Russ Post-Voyager
2 min readAlthough it took a while to get his career going again after his time on Star Trek: Voyager, Tim Russ is becoming recognizable to a new and a younger generation.
Even though working on a long-term series is good for the wallet, it can cause problems once the series ends. “I expected to go through a lull in my career after Voyager, as it’s not so much being on that particular show, but more that I was on TV at all,” said Russ. “Once you are ‘exposed’ for that amount of time on TV, you are out of the loop with casting people, etc.”
In addition, one can become typecast, according to Russ. “…Producers of new shows often want new actors for their parts so that those actors are identified with their show and not a show that came earlier,” he said. “It took about four to five years for my career to get rolling again with recurring roles on iCarly and the series regular role on Samantha Who?”
ICarly appeals to a younger generation and that’s just fine with Russ. “I get recognized for iCarly more than I do Voyager!” Russ said. “It’s very cool. Since I have a daughter who watches it also, I am tickled to have so many kids her age, younger and older, get excited when they see me.”
That doesn’t mean Russ didn’t enjoy his time on Voyager, the fans or his co-actors. Russ still attends Star Trek conventions where he tries to keep his act fresh. “I do still go to the cons and I still get some of the usual questions about the show,” he said. “But most times nowadays, I bring things to show or perform at the conventions. I’ll show some short films, play some music, do a parody sketch piece etc., anything to not have to say the same stuff over and over.”
Russ also gets together every now and then with his former cast-mates for dinner. “It’s always nice to see the fellas and catch up, and we do laugh about some of the things that happened during the seven years on the show,” he said. “I look forward to those gatherings.”
Russ is currently working on a Cartoon Network series (Sym-Bionic Titan) where he is voicing a character by the name of Solomon. In addition, Russ performs with his band several times a month.
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