Jack Donner returns to Star Trek

[A l t e r E g o 9]

 

So you may be asking who is Jack Donner, JD played the Romulan Subcommander Tal in TOS third season episode The Enterprise Incident

 

Subcommander Tal

 

He returns to ST this Friday in an episode entitled Home as a Vulcan Priest.

 

The Vulcan Priest,...

 

In a recent interview with Trek Today JD spoke of what he's been doing all these years and of his return to Trek; below is an excerpt of that interview highlighting his time on the set and interactions with regular cast members of ENT.

 

Minor spoilers.

 

...

 

TN: What can you tell us about your role in the upcoming Enterprise episode "Home"?

 

JD: Well I've been trying to land another role on Star Trek for a while. There was this rumor going around that new producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga were not terribly interested in bringing back the guest stars from the original series but I decided to try. Word was that they wanted to put their own stamp on it. So I kept hoping to get called in for something and I did get called in once to read for something on Voyager but wasn't cast. But now they've added a new guy to the writing team, his name is Manny Coto. Manny is a Star Trek fan from the time he was a kid. He grew up on Star Trek. He was added to the team and he is so creative and so interested in recapturing the essence of the original Star Trek. He's the head guy now on Enterprise and he made the determination to create ties with the people who are still around from the original series. I was called in to read for this Vulcan priest role. I didn't think I had a snowballs chance; I was up against some very good actors but they cast me, much to my surprise. It's not a big part but they did give me guest star billing. I think they were playing homage to my history with Star Trek.

When I went on the set all the actors and the crew and everybody were so differential and I didn't understand it but then I realized they were playing homage to the original. They were just absolute sweethearts. There was this one guy, a member of the crew and I guess because of the bone structure of my face every time he passed me he would whisper "Spock". One person even asked me if I was Leonard Nimoy's brother. It was very fabulous. (laughing)

 

And I can tell you that they asked me to come back to play the Vulcan priest again.

 

TN: Congratulations that's great to hear!

 

JD: On the shoot on this last episode of Enterprise, the title is "Kir'Shara," I worked with Scott Bakula. He's a real nice guy, and likes to clown a lot, so do I. We got into a friendly game of one-upmanship with one liners and jokes. We kept everyone in stitches. He was very warm in saying goodbye, as was David Livingston, the director of "Kir'Shara" and the entire crew.

 

TN: So you've gone from playing a Romulan to playing a Vulcan.

 

JD: Well at one time they were one people. So you could say I'm playing an older cousin of sorts of the first character I played. Of course the Romulans maintained their warlike ways while the Vulcan's went in a different direction.

 

TN: In "Home" the character of T'Pol has returned for a visit to Vulcan. So are most of your scenes with Jolene Blalock?

 

(spoiler alert...)

 

JD: Yes, the last scene of the episode. As I said it's not a large role. I officiate at the wedding. What happens is she has to marry another Vulcan for political reasons, to get her mother out of a jam.

...

 

For the entire interview visit THIS page at Trek Today.