Behind the Scenes of DS9
- Thread starter Komack
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The DS9 Companion is about as in-depth as you can get.
First hand from a member of the Voyager cast -
Voyager had a fairly upbeat atmosphere on set - cast 'hung out' off screen and enjoyed each others company. The cast member in question decided to visit the DS9 set on the neighbouring lot but found the staff and cast to be rather unwelcoming, keeping themselves to themselves and very little in the way of on set bonhomie. In fact he found them a thoroughly miserable bunch.
On the way back over to the Voyager lot, he met someone from the DS9 production team he knew looking agitated. When he asked what was up, he was told that someone on the DS9 crew had died in an accident on the way to work. When the Voyager cast member commented that it was no wonder the DS9 set was so miserable, he was told 'Oh, they don't know - I just was on the way to tell them !'.
Voyager had a fairly upbeat atmosphere on set - cast 'hung out' off screen and enjoyed each others company. The cast member in question decided to visit the DS9 set on the neighbouring lot but found the staff and cast to be rather unwelcoming, keeping themselves to themselves and very little in the way of on set bonhomie. In fact he found them a thoroughly miserable bunch.
On the way back over to the Voyager lot, he met someone from the DS9 production team he knew looking agitated. When he asked what was up, he was told that someone on the DS9 crew had died in an accident on the way to work. When the Voyager cast member commented that it was no wonder the DS9 set was so miserable, he was told 'Oh, they don't know - I just was on the way to tell them !'.
Agreed, though many of it's insights have been culled by the Memory Alpha wiki and two podcasts, The Gamma Quadrant and the Orb. You can get a lot by checking those out.
What's to be lost by naming them?
I don't know - these guys see each other on the convention circuit regularly, and as it was just a private chat between the two of us rather than 'in public', I'd rather not cause any awkwardness, so I'll err on the side of caution.
If anyone else has heard the same repeated in front of an audience, I'll confirm.
If true, my money is on McNeill. He would be the one to be both familiar with the studio and have the impetus to see what goes on behind the scenes.
Garrett Wang told a very different story in a long podcast I listened to a while ago. He said the Voyager set wasn't that great. Specially Mulgrew was really a pain when Jeri Ryan showed up.
My point being: Take these stories with a grain of salt.
I also recommend listening to some of Chase Masterson's old podcasts from thefandom.com. She interviewed several members of the DS9 cast as well as others - and quite frankly, did a very good job at it. I was sorry to see it go. You can access them here:
http://www.chaseclub.com/thefandom.html
http://www.chaseclub.com/thefandom.html
Thanks very much for the link, bbailey861. I've never come across those interviews before, but the Denise Crosby one was excellent. I definitely be listening to most of the others.
Thanks very much for the link, bbailey861. I've never come across those interviews before, but the Denise Crosby one was excellent. I definitely be listening to most of the others.
I listened to them when they were originally broadcast and haven't listened since. I remember them fondly - but not the details. It's time I go back.
DS9 cast members such as Michael Dorn, Armin Shimmerman and Nana Visitor have all commented in the past that the DS9 set WAS a much more subdued, 'serious' place. They took the work seriously, and tended not to have fun and hijinx akin to the TNG cast. They were also not all "best mates" like the TNG cast (Armin talks specifically about Avery Brooks being quite distant from most of the others on a personal level) but were always cordial to each other.
Now, that is not to say there was something "wrong" with the DS9 set - it's just a different way of working. As many of them came from theatre backgrounds, it's easy to understand this. In fact, you could argue they had the right approach! (Marina Sirtis often gleefully talks about an early TNG director who refused to come back on the show because the cast were so silly; now, she says it as a good thing, but from the other perspective, maybe the director felt they were unprofessional and ruining whatever he was trying to achieve).
As for not being best mates, well, I work with lots of people, and I wouldn't hang out with most of them - I don't have anything against them, but there's no law that says people you work with must also be close friends. That's not to say some strong relationships didn't develop amongst the ensemble - Brooks/Lofton, Siddig/Robinson, Siddig/Visitor (obiously).
Dave Rossi, who worked behind the scenes, has also gone on record (in the UK Star Trek Monthly magazine back in 2006) stating that the behind the scenes atmosphere on the show circa season 2-3 was very low. They felt overshadowed by TNG and VOY and many of the cast were fed up.
I rather suspect most of the behind the scenes of TV series are a mixture of good, bad and ugly!!
Now, that is not to say there was something "wrong" with the DS9 set - it's just a different way of working. As many of them came from theatre backgrounds, it's easy to understand this. In fact, you could argue they had the right approach! (Marina Sirtis often gleefully talks about an early TNG director who refused to come back on the show because the cast were so silly; now, she says it as a good thing, but from the other perspective, maybe the director felt they were unprofessional and ruining whatever he was trying to achieve).
As for not being best mates, well, I work with lots of people, and I wouldn't hang out with most of them - I don't have anything against them, but there's no law that says people you work with must also be close friends. That's not to say some strong relationships didn't develop amongst the ensemble - Brooks/Lofton, Siddig/Robinson, Siddig/Visitor (obiously).
Dave Rossi, who worked behind the scenes, has also gone on record (in the UK Star Trek Monthly magazine back in 2006) stating that the behind the scenes atmosphere on the show circa season 2-3 was very low. They felt overshadowed by TNG and VOY and many of the cast were fed up.
I rather suspect most of the behind the scenes of TV series are a mixture of good, bad and ugly!!
My impression of the moods on the respective sets of each Trek series, gleaned from entirely second-hand sources, is that the TNG set was a family atmosphere, the DS9 set a subdued professional atmosphere, and the VOY set one of almost outright hostility.
Beltran made it sound like the Voyager cast loathed one another. I can't imagine DS9 could be worse, given the great chemistry they had on screen.
Edit: And I recognize part of this may stem from the fact that Beltran is more wooden than Pinocchio and probably felt sorry for himse, what with being the crappiest actor on set.
Edit: And I recognize part of this may stem from the fact that Beltran is more wooden than Pinocchio and probably felt sorry for himse, what with being the crappiest actor on set.
It wasn't only Beltran who painted that picture.
Yeah that always seemed like an unfair characterization of the DS9 set to me. Just because the TNG set was so supremely silly, and people were constantly joking and clowning around, doesn't mean everyone else was doing something wrong. It's likely the DS9 cast simply took their jobs a bit more seriously, is all.
And it's not like there isn't plenty of behind the scenes footage of the DS9 cast (Brooks included) laughing and joking around with each other as well.
And it's not like there isn't plenty of behind the scenes footage of the DS9 cast (Brooks included) laughing and joking around with each other as well.
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