Friday’s Star Trek convention in Las Vegas was mostly themed around Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Series regulars Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois and Armin Shimerman were on hand, along with a number of DS9 recurring guest stars. They talked about their roles on the show and more, including Brooks’ comment on a possible future DS9 or appearance in the Star Trek sequel. Details and photos below.
Avery Brooks sings, waxes philosophically & kind of talks about Star Trek
Friday was all about Star Trek Deep Space Nine and the headliner of the day was The Sisko himself, Avery Brooks. The actor began his appearance in his usual style by telling the audience "You are the power and glory of this moment". Brooks announced he has a new album out, which is available to buy at the convention and then sat down at a piano brought on stage for him to play a little jazz piano. The actor then talked about current projects, including saying he has been doing a lot of stage work, while "waiting to see you again".
Avery Brooks at Star Trek Las Vegas Convention
For his Q&A, Brooks took the unusual step of bringing each questioner onto the stage, often giving them hugs, much to the delight of the fans. There was not actually a lot of talk about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and even when there was, Brook’s style often is a bit obtuse, like when asked if there were a Deep Space Nine movie would he be interested in playing Sisko again, he answers "If they asked me, who else would I play?" TrekMovie’s own James Trowbridge (our Kid’s correspondent) was one of those brought on stage, which launched Brooks into talking about how his fondest memories of DS9 were watching Cirroc Lofton (Jake Sisko) grow up during the show.
Brooks with James on stage in Vegas
Brook’s wild tangents sometimes even got him to stop and see if the crowd was still with him, saying "are you following me? Are you with me?" The actor was asked if he would be interested in appearing the next JJ Abrams Star Trek movie, and he noted "I’m getting old, they better hurry up!" Brooks finished off with another song, and that was that for the former Sisko.
Brooks with fan (with Glommer on his head)
Darren, Shimerman, Auberjonois Eisenberg + Visitor talk DS9 & Warehouse 13
There was also a DS9 "Promenade panel" with James Darren, Armin Shimerman, Rene Auberjonois, Nana Visitor and Aron Eisenberg. Rene opened up by saying that Armin was the "heart heart of the Promenade thus heart of the community" on Deep Space Nine, with Quark’s bar as the saloon and he (Odo) was the Sherriff. However, Armin noted that he always thought that Quark was "an outsider" and that was important to his role on the series.
DS9 "promenade panel" at Star Trek con
The group displayed excellent chemistry on stage, and talked about how close-knit they were on stage. Darren talked about how he was reluctant at first to appear but that quickly was dismissed when he saw the script. Auberjonois said that as he was the one that worked most with Darren in his first episode he became jealous when Darren returned but worked with others, joking "you were mine."
Auberjonois also talked about his recent appearance on Warehouse 13, noting "I looked so old!". He said that he does not expect to appear again, but he did reveal that Shimerman shot an episode of Warehouse 13 two weeks after he did one.
Darren, Visitor,
Auberjonois and Shimerman
Dominion panel talks villainy
Another DS9 group to appear was the "Dominion Panel" of Casey Biggs, Marc Alaimo, Andy Robinson, Jeffrey Combs and Salome Jens. The group of Cardassians, a Vorta and a Founder talked a lot about the nature of their roles. Alaimo never wanted the Cardassians to be seen as bullies on the show, and he was glad that Gul Dukat was not one-dimensional. Biggs noted that bad guys never think they are bad guys, "Hitler thought he was a good guy". Combs delighted in his role as the Vorta Weyoun who he also didn’t see as evil, just a "middle manager", like that guy who would meet with you and be all nice, and then fire you the next day. He also said that he found it to be a challenge to play a character that is genetically encoded to be one way and therefore not evolve as a character.
DS9 "Dominion panel" at Star Trek con
Robinson said he didn’t think a comparison to Nazis was good for Cardassians, and he thought the Roman Empire or the Prussians was more apt. Robinson also implied that Garak was not the straightest Cardassian in the quiver, noting "sexually, I think he had other tendencies" even saying he originally looked to Liberace for his portrayal, but that "fell away" as the show progressed.
When talking about future projects, Casey Biggs said he was working on a Broadway musical, and then announced that Marc Alaimo is getting married.
Biggs breaks the news of Alaimo’s upcoming wedding
MORE TO COME
TrekMovie has more reports coming from Creation’s Star Trek Con 2010, including all the big appearances on Saturday including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Jonathan Frakes, Jeri Ryan, Brannon Braga and more.
Special thanks to Erica Anderson who contributed to this report
Very cool.
Great! DS9 deserves to be celebrated and remembered as one of the best Treks ever!
Hey first Comment sounds like a great convention shame i live in the UK.
Who can afford to goe to vegas in this climate. They Should do something similar over here im sure the audience is there!!!
Maybe be not LOL
Wonderful stuff! Again, many thanks! :D
@3 hear! hear! Why a Movie? DS9 could potentially have another series run.
Sure – how about Deep Space Nine: The Next Generation? ;)
would kill for a video of that <3 DS9
p.s I believe there could of been a great DS9 Movie if they had Ronold Moores talent and vision
Instead we get this Alternative Star Trek borderline spoof monstrosity, thanks paramount..
Avery sounds like a cool and charismatic guy. I like the sound of him very much.
Do you know where we can get a copy of Avery Brooks’ CD?
Didn’t know Brooks played piano. Would like to hear his jazz work.
LOL. The dominion panel !!! Oh my. I wish i could be there. Miss ds9 soo much. Fond memories…
A tv movie of ds9 would be great or even better a mini as ds9 unlike next gen or voyager had so much still to give
I can’t wait to see Brooks’ segment in Shatner’s Captains documentary. It’s the least predictable part. Apparently Shatner was impressed enough with Brooks’ music to let him do the soundtrack for the show.
Wish I could have been there. Looks like this was a blast. The Dominion Panel… man, that’s hilarious.
Congratulations, Mr. Alaimo!
I enjoyed all of these actors in their respective parts, but Marc Alaimo will always be tops in my book. He made Gul Dukat both likeable and evil — a rarity among villains. And would it be outrageous for me to rate him slightly above Khan for best Trek villain? I think maybe… hmm… well, it’s a tough choice…
Thanks for the report. Great hearing from the DS9 crowd again.
It just dawned on me that the Dominion Panel/DS9 villains are my three favorite TNG-era Trek actors. Of course, it took Shran to make me as much of a Jeff Combs fan as I am … but Andrew Robinson and Marc Alaimo are some of the best scene-stealers of all time.
@ 19
hell yes. Just an incredible cast.
WOW!
Brilliant!
I knew Garak was more than friends with Bashir.
Liberace? I’ll have to examine the evidence with new insight.
Gul Dukat was one of the most well developed villains of all the series. Definitely not one dimensional. The writers did an excellent job with his character. First he was sleazy, then he almost became an ally and you almost start to think he is becoming a slightly good guy. Then he allies with the Dominion, then the Pah-Wraiths and all bets are off.
The Dominion was one of my favorite adversaries to the Federation. With the Jem’Hadar, they seemed almost unstoppable. I started to wonder if the Federation would win the war. I was always glad Rick Berman relented and allowed the war to last longer than just a few episodes like he originally wanted. And for all the comments about Rick Berman being some evil ogre, that was one of a number of examples where Berman did listen to others against what he was inclined to do. He did not alway make the best decisions, but I enjoyed all the shows he was involved with, along with what came before and after him.
Anyway, Deep Space Nine turned out to be an excellent show. It took until about the middle of the second season for me to get on board, but it did win me over and I found much to like about the show. It had a lot more depth to it about the Star Trek universe, including politics, religion, how the different species interacted with each other.
Okay, I just have to say that those pictures above prove that Marc Alaimo doesn’t need the Cardie makeup to look intimidating. Jeez, that’s one guy I would be afraid to approach for an autograph. Although, I’ve heard he’s a nice guy from a few different sources. Anybody here ever met him?
Funny, I looked at the photo of Rene Auberjonois and thought “wow, he hasn’t aged since TUC”, then he says he looked old in Warehouse 13. I really don’t think any of them have aged a lot since DS9 ended, which really is quite a long time ago now.
Sounds like a fantastic con, particularly Avery Brooks’s Q&A/concert. The one time I saw him at a con the Q&A session had to be called off due to rain (typical English weather…). :)
Wow! I am glad that atlast DS9 is being celebrated. It was a great show. The only show that could of gone on and on without me getting sick of it.
I miss it and those wonderful characters.
I always wanted Garak to be gay! That was my first thought when seeing his very first scene with Dr Bashir. They should have left him with his sexual ambiguity and not let him had that relationship with Ziyal. In other words, the producers/writers chickened out…
Comb’s Weyoun and Robinson’s Garak are quite possibly my two favourite characters of the entire Star Trek franchise. No kidding!
Avery Brooks is the man! I’d love to see him appear in the next Trek Film as The Sisko since he has joined the prophets. He should help establish a stronger Bajor in this alternate universe by pulling the Enterprise to the Bjor system. It would make sense he would choose Kirk since he saved him in the prime time-line. I think that would make a cool story anyway
Mark Alaimo is getting married? Congratulations!
Great to see the DS9 cast. *thumbsup*
#23
I got to meet Marc Alaimo at a convention in Victoria B.C nine years ago. He autographed a picture for me and we discussed whether Gul Dukat could ever return as his corporeal self after being “condemned to hell”.
We both agreed since Dukat was the opposite of Sisko. Sisko was emissary of the Prophets (good gods/aliens) and Dukat was emissary of the Pah Wraiths (bad gods/aliens). Sisko and Dukat were the opposite sides of the same coin, according to Marc, and I agreed with him. He was very nice to talk to. I also got to meet Chase Masterson, Andrew Robinson (who told us an entertaining story about Garak, mentioned to me how he found the ‘mirror Garak’ to be bland), Max Grodenchik, Eric Menyuk and a couple of others. All very gracious and accomodating.
DS9 was my favorite series of the franchise – would’ve
given anything for a REAL series finale’ or a motion
picture to wrap things up better than it did… very saddened
that those things will never occur.
#29
Wow, that’s great that Alaimo discussed Dukat with you. Lucky! If there ever is a reunion movie, the Dukat Devil needs to return for one more bout with the Sisko.
Oh, and it kinda makes sense for the mirror Garak to be bland since the “prime” universe one is so interesting. Where else could they go? I suppose they could’ve gone full-on Liberace with the character… eh… well… maybe not. I just got a bad mental image of a Cardie in a sequined tuxedo (shudder). :D
Robinson played Liberace in a 1988 MFTV movie and was excellent.
What’s with Avery’s pants? He looks like Fred Mertz.
Nana’s looking seriously hot.
#33 – Yeppers, Visitor is a total babe. I was watching some Doogie Howser MD episodes a couple of weeks back and nearly choked on my martini when she appeared on the show as a pop idol who the Vinnie character sleazes over. Way cute. She was even sporting a Major Kira-esqe haircut! Her and Neil Patrick Harris get a really great scene together at the end. Dig it.
-24thCRS!
Was Dukat really a villian? I think the character was so well done, that this is an honest question. In his mind, I think he honestly was not a villian. He wasn’t just saying that to himself to justify the horible things he did, I honestly think that in his mind, none of what he did was horrible. The occupation was horrible, sure, but what he did during it was not. I think only in the end was he really a villian.
#35
To answer your question: yes, Dukat was a villain. Despite his eloquence and occasionally charming demeanor, he was deep down an evil person. He had plenty of chances to do the right thing—and on most occasions he didn’t. Of course, the loss of his daughter supposedly pushed him over the edge he’d been teetering on for so long, but it still doesn’t excuse his siding with the Dominion, putting his people on the course to ruin, killing Jadzia Dax, corrupting Kai Winn (even more than she already was), sticking his wrinkled nose into black magic with the Pah Wraiths, etc., etc….
Nearly everyone suffers some sort of tragedy or loss during their lives; it’s what they do afterwards that decides whether they are good or evil. Also, when a character has glowing red eyes, reptilian skin, and columns of flames around him, chances are he isn’t collecting for the Red Cross. (Yeah, that’s a groan-worthy Dirty Harry reference, I know, but Andrew Robinson was in both—so it’s applicable… right?…)
;)
Wish I could have been there. I remember the last con I went to many, many years ago and the DS9 crew was also on stage.
Next time.
Funny I took one look at the black guy and thought what’s shaft doing there?
anyways it kinda sucks were never really going to see a proper official continuation of any of these shows or sulu’s story, the models are gone and the actors are just too far along in there lives to really give it another go even if it was okayed by paramount.
plus I dont know, I’d feel guilty about springing the question on them after they’ve probably had it done to them nearly a 1000 times since the show ended, I get the feeling some of them just want to move on and do something else and be supported by there fans with that instead of being dogging about something they did a decade ago thats long since ended.
a DS9 movie would be ace. Unfortunately, I can’t see them ever doing one. Maybe a mini-series to finish things off? With TNG and VOY cameos? Could work.
One of the great things about Alaimo’s performance as Dukat is that you find yourself frequently *liking* the character despite his antagonistic choices. We get to see the many shades of Dukat. Dukat is charming, as he is cunning, and frequently shows a side of what could be compassion….but there is always an ulterior motive for personal gain (mostly at the expense of others).
#36 Great answer, Vultan!
Hey #9, Adam C, if your talking about the last Star Trek movie as a monstrosity and having a DS9 movie as a better alternative give your head a shake, the last movie was awesome and a critical, financial success all around, the franchise was save. Although, DS9 was a good show it does not and will not ever have the type of appeal that can hold up as movie franchise. Even a TV movie is a very, very slim proposition. I liked the show, but for many non-fans it didn’t hold up. I myself loved the stories and the complex characterizations, but a main stream movie? I have a better chance of winning the American presidency.
DS9 definitely had the best ensemble cast of all the Trek series. All of the recurring characters were complex and interesting; and capable of carrying an entire episode. Sisko (all three of them!), Kira, O’Brien, Bashir, Worf, Gul Dukat, Garak, Quark, Dax (both of them!), Rom, etc, etc. One of the defects in all of the other series is that they focused on just a small handful of characters and the supporting players were too weakly explored (e.g. Kirk-Spock-McCoy trio, Picard-Data, Archer-T’Pol-Tucker). The entire ensemble cast in VOY was just weak, period.
Gul Dukat is IMHO the best villain in all of Trek. The other top Trek villains (Khan, the Borg, etc) were mostly one-dimensional and predictable. Dukat was a wonderful mix of contradictions, pure evil, occasional compassion, and unexpected actions.
“Hey #9, Adam C, if your talking about the last Star Trek movie as a monstrosity and having a DS9 movie as a better alternative give your head a shake, the last movie was awesome and a critical, financial success all around, the franchise was save. Although, DS9 was a good show it does not and will not ever have the type of appeal that can hold up as movie franchise. Even a TV movie is a very, very slim proposition. I liked the show, but for many non-fans it didn’t hold up. I myself loved the stories and the complex characterizations, but a main stream movie? I have a better chance of winning the American presidency.”
Don’t mix up success with quality.
Otherwise Mc Donalds, dumb talk-shows or jackass etc.pp. wouldn’t be so successful.
However I think DS9 was ended too well to be able to reactivate it in a movie.
42. Well said! ST09 was fun, successful and well-received, but IMHO it missed the essence of what makes Trek unique. In all fairness, the makers of it had a big job in just restarting the franchise. They did some things I didn’t agree with but I’m willing to give them another shot at it. If they’re the big Trek fans they say they are, I’m hopeful that their second effort will bring more of Trek’s heart to the table.
Now DS9? It dared to be different, but still stayed true to Trek’s roots. It was adventurous, exciting, and it also had a knockout combination of brains and heart. I loved it!
Nice to see DS9 getting some well-deserved attention. That show just keeps getting better on repeated viewings, not just because of the refreshingly grown-up storylines and political shenanigans but also the nuanced acting (especially during the later seasons). It really did have some incredibly talented actors and actresses involved.
Avery Brooks is looking as cool as ever in those shades….He’s obviously channelling the great Isaac Hayes ;)
Regarding Garak: He was deliberately played as ambiguous about his….er….extracurricular preferences, and was supposed to be perfectly fine about who was…er…sitting in the passenger seat regardless of…er….which side of the road he decided to drive on at the time. I read elsewhere that when Garak first met Bashir, Andrew Robinson played it as so blatantly coming onto him that Alexander Siddig thought this was going to be the start of some kind of actual ongoing fling between the two characters. Robinson obviously toned it down a bit as the show progressed, although he kept Garak’s entertainingly fruity style of speaking.
Apparently Garak was indeed attracted to Bashir throughout the show, but the good doctor never realised it.
Another interesting fun fact about DS9: The young woman who turns up outside Jake Sisko’s house in the brilliant episode “The Visitor” is actually Andrew Robinson’s real-life daughter.
The reference to Weyoun as a “middle manager” was amusing. I remember reading that Jeffrey Combs played him as an “aristocratic royal courtier”, which is actually an accurate description (and I thought his performance was brilliant too), but personally Weyoun also reminded me of some kind of dodgy Human Resources manager – very disarming and pleasant on the surface, but quite a shark on the inside….
they all look old
To all the naysayers regarding a DS9 film franchise: read the DS9 novel trilogy Millennium, which for all intents and purposes, chronicled a Star Trek End Times prophecy…was made amidst the Y2K hysteria and would make for a truly epic trilogy of films on par with the Lord of the Rings saga if done right…a trilogy that Joss Whedon, due to his Buffy experience and the dark nature of the novels, would be perfect to make…him or Jack Snyder (the guy behind next year’s epic dark fantasy film with Vanessa hudgens in it (watch the trailer for that film to see what I mean)….
And to Captain Conrad: YES!!!! have Sisko try to strengthen the Bajorans of this universe, tasking Kirk to be the Emissary of this universe…him, or Spock…maybe an arc where the Vulcan refugees ally with the Bajorans against a Cardassian-Romulan alliance :)
And yes: for those of us who couldn’t make it to Vegas where can we get Avery’s album? Ever since I heard him do that duet with Jimmy Darren in the DS9 series finale I’ve been itching for an album from him
UPDATE: i just found Avery’s album (may be a previous one) available online for sale here: https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/averybrooks
Good stuff!
That was a veritable treasure trove of DS9 stars! Nice to see them look fondly back on it.