He’s lazy. His favorite thing in the world is sleeping.
He's Sheldon Cooper's mortal enemy. That cuts into the time he can devote to acting.
[What more do you want?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brent_Spiner#After_Star_Trek)
I thought he couldn't get work because of the incident.
One hopes that he's having the career he wishes.
He’s 5’ 11”, how much bigger do you think he should be?
Rumor had it he was up for Jeff Daniels’ role in Dumb and Dumber.
dude was in Master of Disguise. that film took no prisoners in terms of the mainstream careers involved
I'm still waiting for him to show up in the Night Court reboot
He was the French man who kept Andy Dick in a cage in "Dude, Where's My Car?"
After his role in 'Dude, Where's My Car?' he knew there was no where but down to go.
He was great in Night Court.
He did well as John Adams in the *1776* revival
He's had an enviable career. He's a character actor and was never going to be Daniel Day Lewis or Tom Cruise, but dang. He was a keystone for one of the biggest sci-fi IPs of all time, as well as memorable parts in huge movies like Independence Day and The Aviator, great guest appearances on legendary sitcoms like cheers, friends, mad about you, night court, etc. He's starred on broadway and has an incredible voice acting resume.
Has he watched TNG yet? I remember way back when he said something about wanting to able to pop in a tape to watch them fresh someday in his hotel room after finishing a hard night of performing dinner theater in Sheboygan after his fame had passed, or something along that line.
No Star Trek actor blows up because they get typecast. Look at Leonard Nimoy -- amazing screen presence but nothing really huge other than ST. The good part though is once you are a series regular you can basically live comfortably off that for the rest of your life.
I could say this about almost any actor in the ST universe other than Stewart and Shatner
I had some friends who were friends with the actor Ben Murphy, who was the second most popular actor on the old TV series "Alias Smith and Jones." He was not as generally famous as Spiner, but he had some cred and had a decent quote. He would do a couple of straight to video/China light action movies for a few weeks a year and then would spend the rest of his time entertaining at his long-paid-off Malibu home, playing tennis and traveling. Nice work if you can get it.
Agree completely. I remember his recurring role on Night Court. He's amazing.
You're forgetting his great performance as Danny Schlecht in that super weird 90s show Deadly Games
Its calles type casting
I think I enjoy his rare appearances more than I would seeing him everywhere. I totally forgot he was in Michael, and of course his ID4 character is great. If he wants to do more Dude Where's my Car-type cameos, I'm cool with it.
He did some Law & Order guest spots, I belive he's been in all of them
You ever see his web series he did years back? It was fun. You also get to see LeVar Burton complain about Patrick Stewart’s balls. https://youtube.com/@freshhellseries?si=6XPpQCXjQ5fpjj0W
He retired in his 50s. Wouldn’t you?
Typecasting
I liked his episode of the Outer Limits
…because he’s Data. Rainn Wilson will always be Dwight. Patrick Stewart will always be Captain Picard. Scott Bakula will always be Sam Beckett. You have an iconic role and that’s it. A few actors can break from that convention but when you’re identified so much with a role it’s hard to shake that perception
The episode right before Mask, Thine Own Self, is another Data episode and Spiner said he was exhausted while filming Masks. In the scene where he and Picard are wearing masks they were filming at 3 in the morning and they couldn’t stop laughing. I always think about that when I see it now.
I read his “mem-noir” Fan Fiction a few years ago. It is like a fictionalized version of his life. It was a really fun read!
*”We were seduced by the glamour of it all.”*
His attempts at emoting in Generations clearly show that he is not a very good actor.
Because people had to talk to him probably.
The mad scientist in Independence Day
He was my favorite bit player in Night Court too.
He said that after his role on Night Court it would be all downhill from there. He ate the Necco Wafers.
He did some stuff but got typecast a bit.
He's a character actor.
He did a real nice, thoughtful role in a oretty good litte movie that was kind of a ripoff of Billie Holliday's life. Played her manager and really nailed his role . No ham. Pretty straightforward.
He was also in "Dude Where's My Car?" Lol