Like the Seymour pick but I like Richard Dean Anderson more for Decker.
Onto the Next Phase - A Star Trek Production Timeline
- Thread starter Mechadogzilla
- Start date
Thanks for all of the suggestions guys! I'll look back over all of these and reconsider who would be most likely to be cast in the role. This is useful info, as I'm not a 70s-TV-Actors aficionado.
If you need a pic for this here you go:
The image seems to be broken, but I would happily take it.
Oh yeah totally, being connected so heavily to a toyline is going to cause ripple effects like that. But a ground vehicle? Did other shows of the era have one? It seems very expensive.
Next update should go up today or tomorrow! And I've charted out a rough course for this timeline until update 35.
They're also models. UFO was made by Gerry Anderson of the puppets shows fame and he mostly just redeployed his model effects techniques while switching to live actors. YMMV on how well it all fits together without the puppets though.
Chapter 6: Chaos on the Bridge, Part I
Chaos on the Bridge
Part 1
Except from the 2014 Documentary 'Chaos on the Bridge'
"The story of your removal and subsequent second casting is well known. But what can you say about it's impact on Star Trek II's production?"
- William Shatner
"Well, I certainly grew an additional level of admiration for my co-stars. That's for sure. After that, we became a closer knit group than before. But... unfortunately, I think that incident only contributed to inflaming the already tense working environment. Certain actors... felt more bold... to... erm... attempt similar stunts..."
*Nimoy coughs.* "And, well, because of the whole incident Roddenberry lost a lot of respect for the cast. Especially me. I think he felt I was a symbol of the show's messy production. At the time, I blamed him for the show's faults. But in retrospect, many of us share part of the blame. And well, many of the other factors were simply out of any of our hands. I think... I think he was just a man under an immense amount of pressure who did the best he could in the situation, and who made some honest mistakes. Sorry, I kind of got away from the question, didn't I?"
- Leonard Nimoy
March, 1975
Early Morning
Local Café
Los Angeles
George Takei sat down at a quiet coffee shop in Hollywood. He took a sip of his coffee, then turned to look out around. The place was a small hole in the wall shop, with only a short counter and a few tables. The wood paneling gave it a modern aesthetic, but it made the room feel like a cabin to him. Out the window, a few passerby walked down the street, and cars slowly pushed themselves through the congested traffic. All in all, it was a typical day in Los Angeles.
"I'm sorry to bother you mister..." a young voice said behind him. George turned his head to respond, and he found a child eagerly looking up to him. He couldn't have been older than 10. "But are you Mister Sulu?" George couldn't help but smile. It wasn't often he was recognized. Though it was happening with more frequency in recent days.
"Yes, that's me. Are you a fan of Star Trek?"
"Am I!" The kid's face lit up. "Mr. Sulu is my favorite character! I've seen all of your shows, all of the cartoons, I even have the comics! I can't wait for your show to come back!" There were Star Trek comics now? He thought, surprised. The boy's mother stepped out of the line and apologized for her son's behavior. She attempted to shoo him back.
"It's no trouble." He told her. It really wasn't. It filled him with such pride to see Star Trek get the reputation it deserved after all these years, and he was more than happy to play hero. It felt good to be a role model to the next generation. After answering a few questions and signing the boy's favorite comic, the two were on their way.
About 15 minutes later, Walter Koenig stepped into the shop. This was the reason for his visit to the café. He ordered a coffee, then looked around the room. George raised his hand, and his friend approached. Walter had seen better days. He was wearing a shabby brown coat, and he clearly needed a haircut. Everyone in Star Trek had struggled after the series ended, the supporting cast most of all. It set his mind to ease they were all going to receive a revival. At the very least they would receive pay for 13 more episodes. And hopefully more.
"Hey George!" Walter sat down and smiled.
"Hey Walt." He responded. "So, what did you need to talk about so badly?"
Suddenly, his friend's face grew much more serious. He knew Walt well enough to see the anxiety underneath the stony façade. "Okay, so, I just need you to hear me out."
"Of course." He tried to be reassuring. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." What could have struck such a chord with him?
"Okay, so..." Walt let out a deep breath. "You know how Leonard and the studio were in some tense negotiations?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, he was axed from the project last week."
"Oh..." That surprised him. Who could be so foolhardy as to approve a Star Trek sequel without it's most iconic character? "That's a shame. I don't know how well will do without him. But ultimately, what are we going to do about it? I've heard he's had quite the falling out with Gene."
Walter nodded. "That's just it. Star Trek can't work without Mr. Spock. If we want this show to be successful, we need him back on. We, as in, well, we the actors... we need to stage a walkout. We walk unless-"
"-WHAT!" Walter recoiled at his outburst. "Walter, you know as well as I we've all struggled. I-no, We need this money. You want me to jump off the bridge just because Leonard did? We rock the boat, the studio will cut us. Without hesitation. They might negotiate with Leonard, but not us."
Walter took a minute to collect himself. "But, but, think about it. None of the contracts are finalized. If enough of us say we're backing out unless Nimoy comes back, then-"
"Walter, we can't-" he attempted to butt in.
"-No, please, let me speak." George held his tongue. "He threw his neck out to save you, me, and Nichelle on the animated show. He saw us being thrown to the wolves, and he decided to risk himself to save us. And don't tell me you don't feel like you owe him."
George sighed. He hated to admit it, but he had a good point.
"Plus, I know you have problems with Bill. We all do. He hogs the spotlight like nothing else. But Leonard balanced him out. Without him, it will be The William Shatner Show and you know it. Besides, you think this show will do well enough to be picked up for another season without Spock? If we go through with this, it's more likely the show will be picked up for more seasons, which means more money for us."
"Or we're out of a job and get nothing."
"Or that."
He sighed again. "Has anyone else agreed?"
"Nichelle will do it if you will."
"I-"
"Please. At least do it for-"
Oh, I am going to regret this. "-All right, all, right, fine. I'll think about it."
Walt's face lit up with a huge grin. He could tell part of a load was lifted off of his shoulders. He felt guilty now, contributing to something that was so clearly stressing his friend out. "Great! That's all I wanted. I think, with the three of us involved, DeForest and Jimmy will be willing to hear us out. And if all five of us work together, there's no way they can say no. They don't have the time to recast everybody but Kirk."
The Next Monday
Paramount Offices
Hollywood
Gene Roddenberry yawned as he tapped his fingers on the conference room's table. He had received an odd request. Five of the supporting actors had an urgent request to meet with the producers. He had obliged, but found this request cryptic. What they wanted, why they wanted to meet together, and why it was so urgent, he had no answer for. But they were more than half of his cast, so he basically had to hear them out.
In addition to himself, several of the other producers were in the room. Bob Justman, the studio planted 'producer' Robert Goodwin, and his new protégé John Povill. They sat on one side of the conference table, 5 chairs left open for the actors on the other side. It was at times like this he missed Gene Coon and Dorothy.
Only contracts for the movie, The Endless Voyage had been signed. The ones for the show hadn't been yet, the actors did possess a fair bit of leverage. So, Gene sat in a conference room in the Paramount Offices, waiting for them to show up so he could hear out whatever they wanted. He was just so stressed trying to revive the show. With two of his most important producers missing, more studio pressure and meddling, and so much more riding on the show's success, it was far harder than last time. If that wasn't bad enough, Shatner was causing problems by being Shatner. The popularity of the series had only allowed his ego to expand. And most recently Nimoy decided he was just too good for the series.
At this rate, it would be a miracle if anything he wanted came on screen. And a larger miracle if this show was even as popular as the last one.
"So what do we think this is about?" He asked. He already had a hunch, but focusing on conversation would distract him from his worries.
"My guess is pay." Povill said. "What else could they want but more money? Maybe-" he smiled "-Maybe Chekov has another bad script to pitch me."
"You're right, it probably is pay." Gene nodded.
"I-I think we should hear them out" Goodwin said. "They might have something legitimately helpful to add to the show."
Gene rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, sure. If you believe that, I have some luxurious oceanfront property in Oklahoma to sell you. Whatever this meeting is, it's trouble."
"Gene, come on. Don't be like that." Justman seemed legitimately upset at how he was treating Goodwin. Maybe he was being too harsh. Just as he was about to defend himself, the actors stepped in.
All five of them came in as a group. Kelly, Koenig, Nicholes, Doohan, and Takei. They had somber looks on their faces, and they avoided eye contact. They didn't sit, instead the group stood against the wall opposite the producers, heads low. Kelly and Koenig stepped up to the front of the group. No one was speaking, they were quiet as mice. It didn't take a genius to read the room.
Oh no. This is bad.
"Please, sit, " Goodwin offered.
"This will be brief, I think we'll stand." Walter spoke up. Gene was surprised to see him as a leader in something like this. He thought the man was more mild-mannered than this.
DeForest cleared his throat. "I, DeForest Kelly, along with my co-stars here, have a single demand of the producers. If it is not met, we will be forced to step out of this project. We-"
"-Demand!" Gene scoffed. Who did they think they were? They were paid to say lines and not cause trouble. They couldn't demand things out of the production staff. They couldn't threaten to pull out of a project because they disliked some small part about it. This was ridiculous.
"We can work this out. What is your..." Justman glanced at him. "...What do you desire?" He was trying to be civil.
Gene could take a guess what this was about. Before anyone else could speak, he attempted to end this conversation. "Listen, if this is about pay, we can't go any higher. I swear, we're cash strapped as it is, please don't as-"
"-It's not about pay!" Walter snapped. There was an unexpected level of frustrating to his voice. A moment of dead air hung as everyone collected themselves. "It's about casting. We won't do the show unless you recast Leonard Nimoy as a series regular."
"You-you can't be serious."
"I'm afraid we are." DeForest put five papers on the table. They were letters of resignation for all of them. And as swiftly as they came in, the actors began to shuffle out.
"B-But-you can't just leave. We can discuss this." Justman tried again. It was a futile effort.
"It's simple. Either we're all in, or we're all out. Let us know by the end of the week what your decision is." Nichelle said. And just like that, they were gone.
Roddenberry turned to his co-producers with an alarmed expression.
John Povill summed up his feelings with a single word.
"Fuck."
Two Days Later
Leonard Nimoy returned home late at night. He had spent the past several weeks auditioning for just about every role he could find. With little success. He was typecast as Spock. No one could see past those damned pointed ears. He was seriously considering a career change, as it seemed like he would never find acting work again. While making dinner, Leonard listened to his messages. The most notable one was from his agent.
"Hey Lenoard! Hope you're doing well. Uhm, Paramount called me. They want you back in Star Trek. I know, I know, you said you weren't coming back. But... I think we might want to reopen talks. They say most of your co-stars from the show threatened to back out unless they brought you back. So, well, Paramount is willing to bend quite a bit more, as they can't recast half the show! And uh, well, they clearly like you a lot over there. So, think it over, but we need to respond soon."
And just like that, Leonard Nimoy was brought back onto the project. He was once again billed as a co-star, with almost as much pay and arguably more prominence than Kirk.
TL;DR: Spock was kicked out of Phase II like OTL. Walter Koenig manages to rally DeForest Kelly and the 4 supporting actors to essentially strike unless he's brought back. And with only weeks before filming starts, Roddenberry and the studio cave.
And such concludes my second first-person chapter. To explain what happened here, OTL Leonard Nimoy was dropped out of Phase II. There were a series of disputes between him and the studio about licensing money from Spock merchandise. Since Roddenberry had chosen not to support him, they were not on great terms. This lead to him only being offered a role in two out of every 11 episodes of the show. When he declined this, two new characters were created to fill his void. The 20 year old Lt. Xon was the Vulcan science officer, and the proto-Will Riker Will Decker served as the ship's first officer.
Here, there are several changes that lead to Spock being brought back for Phase II. The biggest one ties directly to the POD. Walter Koenig and co. feel indebted to him for sticking his neck out for them on TAA. Koenig especially, as he was the most superfluous one, so he puts this whole scheme together. And considering how much of a success TAA is here, it's much more present in George Takei and Nichelle Nichole's mind. The other change that lets this happen is that Phase II is happening years earlier, where Roddenberry and the studio are less burnt out and more willing to negotiate. In addition, the amount of Spock related merchandise being sold is high, so that only encourages a settlement.
Sorry about the delay, I wound up writing 4 different drafts for this chapter. My initial plan was a series of first-person vignettes about some of the fights and disputes behind the scenes. But I found that a really clunky read, I was basically just giving exposition in the style of people arguing with each other. Which, to be honest, kind happens here too. Then I tried to run down the different behind the scenes fight in third person like usual, but it dry and off-putting to do so. So after a few rewrites, I decided to cut down the idea, and instead of covering every behind the scenes dispute just focus on one topic. In this case the casting of Spock. I think it turned out okay, I don't have great first person prose, but I found it was better than just describing the events in third person.
Next update will be sometime soon(TM). I have plenty of drafts for the next chapter, I just have to edit them together into something presentable.
Part 1
Except from the 2014 Documentary 'Chaos on the Bridge'
"The story of your removal and subsequent second casting is well known. But what can you say about it's impact on Star Trek II's production?"
- William Shatner
"Well, I certainly grew an additional level of admiration for my co-stars. That's for sure. After that, we became a closer knit group than before. But... unfortunately, I think that incident only contributed to inflaming the already tense working environment. Certain actors... felt more bold... to... erm... attempt similar stunts..."
*Nimoy coughs.* "And, well, because of the whole incident Roddenberry lost a lot of respect for the cast. Especially me. I think he felt I was a symbol of the show's messy production. At the time, I blamed him for the show's faults. But in retrospect, many of us share part of the blame. And well, many of the other factors were simply out of any of our hands. I think... I think he was just a man under an immense amount of pressure who did the best he could in the situation, and who made some honest mistakes. Sorry, I kind of got away from the question, didn't I?"
- Leonard Nimoy
March, 1975
Early Morning
Local Café
Los Angeles
George Takei sat down at a quiet coffee shop in Hollywood. He took a sip of his coffee, then turned to look out around. The place was a small hole in the wall shop, with only a short counter and a few tables. The wood paneling gave it a modern aesthetic, but it made the room feel like a cabin to him. Out the window, a few passerby walked down the street, and cars slowly pushed themselves through the congested traffic. All in all, it was a typical day in Los Angeles.
"I'm sorry to bother you mister..." a young voice said behind him. George turned his head to respond, and he found a child eagerly looking up to him. He couldn't have been older than 10. "But are you Mister Sulu?" George couldn't help but smile. It wasn't often he was recognized. Though it was happening with more frequency in recent days.
"Yes, that's me. Are you a fan of Star Trek?"
"Am I!" The kid's face lit up. "Mr. Sulu is my favorite character! I've seen all of your shows, all of the cartoons, I even have the comics! I can't wait for your show to come back!" There were Star Trek comics now? He thought, surprised. The boy's mother stepped out of the line and apologized for her son's behavior. She attempted to shoo him back.
"It's no trouble." He told her. It really wasn't. It filled him with such pride to see Star Trek get the reputation it deserved after all these years, and he was more than happy to play hero. It felt good to be a role model to the next generation. After answering a few questions and signing the boy's favorite comic, the two were on their way.
About 15 minutes later, Walter Koenig stepped into the shop. This was the reason for his visit to the café. He ordered a coffee, then looked around the room. George raised his hand, and his friend approached. Walter had seen better days. He was wearing a shabby brown coat, and he clearly needed a haircut. Everyone in Star Trek had struggled after the series ended, the supporting cast most of all. It set his mind to ease they were all going to receive a revival. At the very least they would receive pay for 13 more episodes. And hopefully more.
"Hey George!" Walter sat down and smiled.
"Hey Walt." He responded. "So, what did you need to talk about so badly?"
Suddenly, his friend's face grew much more serious. He knew Walt well enough to see the anxiety underneath the stony façade. "Okay, so, I just need you to hear me out."
"Of course." He tried to be reassuring. "Whatever it is, you can tell me." What could have struck such a chord with him?
"Okay, so..." Walt let out a deep breath. "You know how Leonard and the studio were in some tense negotiations?"
"Yeah?"
"Well, he was axed from the project last week."
"Oh..." That surprised him. Who could be so foolhardy as to approve a Star Trek sequel without it's most iconic character? "That's a shame. I don't know how well will do without him. But ultimately, what are we going to do about it? I've heard he's had quite the falling out with Gene."
Walter nodded. "That's just it. Star Trek can't work without Mr. Spock. If we want this show to be successful, we need him back on. We, as in, well, we the actors... we need to stage a walkout. We walk unless-"
"-WHAT!" Walter recoiled at his outburst. "Walter, you know as well as I we've all struggled. I-no, We need this money. You want me to jump off the bridge just because Leonard did? We rock the boat, the studio will cut us. Without hesitation. They might negotiate with Leonard, but not us."
Walter took a minute to collect himself. "But, but, think about it. None of the contracts are finalized. If enough of us say we're backing out unless Nimoy comes back, then-"
"Walter, we can't-" he attempted to butt in.
"-No, please, let me speak." George held his tongue. "He threw his neck out to save you, me, and Nichelle on the animated show. He saw us being thrown to the wolves, and he decided to risk himself to save us. And don't tell me you don't feel like you owe him."
George sighed. He hated to admit it, but he had a good point.
"Plus, I know you have problems with Bill. We all do. He hogs the spotlight like nothing else. But Leonard balanced him out. Without him, it will be The William Shatner Show and you know it. Besides, you think this show will do well enough to be picked up for another season without Spock? If we go through with this, it's more likely the show will be picked up for more seasons, which means more money for us."
"Or we're out of a job and get nothing."
"Or that."
He sighed again. "Has anyone else agreed?"
"Nichelle will do it if you will."
"I-"
"Please. At least do it for-"
Oh, I am going to regret this. "-All right, all, right, fine. I'll think about it."
Walt's face lit up with a huge grin. He could tell part of a load was lifted off of his shoulders. He felt guilty now, contributing to something that was so clearly stressing his friend out. "Great! That's all I wanted. I think, with the three of us involved, DeForest and Jimmy will be willing to hear us out. And if all five of us work together, there's no way they can say no. They don't have the time to recast everybody but Kirk."
The Next Monday
Paramount Offices
Hollywood
Gene Roddenberry yawned as he tapped his fingers on the conference room's table. He had received an odd request. Five of the supporting actors had an urgent request to meet with the producers. He had obliged, but found this request cryptic. What they wanted, why they wanted to meet together, and why it was so urgent, he had no answer for. But they were more than half of his cast, so he basically had to hear them out.
In addition to himself, several of the other producers were in the room. Bob Justman, the studio planted 'producer' Robert Goodwin, and his new protégé John Povill. They sat on one side of the conference table, 5 chairs left open for the actors on the other side. It was at times like this he missed Gene Coon and Dorothy.
Only contracts for the movie, The Endless Voyage had been signed. The ones for the show hadn't been yet, the actors did possess a fair bit of leverage. So, Gene sat in a conference room in the Paramount Offices, waiting for them to show up so he could hear out whatever they wanted. He was just so stressed trying to revive the show. With two of his most important producers missing, more studio pressure and meddling, and so much more riding on the show's success, it was far harder than last time. If that wasn't bad enough, Shatner was causing problems by being Shatner. The popularity of the series had only allowed his ego to expand. And most recently Nimoy decided he was just too good for the series.
At this rate, it would be a miracle if anything he wanted came on screen. And a larger miracle if this show was even as popular as the last one.
"So what do we think this is about?" He asked. He already had a hunch, but focusing on conversation would distract him from his worries.
"My guess is pay." Povill said. "What else could they want but more money? Maybe-" he smiled "-Maybe Chekov has another bad script to pitch me."
"You're right, it probably is pay." Gene nodded.
"I-I think we should hear them out" Goodwin said. "They might have something legitimately helpful to add to the show."
Gene rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, sure. If you believe that, I have some luxurious oceanfront property in Oklahoma to sell you. Whatever this meeting is, it's trouble."
"Gene, come on. Don't be like that." Justman seemed legitimately upset at how he was treating Goodwin. Maybe he was being too harsh. Just as he was about to defend himself, the actors stepped in.
All five of them came in as a group. Kelly, Koenig, Nicholes, Doohan, and Takei. They had somber looks on their faces, and they avoided eye contact. They didn't sit, instead the group stood against the wall opposite the producers, heads low. Kelly and Koenig stepped up to the front of the group. No one was speaking, they were quiet as mice. It didn't take a genius to read the room.
Oh no. This is bad.
"Please, sit, " Goodwin offered.
"This will be brief, I think we'll stand." Walter spoke up. Gene was surprised to see him as a leader in something like this. He thought the man was more mild-mannered than this.
DeForest cleared his throat. "I, DeForest Kelly, along with my co-stars here, have a single demand of the producers. If it is not met, we will be forced to step out of this project. We-"
"-Demand!" Gene scoffed. Who did they think they were? They were paid to say lines and not cause trouble. They couldn't demand things out of the production staff. They couldn't threaten to pull out of a project because they disliked some small part about it. This was ridiculous.
"We can work this out. What is your..." Justman glanced at him. "...What do you desire?" He was trying to be civil.
Gene could take a guess what this was about. Before anyone else could speak, he attempted to end this conversation. "Listen, if this is about pay, we can't go any higher. I swear, we're cash strapped as it is, please don't as-"
"-It's not about pay!" Walter snapped. There was an unexpected level of frustrating to his voice. A moment of dead air hung as everyone collected themselves. "It's about casting. We won't do the show unless you recast Leonard Nimoy as a series regular."
"You-you can't be serious."
"I'm afraid we are." DeForest put five papers on the table. They were letters of resignation for all of them. And as swiftly as they came in, the actors began to shuffle out.
"B-But-you can't just leave. We can discuss this." Justman tried again. It was a futile effort.
"It's simple. Either we're all in, or we're all out. Let us know by the end of the week what your decision is." Nichelle said. And just like that, they were gone.
Roddenberry turned to his co-producers with an alarmed expression.
John Povill summed up his feelings with a single word.
"Fuck."
Two Days Later
Leonard Nimoy returned home late at night. He had spent the past several weeks auditioning for just about every role he could find. With little success. He was typecast as Spock. No one could see past those damned pointed ears. He was seriously considering a career change, as it seemed like he would never find acting work again. While making dinner, Leonard listened to his messages. The most notable one was from his agent.
"Hey Lenoard! Hope you're doing well. Uhm, Paramount called me. They want you back in Star Trek. I know, I know, you said you weren't coming back. But... I think we might want to reopen talks. They say most of your co-stars from the show threatened to back out unless they brought you back. So, well, Paramount is willing to bend quite a bit more, as they can't recast half the show! And uh, well, they clearly like you a lot over there. So, think it over, but we need to respond soon."
And just like that, Leonard Nimoy was brought back onto the project. He was once again billed as a co-star, with almost as much pay and arguably more prominence than Kirk.
TL;DR: Spock was kicked out of Phase II like OTL. Walter Koenig manages to rally DeForest Kelly and the 4 supporting actors to essentially strike unless he's brought back. And with only weeks before filming starts, Roddenberry and the studio cave.
And such concludes my second first-person chapter. To explain what happened here, OTL Leonard Nimoy was dropped out of Phase II. There were a series of disputes between him and the studio about licensing money from Spock merchandise. Since Roddenberry had chosen not to support him, they were not on great terms. This lead to him only being offered a role in two out of every 11 episodes of the show. When he declined this, two new characters were created to fill his void. The 20 year old Lt. Xon was the Vulcan science officer, and the proto-Will Riker Will Decker served as the ship's first officer.
Here, there are several changes that lead to Spock being brought back for Phase II. The biggest one ties directly to the POD. Walter Koenig and co. feel indebted to him for sticking his neck out for them on TAA. Koenig especially, as he was the most superfluous one, so he puts this whole scheme together. And considering how much of a success TAA is here, it's much more present in George Takei and Nichelle Nichole's mind. The other change that lets this happen is that Phase II is happening years earlier, where Roddenberry and the studio are less burnt out and more willing to negotiate. In addition, the amount of Spock related merchandise being sold is high, so that only encourages a settlement.
Sorry about the delay, I wound up writing 4 different drafts for this chapter. My initial plan was a series of first-person vignettes about some of the fights and disputes behind the scenes. But I found that a really clunky read, I was basically just giving exposition in the style of people arguing with each other. Which, to be honest, kind happens here too. Then I tried to run down the different behind the scenes fight in third person like usual, but it dry and off-putting to do so. So after a few rewrites, I decided to cut down the idea, and instead of covering every behind the scenes dispute just focus on one topic. In this case the casting of Spock. I think it turned out okay, I don't have great first person prose, but I found it was better than just describing the events in third person.
Next update will be sometime soon(TM). I have plenty of drafts for the next chapter, I just have to edit them together into something presentable.
Last edited:
Chapter 7: Chaos on the Bridge, part II
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.
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 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.
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Star Trek II sounds like it is shaping up to be a rough production - hopefully things get smoother as time goes on.
BSG still happens then - cool.
As does Wonder Woman, which is also cool.
Robert Goodwin controls Trek in 1978? Hum.. looking forward to seeing how that happens.
I like this format. Getting into the depth of things is sometimes more interesting than a one line, '1974: Mark Hammil and Jacqueline Pearce cast' imho
BSG still happens then - cool.
As does Wonder Woman, which is also cool.
Robert Goodwin controls Trek in 1978? Hum.. looking forward to seeing how that happens.
I like this format. Getting into the depth of things is sometimes more interesting than a one line, '1974: Mark Hammil and Jacqueline Pearce cast' imho
Luke Skywalker, Captain Kirk and Servalan on the same show? My only response is this:
