According to ComingSoon.net, Brent Spiner, who played Data on Star Trek: The Next Generation and associated theatrical movies, has ruled out a return to the role in the new Trek movie, which will be directed by J.J. Abrams. It's not that he doesn't think the movie, tentatively titled Star Trek XI, is going to be any good. He just thinks he's too old for the role."There certain characters that I think work in a youthful way and I think I really skated along the edge in the last couple movies as it was," he tells Simon Thompson of BANG Showbiz. Of course, he also jokes that he'll play the android again if the money is right. I think that's the same joke Leonard Nimoy made before Star Treks III through VI, and we all know how that turned out.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-11-2006 @ 7:44PM
Michael Canfield said...
Or they could digitalize the hell out of his face the way it was done with Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in the opening scene of the third X-Men movie. That was creepy.
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9-11-2006 @ 8:13PM
Keith McDuffee said...
I mean, Data is an android, so they could easily (and hopefully not cheesily) change his appearance and just explain that his exterior was damaged and they replaced it with a different looking model. *shrug*
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9-11-2006 @ 8:44PM
Wil said...
Brent has been saying this privately for years, as far back as preproduction on Nemesis.
Brent's wry wit isn't captured in print, but I can hear him saying this, and following it up quickly with a sly smile, "of course, if the money's right . . ."
It's really unlikely that they have enough money to make it worth his while, mostly because I think he's done everything that can be done with Data, and he's ready to move on.
Speaking as a far, I never liked it that they gave Data emotions, and took Geordi's VISOR off for the movies; I felt like it was putting Patrick Duffy in the shower and saying "Oh, all that stuff you liked and believed in? We're taking it away. Deal with it."
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9-11-2006 @ 9:08PM
Aron Head said...
First, this isn't news. Spiner said this same thing after NEMESIS tanked.
Second, his character was killed in NEMESIS.
Third, aren't they planning on doing a TOS prequel...?
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9-12-2006 @ 12:57AM
Ladi said...
Spock died too. That didn't stop him from doing a few more movies. I can't imagine replacing Data with someone new. While, it would make sense technologically, I think most people would find it hard to see another face and believe it's Data. I thought they said in one of the episodes that he was created to age in appearance to fit in better with his crew. So, whatever his age, I'm all from Brent being the only Data - living or dead.
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9-12-2006 @ 1:41AM
Linda said...
I was at the 40th annual Star Trek convention in Chicago last weekend. They had an auction and one of the things they auctioned off was a bottle of wine from his vineyard saying he was trying to raise money for his son's college education. I bet he does the movie. Wonder where all his money went?
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9-12-2006 @ 9:11AM
Gig said...
That makes the 8th or 9th time Data has died right?
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9-12-2006 @ 10:24AM
Maria said...
he has make up all over his face, he could do it. Or maybe a cameo. My hubby love star trek and Sorry not really a fan but out of the movies i was forced to watch he was one of my fav characters.
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9-13-2006 @ 8:17AM
ThatHollie said...
Just to be clear, it isn't the case that anyone asked him to be in Star Trek XI and he said no. Or at least anyone involved with the film. Some random interviewer asked him if he would do it, and he gave his stock answer. To avoid confusion, perhaps he should start saying that he does not think that Data should appear in Fantastic Four 2, or perhaps that he has no interest in Night Court: The Motion Picture.
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9-12-2006 @ 8:55PM
DaveTehWave said...
@ Linda:
I often wonder the same thing when it comes to ppl in the entertainment industry. They are very hansomely rewarded for their work, yet blow through the $$$ like nobody's business.
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