Robert Picardo -- Best Male Trek Actor Next to Stewart

[lordbaltimore1]

Just my two cents. The Doctor was the best-acted male character in all of Star Trek next to only Jean-Luc Picard.

Picardo single-handedly took a "blank slate," backdrop kind of character and ran with it. Amazing accomplishment on his part, and it's awesome to watch the Doctor develop as the series goes on. He's better than Data and I believe they gave The Doctor a personality/emotions and not Data because Picardo had the acting chops to portray it.

Bar none, "Joe" grows more than any other Star Trek character over the life of a ST series.

Once Seven came along the two of them (Doc and 7) for all intents and purposes carried Voyager on their backs. Not that it would have failed without them but they kept it a "big league," "dinner table" sci-fi show because of their big-time acting talent.

 

[Melakon]

Robert Picardo is a gifted actor who does exceptionally well with light comedy. Not sure how he'd hold up as King Lear.

 

[R. Star]

Was the Kirk comment a typo? Because the thread says Stewart.

Anyways, I will agree that Picardo literally did carry Voyager and was a pleasure to watch. Even the terribly bad episodes of the first two seasons of Voyager, the Doctor managed to keep his scenes entertaining.

It's a shame Picard and the EMH never got a scene together, but I suspect our tv's and monitors would explode from the sheer awesomeness of that, so maybe it's a good thing.

 

[lordbaltimore1]

Robert Picardo is a gifted actor who does exceptionally well with light comedy. Not sure how he'd hold up as King Lear.

It's sometimes hard to remember but Picardo's Doctor was pretty darn cranky and gruff through most of Season 1, and he brought that personality back when he portrayed Zimmerman later on. I thought it was totally convincing.

Yes, Picardo seems the most at home with comedy as a person but I totally bought his dramatic side too. I never really bought Sisko having a lighter side -- though I appreciated that DS9 portrayed his hobbies like baseball and cooking, he even took his hobbies very seriously! Picard with a light side was convincing but he's still better as a serious guy in my book.

Plus, IMO doing comedy is much harder than doing drama most of the time.

 

[Avon]

i think they're both good proper actors and both had very good characters to work with. no one ever says 'i wonder who would've been a better choice of actor' about the characters like you could say about wang or beltran

 

[MacLeod]

Well he was definatly the best actor on VOY.

 

[Ryva Brall]

Picardo is definitely one of the best actors ever to play a regular Star Trek role. He's equally convincing during moments of pure hilarity as well as during very tense, serious scenes. "Tinker Tenor" is a perfect example of this. In one scene, he's showboating around the bridge and blowing up the Borg in his daydreams, and then in the next, he's hiding in Sickbay, thoroughly humiliated over the fact that his friends have been witness to his private fantasies. And in both scenes, he's completely believable.

Another great example of Picardo's acting range is the episode "Life Line". He plays the Doctor and Lewis Zimmerman as two distinctly different people: similar, but with enough subtle differences in personality that you easily forget that you're watching ONE actor play TWO people. Even their voices are slightly different; Zimmerman's voice is more dry and informal, and more "organic", while the Doc has a more precise way of talking, but also has more warmth in his voice.

Yeah, Picardo's got serious acting chops. He's my favorite male Trek actor, along with Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Rene Auberjonois, and Andrew Robinson.

 

[lordbaltimore1]

It's a shame Picard and the EMH never got a scene together, but I suspect our tv's and monitors would explode from the sheer awesomeness of that, so maybe it's a good thing.

LOL. Just as awesome would have been to put Kira and Ro in the same scene. Or Kira and Seven.

 

[Ryva Brall]

Kira and Seven in the same scene? I could die happy.

You are my new best friend.

 

[R. Star]

It's a shame Picard and the EMH never got a scene together, but I suspect our tv's and monitors would explode from the sheer awesomeness of that, so maybe it's a good thing.

LOL. Just as awesome would have been to put Kira and Ro in the same scene. Or Kira and Seven.

Read Avatar by S.D. Perry. It's a DS9/TNG crossover novel set immediately after DS9 ends, though it focuses mainly on DS9. Ro and Kira.... don't get along much at all but it's entertaining to watch how they react to each other.

 

[Melakon]

It would have been interesting to see Picardo's audition for Neelix, which originally he was aiming for. Maybe a video will turn up someday.

 

[BillJ]

Shatner, Stewart, Spiner and Nimoy just existed on a different level from every other actor to put on a Trek spacesuit.

 

[Ryva Brall]

Actually, I'd say Picardo is a far better actor than Shatner or Nimoy. Just because they played iconic characters doesn't make them better actors.

*dodges flying vegetables*

 

[BillJ]

Actually, I'd say Picardo is a far better actor than Shatner or Nimoy. Just because they played iconic characters doesn't make them better actors.

*dodges flying vegetables*

You can debate quality.

But in the case of Shatner, being the star of four different TV series over the course of a fifty year period should count for something.

 

[Ryva Brall]

True... but sheer number of acting jobs doesn't necessarily guarantee quality, either. Adam Sandler is a terrible actor, and he seems to get plenty of work.

I'm not bashing Shatner. I love him as Kirk. I just don't think he's a stellar actor.

 

[BillJ]

I just don't think he's a stellar actor.

I think he is. He's an incredibly versatile actor that can shine in many different types of parts.

 

[Melakon]

The definition of realism in acting has changed through the years. Even before Star Trek, Shatner could appear natural and believable with the right part. He's had to continually tweak his performance style in the last 50 years, but remained popular.

 

[R. Star]

Actually, I'd say Picardo is a far better actor than Shatner or Nimoy. Just because they played iconic characters doesn't make them better actors.

*dodges flying vegetables*

Agreed!

 

[Ryva Brall]

I knew I liked you.

Now, would you like an umbrella to deflect any projectile vegetation?

 

[R. Star]

I knew I liked you.

Now, would you like an umbrella to deflect any projectile vegetation?

Hehe, I think we're safe here. The umbrella might've been useful in that Tuvix thread though!