We were second-generation immigrants, and it was luxury enough to go to college. The luxury of the arts was still a generation away.
No one likes to think of themselves as a one-trick pony as an actor, but on the other hand, it's nice to be part of something that has an international popularity, that is seen literally everywhere in the world and stays in the marketplace forever.
Even though my face has gotten more familiar with doing 'China Beach' and 'The Wonder Years,' I'm the kind of actor that people thought, 'Gee, that guy looks familiar. He must have put my storm windows in. He works at my bank or something.'
Jerry Goldsmith's 'Voyager' theme is a brilliant reworking of the original material.
You play a hologram on 'Star Trek,' and you have to spew line after line. I spoke in paragraphs on 'Star Trek.'
The fact that we were encouraged to follow our conscience and not to follow the crowds - that's something I really miss. On the other hand, there were things that drove me nuts in the '60s. There was an aspect of the hippie movement that everyone is an artist, which is lethal.
People admire a screen actor if they have theatre skills, but it's looked down upon by the industry as being not a 'real job,' in the way it isn't in New York or the U.K.
After 'Star Trek,' I was the commander on 'Stargate Atlantis,' the final season, and once my character had become a good commander, I was sorry that the show didn't last beyond that.
I've always had a particular affinity for father-son dramas.
What's wonderful about 'Star Trek' having been rebooted so successfully by the J. J. Abrams movie franchise is that - the corollary effect is that it creates a new generation of fans, and they're interested in all of it. They don't just sit around and wait for the next movie to come out; they'll go back and re-examine episodes.
Doing 'Star Trek,' I got to learn about it from the inside out. I got to learn what appealed to them, why sci-fi meant so much to people, why 'Star Trek' meant so much to people.
'Star Trek' posited a better future.