"Billingsley Talks About Developing Phlox"

[master_q 0]

"Billingsley Talks About Developing Phlox"

 

(Picture from StarTrek.com)

 

Among the most popular character to come from Enterprise, Dr Phlox is probably the one character that has proven a hit with the fans of the 5th Star Trek show. In the T3/Star Trek Starburst Special, Ian Spelling caught up with John Billingsley and quizzed him a little about the eccentric Dr Phlox.

 

One thing that Billingsley has made abundantly clear in the past is the fact that he has ideas on where he would like his role of Dr Phlox to go, and his ideas sometimes differ from those of the writers. But that has not stopped Billingsley from contributing. In fact Billingsley has even gone as far as to chat to his predecessor on occasion.

 

"I talked the Bob, (Robert Picardo) and what he had to say was interesting. I'm sort of taking his advice to a certain extent. I'm not a door pounder. I don't find that it's very valuable to take a posture that can be read as antagonistic. But I certainly would like more to do. Bob essentially suggested that I wait a year and then, as we move into the second season, that I put my ideas on paper in a cogent fashion, then knock on the door in a gentle way and say, 'Hey, I've got some thoughts about how the character might be developed in relation with some other characters'. And I'm thinking along those lines. If it happens, it happens. Who the hell knows? The producers come by. They seem to like me. They seem to like my work. I'm not a mind reader. So I can't tell whether or not there are thoughts of developing me further or if they have their hands full developing the other characters, who are probably always going to have more to do."

 

As to Character development Phlox had his fair share of episodes in the first two seasons of Enterprise with episodes such as 'Dear Dr' and the season two episode 'A Night In Sickbay'. But Star Trek is not Billingsley's only foray into Science Fiction genre television. In fact by his own confession the actor admits that he quite enjoys the roles that Sci Fi and Horror shows have afforded him.

 

"I general I do like acting in the genre world. I've gotten to do a lot of fun things. I got to be a man who had a squid arm grafted to shoulder [in an episode of Freakylinks]. And he was flailing about and grabbing people and choking them to death. You don't get to do that in your standard one hour drama. As a reader I used to read a hell of a lot of SF. I've sort of fallen off that train in the last 10 or 15 years, but I've always had a real appreciation for the genre. The value of SF is that writers find a way, through metaphor, to make you look at what our contemporary problems are. That's long been one of the great values of the genre and I still appreciate that."

 

With Enterprise now being in its third year, and assuming that it will run for 7 years like most of the shows predecessors, Star Trek will be over 40 years old by the time the 5th series ends. How ready does the actor think he is for the potential longevity of the show?

 

"At this point, because I have that mortgage, I'm excited about the prospect of a long run. I have two real answers to the question of a long run. After 20 or so years doing theatre and bopping around on TV and in movies and making a living at it, but never being able to put anything away, I'm not oblivious to the fact that Enterprise totally transforms my life and gives me a level of personal security that I never thought I would be able to attain.

 

"After Seven years I will be able to do whatever the hell I want. I could go back to the theatre and just work on stage without having to worry about generating income. I can write. I can travel. I'm aware, in that sense that Enterprise is like winning the sweepstakes as an actor. If over the years the work is not a personally fulfilling as I might like it to be, I will probably find a way to augment it by doing theatre during our hiatuses. My only other concern would be that after Seven years it might be hard to get a lot of work in the industry because, like it or not, people might ghettoize me as either a TV actor or a Star Trek actor. I can't anticipate any of that. I'll have to see what happens to me between now and the end of the show, and then after I'm done with the show. I don't spend much time worrying about it, though. I've never been one to worry about that kind of stuff. It's out of my hands. The worst thing that can happen is that I go back and do plays!"

--SciFiPulse http://scifipulse.net/Trek%20Archive/July0...illingsley.html

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Klingonmike 0]

What a great guy he is! I look forward to seeing him in Enterprise for the next 5 seasons!

[TheCD 0]

Phlox is the best developed character on Enterprise and, in my opinion, Billingsley is the best actor as well...so far. Mebbe when Bakula finally starts fleshing out the "Real" captain he will also rise up. Congrats John