Chaos on the Bridge Part II
Casting Woes
Excerpts from the 2014 Documentary by William Shatner, Chaos on the Bridge
"How would you describe your experience working on Star Trek II?"
- William Shatner
"It was one of the more... volatile, and well, certainly one of the more... unpleasant productions I've worked on."
- Leonard Nimoy
"I absolutely hated it. No small part thanks to you."
- George Takei
"I never got any sleep. If I wasn't promised things were changing, I would have quit as soon as my first contract was up. I nearly quit anyway."
- Nichelle Nichols
"After the movie, If I had any other viable way of making money, I would have done that instead."
- Walter Koenig
"I will always... have the utmost respect my castmates and the production crew of that show. Being cast in Star Trek was my big break, I'd be nowhere without it. I also know a lot of the others have horror stories that I just don't. I think as the new kid, they tried to act more professional around me. That being said, I still have never felt more uneasy on a set than those first weeks on Star Trek."
- ?
"I, uh, well, I'm sure I'm sure myself and everyone else have said all there is to say on it. I'm just glad I was able to move beyond it."
- ?
Casting Woes
It is no less than a miracle that Star Trek II would even make it to air. Plagued with behind the scenes conflict, a lack of funds, and a hostile studio, it was an uphill battle to rival the iconic franchise. Though we will cover all of the other bumps along the road shortly, today let's look at one topic; the casting of the two new main characters. Lieutenant Ilia and Ensign William Decker. [1]
Neither William Decker nor Ilia were included in the first script for the pilot film,
The Endless Voyage. That was put together and written before the inception of any new main characters. A draft was written to include the two, but it had to be scrapped. The spring filming date just did not leave them with enough time to cast them. The pair would instead be cast for filming on the show's first episode. So the producers had between January and August of 1975 find two actors. That should be a simple enough task
Star Trek was far from a prestigious franchise at this point. In fact, science fiction in general was seen as a career killer by most. Therefore, not many well known or established actors applied for the role. Many actors' first auditions were for the pair. This includes many minor performers who's names were all but lost to history, and others who would go on to have major careers. [2]
Decker
Decker was a significantly easier role to cast than Ilia. But that is more a statement to the difficulty of casting Ilia than the easiness of casting her opposite. The young, bright eyed, junior officer archetype is one that dates back to the days of
Honblower. As the audience POV character, the key traits of Decker in Justman's view were likeability and charisma. Meanwhile Roddenberry was keen on the character being youthful in appearance and energy. He wanted them to appeal to kids and teens like Chekov had for the original show.
"Not many people know this, but following the start of Season II of the old show, Chekov was ludicrously popular. Walter Koenig received the second most amount of fan mail, behind only Leonard himself. Most of it was written by kids, who loved to see themselves on screen. So we are going into the auditions of Decker looking to replicate that success." [3]
-Gene Roddenberry, Inside Star Trek, April 1975 issue
The casting call for William Decker went out in February 1975. Dozens of actors would apply for the role. If you were a young white male trying to make it in Hollywood and weren't having a lot of success, with was an obvious audition to go to. Mark harmon, Mark Hamill, Richard Dean Anderson, Dirk Benedict, David Gautreaux, and many more would apply. In the end, two stood out as the cream of the crop. Mark Hamill and Dirk Benedict.
Mark Hamill headshot, mid 1970s [4]
Hamill, at the time 24, fit the age and look of the character perfectly. He was young, with long blonde hair and a very boyish face. And unlike most who applied to the role, he was not an industry newcomer. He had appeared in multiple guest roles on a variety of shows and had a recurring role on
General Hospital, a daytime soap opera. While far from a prestigious career, it was more substantial than most other under 25s who applied for the Decker. Most of his acting experience was on playing teens and younger characters, so his audition leaned on the naivety, youthfulness, and inexperience of the character. These factors combined lead to him being Roddenberry's favorite for the role.
Dirk Benedict (Left) on the set of 'Chopper One', 1974
Benedict at the time was 29, a fair bit older than planned for the character. So naturally, he had a more weathered look than the fresh-faced ensign the producers were looking for. Though at the time it was not so uncommon for older actors to play younger characters. Walter Koenig was also almost 30 when he was cast as Chekov. Benedict was the most well established actor to apply for the role. He was one of the leads on
Chopper One, a one season ABC drama that had been cancelled a year before. In addition to that, he had appeared in a few television films and had a guest role on
Hawaii Five-0.
Benedict and Hamill had starkly different performances. While Hamill's Decker fell into the space cadet archetype, Benedict's was a swashbuckling man of action. He imbued a strong charisma and swagger into his lines. While Hamill's Decker seemingly had an awkward crush on Ilia, Benedict's had a strong flirtatious relationship with her. With more years of experience, Benedict also offered a bit more nuance and skill in his auditions. So with the most credits to his name and arguably the stronger acting ability, Benedict became the favorite of Justman and Goodwin.
The Final Decision
The split between the producers over the casting of Decker was an exercise in frustration. Both Justman and Roddenberry
knew they were correct, and refused to back down. This made it one of the earliest ruptures in the friendship between the two, and an omen for how things would progress. In the beginning Goodwin attempted to mediate between the two and get them to compromise. But this was to no avail. As they days dragged on and filming loomed closer and closer, he sided with Justman to attempt to end the argument. Which of course finally endeared him to Roddenberry.
This rift left them at an impasse. Though both Hamill and Benedict were recognized as the finalists in May, the winner wasn't chosen until late July, only two weeks before filming began. Roddenberry at one point attempted to overrule his co-producers and cast Hamill anyways. This was rejected by Paramount, as they feared Roddenberry growing too powerful on set. The final decision was continually punted off into the future while they handled other matters.
Ultimately, with no decision reached, the decision was punted up to the studio. According to some, this was a mutual compromise to give them the decision. To others, this was the studio stepping in and intervening. Ironically, after previously rejecting Roddenberry's initial attempt to cast Hamill, they ultimately sided with him. Diller and the other executives saw science fiction as something for children. So they casted the actor who they thought would appeal more to that demographic. [5]
"I have no dislike of Mark Hamill. We have always gotten along well. I don't know where this misconception in the fan community comes from. I simply thought he lacked the acting experience to play the role. Yes, were I in charge of Star Trek II, I would have chosen Dirk Benedict. And to this day I maintain he would have been a better pick for the role. But we play with the hands we're dealt, and I think Mark ultimately settled into the role quite well."
-Robert Justman, 1980 convention appearance
"Yes, yes I did apply to be in Star Trek. And I came pretty damn close to being in Star Trek. Those few months waiting for the decision were some of the most tense and anxious I've felt in my whole life. But no, I have no ill will against Mark. We actually grew to know each other quite well sitting together in those waiting rooms for so long. And besides, I think it turned out well for both of us in the end, don't you?"
-Dirk Benedict, interview for the Colonial Fleet Gazette, a BSG fan magazine, 1980.
Mark Hamill was cast as Decker on July 17th, 1974. Benedict would receive a guest role in a season I episode of Phase II in compensation for his patience. Unbeknownst to the producers, this change would cause major ripples to the future of science fiction.
Ilia
By being a more complicated and unusual role, Ilia was harder to cast. By the end of it all, almost one hundred women had been considered or auditioned for the role. This came from a variety of factors. One, the 'exotic' look Roddenberry desired was vague at best. It can best be described as 'looking non-white enough to be unusual, while being white enough to not cause a stir.' Two, the role was very high concept, not very well fleshed out, and fairly difficult to explain. And three, with Justman and Roddenberry were experiencing a slow but steady decline in their personal and working relationship, getting them to agree on anything was becoming increasingly hard.
She was described nebulously enough that every actress would have a different take on her. Yet at the same time she was detailed enough for the producers to not be happy with any of these takes. Needless to say, it took a long time to get somebody the producers were happy with.
They simply required a beautiful young woman who had an otherworldlyness to her and yet was also a skilled actor who could play an emotionally reserved yet psychically powerful alien with an underlying sexuality and sensuality to them. What do you mean that's a difficult role to cast?
Brazillian-American actress Jennifer O'Neill was an early favorite. Both Justman and Roddenberry thought she fit the bill. Being Latina, she possessed the vaguely 'exotic' looks he was going for. Yet she also did not appear too foreign to the general audience at the time. O'Neill had skill and noted roles as an actress, but she was still only 26. She had struggled to find work since her breakout role in 1971's
Summer of '42. The Producer's hoped she would be willing to put aside for movie career and 'settle' for a major T.V. role.
O'Neill was offered the role in February of 1975. Unfortunately, she rejected the offer, as she still wanted to focus on her film career. At this time it was common for actors to either be 'Movie actors' or 'TV actors', and it was somewhat uncommon to leap back and forth. Especially to leap from the more prestigious film industry down to the less impressive TV industry. Doubly so to drop down from prestige dramas to sci-fi schlock. [6]
The Endless Search
Following O'Neill's decline the producers opened the door to general auditions. At the same time, Roddenberry recruited talent scouts in the United Kingdom. He believed that casting from another country could bring in new energy [7]. They received two strong candidates from this endeavor. Jane Seymour, and Jacqueline Pearce.
Jane Seymour was at the time most famous for her role as a Bond Girl in
Live and Let Die. She was 24, and had experience working on both sides of the Atlantic. She possessed good acting skills, but not exactly anyone similar to Ilia. Though, who did? She played the character with a more cold and calculated persona. Her voice had only hints of emotion cracking through. It was if she attempting to hide them, like they were a negative to be scorned. Yet she was ever so slightly failing to keep up the façade. This made for a performance overall very similar to Mr. Spock.
The other notable British actress to apply was Jacqueline Pearce. She had about as much experience, largely in Horror. However, she was less famous, having worked exclusively in B-movies up until this point. Her hair was unusually short, which stood her out to Roddenberry. Though far from notable today, women possessing pixie cuts was unusual enough in the 70s to meet Roddenberry's 'exotic' quota. Pearce was also a fair bit older than most who auditioned, being 31. Though this wasn't much of a concern. Pearce showed skill being both reserved and sensual in her audition tapes. She gave Ilia a posh accent, and maintained a sense of aloofness in her performance. In her take, Ilia seemed to look down on her human compatriots, seeing them as unsophisticated and overly boisterous.
Dozens of actresses on both sides of the pond would wind up auditioning. Of the Americans who applied, a few worth mentioning include; Tricia O'Neill (no relation), Joanna Cameron, and Lynda Carter. Tricia O'Neill was a 29 year old film actress who had appeared in a few B-movies at this time. In another timeline, she would be most famous to Trekkies as Rachel Garrett, captain of the Enterprise-C. Lynda Carter was at the time a successful model, having placed in the top 15 of the 1972 Miss America competition. She also had a career as a singer, and in 1974 was attempting to break into the acting circuit. Carter had done very little acting work the time though, and thus was not seriously considered. She became more notable as a candidate later one in the fan community, because of her later fame in
Wonder Woman. [8]
Joanna Cameron was a 23 year old actress at the time most notable for a handful of guest spots and numerous commercials. In fact, at one point in her career she held the world record for appearing in the most amount of commercials. She would be most famous to those from our timeline as the titular lead on
The Secrets of Isis. Her performance put a more timid spin on Ilia, and a more empathic one. She was overwhelmed by sensing the feelings of her hundreds of crewmembers, and would copy the feelings and expressions of those nearest her. She played her more warm and less closed off than the others. Cameron's Ilia was more of your friendly, girl next door archetype.
The Final Choice
Ultimately, the producers were not happy with any particular candidate. This can largely be chalked up to disagreements on what the role should be internally. Goodwin wanted a good, relatable character to draw in the general audiences. Roddenberry wanted a sexualized psychic eye candy character. Justman wanted a character who served a strong narrative purpose as Decker's love interest and a foil to both Spock and McCoy. So they could never be satisfied with anybody, because nobody fit into that Venn Diagram. Though there weren't as many arguments over Ilia as there were with Decker, there was a lot of disappointment.
That disappointment would evolve into despair as the search continually turned up. No frontrunners would ever quite be found. The producers would continue to see auditions up until the final casting choice.
"Oh certainly, there was a moment there I considered saying to the others 'Hey, this isn't working, maybe we should scrap this character.' But the sunk cost fallacy gripped us too tightly, and we were going to get this character on screen if it killed us."
-Robert Goodwin, Chaos on the Bridge interview, 2014
In the end they whittled it down to three candidates. Jane Seymour, Joanna Cameron, and Jacqueline Pearce. These were each the most well liked of one of the producers. Roddenberry lobbied for Pearce, but he was far from sold on her. Justman worried about the sexuality to the Deltans he had worked to scrub out of her character would begin to creep back in with her. Seymour was also well liked, especially by Justman. But all felt her performance was too similar to that of the Vulcan logic. Cameron was the youngest and most inexperienced of the bunch, and yet had become the candidate of Robert Goodwin. Ultimately the two Brits were called to Los Angeles for in person auditions.
Following a string of auditions by all three, including chemistry tests with both Mark Hamill and Dirk Benedict, the producers were no closer to an answer. Cameron was found to be the weakest link, and it turned into a battle between Pearce and Seymour.
"Yeah, I was disappointed that Joanna wasn't cast as Ilia. I won't lie about that. But, well, at the time, I uh, I lacked the leverage I have now. Luckily, well luckily for me anyways, I have more control over the production of Star Trek now. So that happens less often now."
-Robert goodwin interview, 1978
Jacquelin Pearce Headshot, 1970s
Ultimately in July they threw in the towel, with Jacqueline Pearce cast as Lieutenant Ilia. In a compromise with Robert Justman, she was told to tune down the character's sensuality, and play her a bit more colder. And in compromise with Robert Goodwin, Joanna Cameron was cast in what was at the time planned to be a minor guest role. [9]
"Ultimately we decided we just had to stop searching and find the closest fit in the names we had. We cut it down to 20 names, then 10, then 5, then 3, then 2. We found our best bets were either Pearce or Seymour. Then it became a question of, well, do you want the one similar to Spock, or the one who has a more unique take on the character. Once we thought like that, the answer became obvious. And, well, in hindsight, I think we made the right call."
-Robert Goodwin, Chaos on the Bridge, 2014
Excerpts from the 2014 Documentary, Chaos on the Bridge
"How did your auditions go? Did you expect to be cast? What was your first impression of the producers?"
-William Shatner
"It's not really that unusual of a story. My agent found out about the role, and thought I could fit. I... I didn't think anything of it. As a struggling actor, you apply to all sorts of things without expecting a call back. I sent in my tape and moved onto searching for other gigs. Three weeks later, I had almost completely forgotten about the show when I got a call. The producers wanted a phone interview. That's when I knew this was something I might actually get."
"After the interview, they wanted me to go to Hollywood for more auditions. And after that, I assumed they had almost made up their mind. Yet almost a month later they hadn't given me a definitive yes or no. After almost a month of waiting I, uh, I just had to go back to the U.K. I just didn't have the money to stay. Another month later I assumed I had wasted a ton of my funds. That this on a role I was just never going to get cast, and if it was, they weren't picking me. Then, I don't know how much longer later, I just suddenly got a call that I had the part."
"Though I don't think the producers ever knew, I was really frustrated with them. If they had just made up their minds earlier, I would have spent less money and felt way less stress. I get it, it's hard to cast a role, but it shouldn't be that hard. Do you know how difficult was is to move across the Atlantic in two weeks?"
-Jacqueline Pearce
"Oh no, I never expected to get cast in a major show at that time. The biggest thing I had done at that point were soap commercials and soap operas. It was so surprising to me that I even became a finalist. It... it felt like an odd dream I was going to be snapped out of at any time."
"Truth be told, I felt like an imposter going up against Dirk. He seemed like the better candidate in almost every way. Yet when I won, he was happy for me. He gave me a lot of pointers in the early days that helped me inform my performance."
"I had pretty good impressions of the producers. I didn't really realize how bad things were until years later, a lot of it was kept from me. I just had this general sense of unease whenever I was on set though. And I could tell something was getting at Jacqueline, but she never explained how she felt until after the show ended."
-Hamill
[1] Initially, this chapter was going to have a wider focus. But sometimes when I am writing I go more in depth into one topic, and it winds up being lengthy enough to be a post of it's own. This whole chapter could be summed up in about 5 sentences. So I'd like to know whether you guys prefer briefer and more wide chapters, or longer and more narrow chapters.
[2] For some OTL clarity, Persis Khembetta wasn't working in America in 1975, and Stephen Collins only played the OTL Decker because he wanted to work with TMP's director Robert Wise
[3] I distinctly remember Walter Koenig saying this in an interview, but I can't for the life of me find where it was. So correct me if I am wrong here.
[4] I have no idea why, but the images of Hamill and Pearce refused to be centered without centering the paragraphs around them. If anyone knows a solution to this let me know, otherwise they'll just be weirdly in line.
[5] Though some part of me wanted Hamill to be in the role from the beginning of this TL's writing, I had no hard feelings on either casting. But this isn't just a case of allohistorical irony, I think Hamill would be a legitimate serious contender for the role. Benedict too. Were he to have a more youthful appearance at the time, I totally would have used Benedict.
[6] I actually initally planned to give this role to Jennifer O'Neill, but I had way less confidence in a pick for Ilia. So shot out to you guys for giving me a bunch of names to sort through, and if you have any questions on why someone wasn't picked you can ask. After I got the suggestions, what ruled me against picking her is that she, OTL, did no TV work until 1978. So at the time, it was probably too much of a step down for her to be on Phase II.
[7] As OTL. Both Troi and Ilia were played by non-Americans.
[8] I
also almost gave the role to Tricia O'Neill or Lynda Carter, but I found it too unrealistic to have major allohistorical allusions in the casting of both characters. Besides, neither had much work under their belt in 1975.
[9] Major shout out to GTStinger for introducing me to Jacqueline Pearce. She definitely seemed to be the biggest fit for the character out of all of the names mentioned.