Connor Trinneer (Charles 'Trip' Tucker) has spoken about his respect for his character, and how he's not afraid to make suggestions if he thinks something is amiss.

"I'll say something about my character if I think it's not going in the direction that I think [is right], he told Star Trek Monthly. "There have been occassions where I have sensed that the character's kind of been 'dumbed' down, and I have been very keen on not making this good old Southerner boy 'dumb'."

Trinneer believes the character has to be respected to be effective. "He's commander of engineering — if you don't follow this guy, if you don't think of him as a leader, I'm polarised and I'm lost, I'm stuck in a black hole," he said. "But if we keep the character active and creative and open and intelligent, then I'm in good stead. And I think we do. we all have to stay on top of that, in terms of artists creating the show.

The actor explained that he found his work rewarding, and looks forward to the challenges to come. "I have a great deal of respect for what I do," he said, "and I have a great deal of respect for the character itself, and those two things I think hopefully merge together and I hope that people see I love what I'm doing. I have a great time doing it. My responsibility is to do that character as truthfully as I can, and after that, let happen what will happen.

"We're here to nudge the envelope. If you give me opportunities as an actor to be pregnant, be hopped up on some alien spore, buried in the desert — those are challenges that I welcome and that I encourage, and I hope those things continue."

For the full interview with Trinneer, where he talks about the physical demands of working on Enterprise as well as his time before Trek, check out issue 102 of Star Trek Monthly.

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