From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Aside from debates about which shows and movies were the best, Star Trek fans can pretty easily agree on one thing: that the ’90s were the franchise’s golden period. This was the time The next generation really gets its money’s worth, fan-favorite spin-offs Deep Space Nine And Voyager were brought into being, The original series Films were over, and even the smallest towns had their own conventions. However, Star Trek: Voyager Actor Garrett Wang’s recent comments about being snubbed by producers are a grim reminder that the franchise’s “golden” era was remarkably dark.
The Star Trek veteran recently met with CinemaBlend to talk about his excitement about returning to the franchise Lowe decksbut Garrett Wang was blunt about what a long road it was. He described watching his co-stars Jeri Ryan and Robert Duncan McNeill received invitations back to the franchise and counted at least seven different missed opportunities to bring his character, Harry Kim, back into the fold. Interestingly, he would have returned to the franchise sooner if he hadn’t been robbed of a chance, but he remains tight-lipped about the details.
Apparently there was some kind of unnamed thing Star Trek Project in the works that would have brought Garrett Wang’s character back somehow Voyager even earlier than his most recent appearance Lower decks. According to the actor, “Something happened, but then something else happened that was out of my control… And that offer was retracted in a way.” Possibly due to a non-disclosure agreement or because he didn’t want to spill the mock tea, the Harry-Kim ended -Actor ends this train of thought with a simple: “That’s all I can say.”
As long-time Star Trek fans know, Garrett Wang has never hesitated to talk about how he was mistreated Voyager‘s producers. For example, he claims that he was prevented from ever directing an episode, something that other main actors of Trek have always been able to do upon request. He also resented the fact that his character never got promoted, telling CinemaBlend the sad story that he was so distraught over it that he once showed up outside Kate Mulgrew’s trailer and begged her to help Harry Kim finally get promoted become.
Perhaps the ugliest Star Trek story that Garrett Wang told was that he and Robert Duncan McNeill were singled out and ridiculed for gaining extra weight during the show’s production. This culminated in the two actors finding girdles in their trailer one day and their characters even getting dialogue where they teased each other for being out of shape.
When Wang pushed back against this offensive dialogue, executive producer Brannon Braga reportedly told him in front of the cast and crew, “If you and your fellow actors go down the same eating path you’ve been on for the past two years, we’ll take the name.” of the show have to change to “Star Trek: Voyager – Pigs in Space.” This horrific body shaming is an example of how the golden age of Star Trek is disturbingly dark and bleak.
Although he loved his time on Star Trek, Garrett Wang has never been afraid to name names when it comes to those who have wronged him. These include Brannon Braga’s body shaming and another alleged incident in which Braga explained that Kim was never promoted with a casual, “Well, someone’s gotta be the ensign.” He had a particular conflict with infamous executive producer Rick Berman, who was his Opinion had told the cast to “downplay our human characters” (i.e. act boring) so that the Aliens would seem more realistic.
Now it’s worth noting that these guys are basically Star Trek royalty: as writer-producer Braga worked The next generation, VoyagerAnd Pursue and helps with writing at the same time Star Trek: Generations And Star Trek: First Contact. Co-producer and frequent writing partner Rick Berman was an even bigger part of the franchise as executive producer TNG before we co-developed DS9, VoyagerAnd Pursue. Berman is also a very controversial figure, having been accused of being an “angry homophobe” by veteran Trek writer David Gerrold and accused by actress Jadzia Dax Terry Farrell as “very misogynistic” towards women and their appearance.
Fans who found out about this often debated who the “real” Braga and Berman were. After all, they created some of them best hike content ever made (including the epic TNG finale “All Good Things”), but it also seems to have hurt some of our favorite actors. This includes Star Trek favorite Garrett Wang, and his own stories about these producers are a reminder that these men can be both talented and flawed, capable of great creative energy and capable of inflicting great pain.
Star Trek’s golden era has a hidden dark side, but the men who supposedly caused it have already given us the perfect opportunity to examine their creative legacy. In First contact (Co-written by Braga and produced by Berman), Commander Riker Zefram Cochrane gives some advice from his future: “Don’t try to be a big man, just be a man… and let history make its own judgments.” Trek’s golden era has itself faded into history, and only time will tell how future fans and creators remember its greatest and most flawed architects.