Scott Bakula @ Startrek.com's Chat Room

[master_q 0]

Bakula Comments on S3

 

'Enterprise' conflict looks eerily contemporary

 

"Enterprise' sets off on its third season Wednesday night "markedly different in terms of its style and energy and sense of purpose,' says star Scott Bakula.

 

We'll say.

 

The UPN "Star Trek' series is sounding more and more like a sci-fied-up version of the nightmare that's been happening on the real planet Earth over the past two years.

 

The show ended its last season with Earth being attacked and 7 million people being killed by a mysterious race called the Xindi, bent on wiping out the planet's inhabitants.

 

Bakula's Capt. Archer and company "decided, 'Let's take a ship and see if we can find them,' ' Bakula recounts. Tomorrow night's episode introduces "a different kind of military presence' -- the Enterprise's elite surface military troops. And, says the star, "In the episode we're shooting now, we have discovered a case where the Xindi are contributing chemicals to weapons being built for Earth's destruction.'

 

"You can bring the parallels to the Middle East,' acknowledges Bakula. "It's kind of the history of 'Star Trek' to take issues and situations of today and enact them in the future.'

 

Scott doesn't know where it's all heading, but does know, "There will be a lot more action. The show's gotten very physical this year.'

 

"Enterprise' has been expected to be the focal point of the next set of "Star Trek' features, but Scott says a film isn't even on the horizon yet. "We have our hands full with what we're doing.' That includes the ongoing international launch of this edition of the 3 1/2-decade-old space series dynasty. "It's been very well received around the world,' says Scott.

--udailynews http://u.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,211~...1618749,00.html

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Theunicornhunter 2]

Consider me skeptical...this is Hollywood. I almost expect them to get Tim Robbins to play the leader of the Xindi.

[master_q 0]

Scott Bakula @ st.com

 

"There are great changes in my character, but I believe we were starting to see the seeds of that in the last five or six episodes last year," Scott Bakula said in a chat with fans.

 

The chat with StarTrek.com, transcribed at the Scott Bakula Fan Forum, reveals some of Bakula's offscreen hobbies and interests as well as his hopes for next season and his desire to do a musical over hiatus.

 

Though he said that Jonathan Archer would not become vengeful this season in the wake of the Xindi attack, Bakula said that the captain would become "more focused, more driven, less willing to compromise."

 

"There's a great sense of purpose that surrounds the whole show right now," he added. "It's very energized and very exciting."

 

In terms of Archer's relationship with Trip Tucker, Bakula said, "I see us continuing as friends, I think in all friendships you hit rocky spots and it's the strength of the friendship, really, comes out of how you deal with the tough times. Obviously I was upset with the choices he made in the 'Cogenitor' episode but we all had to move on."

 

Bakula labeled himself a fan of the history of flight and the space program, "especially if it's a space program that can proceed in a peaceful fashion, i.e. keeping weapons out of space."

 

He noted that executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga had been open to pitches and ideas for his character, though he complained, "Doesn't look like Captain Archer will ever get laid in space. And I'm okay with that, I just plan on taking it out on the Xindi."

 

Bakula named Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Star Trek IV: First Contact and "the whale movie" as his favorite Trek feature films. He said that seeing his action figure in stores makes him laugh.

 

To learn about Bakula's former aspirations to become a professional athlete, his plans for Enterprise: The Musical and why he calls "Lord Dominic Keating" a "tyrant" for wanting to direct, see the full transcript here.

 

The Transcript:

 

Click for Spoiler:

The chat wouldn't allow copying and pasting. My fingers are aching, but here's a pretty accurate transcript of tonight's chat.

 

Hello, everybody!

 

thatsme: Mr. Bakula, when you're on summer hiatus, what do you like to do?

 

I spent most of my vacation coaching two of my children's baseball teams.

 

Jensen: When you were told that you were going to be playing the Captain of the Enterpise, what was your first thought/reaction?

 

I was very excited. I was a huge fan of the original Star Trek, and I'd never even dreamed that I would someday be a captain of a starship.

 

Ben asks, How long does it take to create one Enterprise episode?

 

Anywhere from 7 to 9 days. 12 hours a day. Minimum.

 

Edwina says, Hi Scott! You're so cool! I'm a big fan of Enterprise as well as Quantum Leap! My favorite episode of QL was the one when you were Elvis and you got to sing! Do you think they'll ever let Captain Archer sing? Because "Enterprise: The Musical" would just be the most awesome thing ever!

 

Well, that kind of a show is more of a gimmicky show, and we haven't had time or really a need for that kind of an episode yet. But should the time come, we actually have several other cast members who are wonderful performers in their own right. So it would be a blast.

 

TomO asks, It is an interesting choice of college water polo being Captain Archer's favorite sport to watch. Is that also a favorite of yours or did the writers come up with that one? Also, do you have a favorite college football team? Thanks.

 

The water polo idea came from the writers, specifically Rick. His son plays, one of his sons plays. I actually played some when I was growing up. I pushed for giving me some lacrosse as a second sport also. And my favorite college football team would probably be - this is tough for me - my college, the University of Kansas, hasn't had a good team in years, and I'm waiting for them. In the meantime, I probably would say either USC or UCLA.

 

djball: Hey, Scott, where do you see the Jonathan Archer character going over the next year? Should we expect a much more vengeful captain? Thanks.

 

I wouldn't say expect a more vengeful captain, but certainly a captain who is more focused, more driven, less willing to compromise, there's a great sense of purpose that surrounds the whole show right now., It's very energized and very exciting.

 

Have you ever been injured during taping of either Enterprise or Quantum Leap? I have heard how dangerous some TV show sets can get.

 

I've been injured but nothing real serious. The worst I was ever injured was probably shooting "Necessary Roughness" and that was a shoulder injury. I've been cut up and banged up, last year I got a chipped tooth and threw my back out. the list could go on and on. But basically I'm in one piece.

 

PsiQueue: Is the actor who plays Porthos as much of a diva as the taboids make it out to be?

 

More. Nobody pets me.

 

Colin F. says, First off, let me thank you for providing a guiding light as Captain Archer during my turbulent years as a teenager in high school. Captain Archer's so far my favorite character on Enterprise, and I find that he is very much like me. Do you have an interest in flying like your character?

 

Yes, I"m a big fan of flight and the history of flight. And I'm a big fan of the future of the space program on this planet, especially if it's a space program that can proceed in a peaceful fashion, i.e.: keeping weapons out of space.

 

galaxiigrl: Hi Scott. Do you or any of your fellow cast members have an interest in directing an Enterprise episode?

 

I haven't directed any yet, they've offered me from the beginning the opportunity. But I've found my time has been better spent focusing on scripts and my work and working with each director that comes through. We're very lucky to have a great group of talented directors, and they all add to each episode. So far the only cast member who speaks about directing on a daily basis would be Lord Dominic Keating, the tyrant.

 

Daydreamer: Mr. Bakula, do you get invovled with the screen writing process, contribute your own ideas and views on the story, and influence the written development

of Jonathan Archer, alongside the writers of the show?

 

Yes, I'm very fortunate to be working with two extremely collaborative executive producers in Rick and Brannon. They have welcomed my ideas and encouraged them from the beginning as well as all the cast members. This is a very rare thing in Hollywood.

 

Chris37: Scott: any chance for more romance for Archer?

 

Doesn't look like Captain Archer will ever get laid in space. And I'm okay with that, I just plan on taking it out on the Xindi.

 

Talzuz: What is the favorite episode you've done so far?

 

I love the Seaon One finale, it was, I thought, a wonderful episode. I have a lot of favorite episodes, actually. I loved "A Night In Sickbay," it's hard for me to narrow it down. We just started an episode today that's potentially the best script we've had and the best show to date called Twilight." But happily I keep running into fans and they have different favorite episodes, which means that we're doing well on a lot of different levels.

 

Remus L. asks, Have you met the actors who play the captains on the other Star Trek shows?

 

I have only met Patrick and Kate and Avery. I haven't met Captain Kirk.

 

Quantum-Leap-Girl: What was it like working with Dean Stockwell again in the episode "Detained?

 

It was wonderful. We had a ball. We picked up right where we left off. One of the best things about Quantum Leap was the relationship Dean and I formed outside of work, something that I cherish and am grateful for.

 

cj: I dreamed of being a starship captain when I was a kid. What did you dream?

 

I probably dreamed more about being successful on some level as a professional athlete, be it baseball or soccer or tennis.

 

remus l. asks: You have played Archer for a couple of years now. I'm wondering if you have any insights you could share now about Archer that you didn't have when you started playing him?

 

I'd hoped when we started that he would have dimension as a character and that he would provide me with the opportunity to go different places. And that was the design that Rick and Brannon and I talked about. The great news is that as we enter Season 3, he's proving to be more complex and more interesting and more surprising as we go, which makes it more fun for me and hopefully for all you out there.

 

I'm soledad, a girl from Argentina. I'd like to ask you, what was the Enterprise episode which was most fun filming and the one in which you had the hardest time (because of your lines, the set, make up, etc) and why?

 

Hmmmm. Well, probably shooting the pilot was the most exhilarating and the most fun, there's something about that cast coming together for the first time, the first time on sets, costumes, etc, that just makes every day special. Not to mention the butterfly girls, whom I didn't work with, I wasn't there. And the toughest probably is an episode we just finished called "Extinction" where I had about 3 - 4 hours of make-up going on every day and 1 1/2 hours taking it off.

 

becketsslady: Scott, did you have a chance to see the Hollywood Reporter ad paid for by fans welcoming Enterprise back for season 3?

 

Yes, I did. And I want to say on behalf of all of us, to all the fans who contributed to that, you didn't have to do it, but it sure was nice and all of us are grateful for it and I was able to mention to Dawn Ostroff at UPN yesterday when I was chatting with her, that the fans had taken out an ad, and she was delighted.

 

Steph: Hey Scott, you rock my world. Of course, Enterprise is gonna go on for years to come, but do you have any other performing plans?

 

I'm not sure about next hiatus at this point. I'm always looking for a good movie to be a part of, and potential theater projects. Chelsea and I are considering doing a musical together and if that happens, everyone will know about it, probably before us.

 

elly: What is your favorite Star Trek movie?

 

Well, I loved "Wrath of Kahn," I love the whale movie, and I loved "First Contact."

 

Mikey S: Will the Enterprise theme song be changed this season? I hope so!

 

I've seen the first episode and the theme song is still the same song, but there have been, I believe it's been reworked.

 

stoned-vulcan: Mr. Bakula, if you could choose any other TV show or movie to act in what would it be? I think you would make a great James Bond.

 

(laughs) Well, that's very nice of them to say. Of course, playing someone like James Bond would be wonderful, but I don't think anyone's going to accept my English accent at this point. I'd love to do something on "Six Feet Under", that's currently my favorite show on tv, next to Enterprise."

 

usa: Hey Scott, what is it like seeing an action figure of yourself in the toy store?

 

Its' always a little shocking and it kind of makes you laugh

 

maquis: What's it like to act in front of a green or blue screen?

 

I've been acting in front of blue and green screens a long time now, really that acting is all about putting your faith in your visual effects people, that they will ultimately make you look good, and we are so fortunate to have a wonderful effects group here, that not only keeps getting Emmy nominations and Emmy awards, but keeps coming up with crazy wonderful inventions to the delight of all of us.

 

shielsy: At what age did you know you wanted to become an actor?

 

I decided to professionally pursue acting when I was 21, but I had started seriously thinking about it when I was 19. I'd performed since I was very young, but it was always for fun.

 

carolan: Do you do your own stunts?

 

I do a great majority of my own stunts, sometimes to the disapointment of the producers, but my phoilosophy's always been to do as much as I feel is safe to do, as it speeds up production and ultimately gives you more usable footage.

 

nodakgirl: I think the friendship between Trip and Archer is one of the best things about Enterprise. In "Cogenitor" there is a rift in that friendship. Do you think this incident will affect their friendship in the future or do you see them continuing as before?

 

I see us continuing as friends, I think in all friendships you hit rocky spots and it's the strength of the friendship, really, comes out of how you deal with the tough times. Obviously I was upset with the choices he made in the "Cogenitor" episode but we all had to move on.

 

kirk1701a asks: Mr Bakula, if Catain Kirk and Captain Picard were going over historical information on Captain Archer, how would you want them to perceive Archer?

 

Hmmm. as one of the men who paved the way, who made deep space a more accessible reality, somewhat of a maverick, a little bit like what we think of sherriffs in the old west.

 

catppicard: What was it like working with former Star Trek actors like Roxann Dawson and LeVar Burton?

 

It's so wonderful to work with Roxanne, LeVar, Robbie (Duncan McBeill) who's directing this week and Rene (Auberjonois), they've all embraced Enterprise and what we're trying to do and embraced the difference betweeen Enterprise and their shows and allowed themselves to recreate their Star Trek experience in a positive way. We do kid them all mercilessly about anything that they might have done before, insisting that since we're first, we should be the originals.

 

crystal-blue: Thank you for entertaining us all with your acting talents. I love your singing. Are there any plans to record a CD?

 

I'm not planning on recording anything right now, it takes an enormous amount of time, that's something i'd love to do again, I love being in the studio but I'm I'm not sure what shape it would take right now in terms of what kind of music, etc.

 

patjbj: Who is your favorite actor, besides yourself of course!

 

Whew, that's a tough one, I have a lot of favorite actors. I've loved Robert Duvall for a long time, I think he's really terrific. I've become more and more a Meryl Streep fan. But I love Susan Sarandan, Paul Newman, I loved, probably one of my favorite actors of all time was Cary Grant.

 

Fma5r2081: What's your favorite genre of music?

 

I couldn't say. I love music so much, obviously I'm a fan of the Broadwday musicals, I'm a big rock and roll guy, I love jazz, big band, classical, I love country, too. I'm a big proponant of music being the great connector.

 

blahblah: Which character do you believe will go through the biggest development this coming season?

 

Hmmm. That's a hard one to answer because I don't know how the whole season's going to lay out. There are great changes in my character, but I believe we were starting to see the seeds of that in the last five or six episodes last year, so it may ultimately be Jolene as she gets further and further away from her Vulcan influences, but again, I think they've created a great group of characters who all have so much unexplored potential left.

 

capnsoth: Following pro football at all? If so, gimme a quick Super bowl pick

 

(laughs) I'm from St. Louis, so I've been living and dying with the Rams the last few years, not as long as the LA fans have lived and died (mostly died) with the Rams. But realistically, we could be looking at Tampa Bay again and maybe Tennessee.

 

daniels: Whats your favorite gadget?

 

I'm not a real gadget person per se, so I'm delighted with almost anything

 

jg2003: You have Porthos in the show, but do you have any pets in real life?

 

Two dogs, Hobo and Chloe, a couple of fish, and a hermit crab. These aren't all my pets.

 

SeaB: What's your take on the time travel elements of the show?

 

Well, I think that they're very complicated and I, like many of the fans, are curious as to how they're all going to play out. I think time travel is a very fascinating area to explore and certainly it's very fanciful and a huge part of the scifi world. So I enjoy it, but i just don't always understand it. The first time I had to say a line about time traveling on Enterprise, I was secretly smiling inside.

 

spruha: Do you like to travel? Among the places you've been, what locations have been the most pleasant?

 

I love to travel. I love going to warm locations near a beach. I haven't traveled nearly as much as I'd like to because of the ages of my children. One of the last great trips I had was to Paris, which was beyond description in all areas.

 

HOST JOEL: Scott has been called back to the set for his next scene.

 

I have to go now and fight a Xindi-reptillian. I don't want to give anything away, but he loses.

 

Goodbye, Joel and everybody watch tonight, and tell everyone else, people on the street, the network is counting on word of mouth! And I'm not kidding, so it's up to everybody out there!

--Scott Bakula Fan Forum http://pub64.ezboard.com/fscottbakulafanfo...icID=3500.topic

 

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[Takara_Soong 4]

The following is from startrek.com:

 

Scott Bakula ("Captain Archer") makes another triumphant return to STARTREK.COM on Wednesday, November 19 to talk about the latest episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise. (The time of the chat is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time, but that may be a bit flexible given his shooting schedule. We advise that you check back on the morning of the chat for a confirmed time.) Airing on that day will be "Similitude," an episode that Scott has already singled out as a one of Enterprise's best.

 

This will be Mr. Baukla's FOURTH chat at st.com since the beginning of September. Wow!

[trekzone 0]

hopefully i can translate it into GMT +08:00 time and get in there and chat

[Jack_Bauer 1]

yeah, its pretty amazing that Bakula has been doing so many chats. I figure he is really dedicated to the fans or has nothing better to do. I favour the first option. Even though I never particpate I like the fact that Bakula takes the time to talk with the fans.

[Stardreamer 1]

I was online last time and you can be sure I'll be there next Wednesday! I wouldn't miss it

[master_q 0]

Here is a transcript of the chat room session.

 

 

Master Q

StarTrek_Master_Q@yahoo.com

[VaBeachGuy 12]

Q: In the original Star Trek series the United Federation of Planets (UFP) was already established. Will future Enterprise episodes deal with how this came about?

Dave

 

SB: My understanding is that the Federation is an idea that will somehow be explored in our franchise. When that will happen, and how it will happen, I'm not sure of.

[A l t e r E g o 9]

Well the first two questions were pretty bad.

 

This is better:

Star Trek Host: And just how "familiar" had they become in the intervening twelve years ...?

 

(Talking about Archer and T'pols relationship in Twilight)

 

SB: I wish I could remember. :lol:

[archerfan 0]

"Star Trek Host: What was the significance of the title "North Star"?

 

SB: I don't know that. I think it might have been lost in the script. I think it had something to do with the wagon train, but I really don't know. Ask Rick and Brannon. "

 

 

I thought that "Northstar" was a reference to Enterprise which was in the Northern sky. Did any of you get the same thing? If not, what did you think it was in reference to?