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Picardo Answers Fan Questions

By T'Bonz
October 1, 2008 - 11:13 PM

Robert Picardo answered fan questions regarding his roles on Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1, China Beach and several other shows and movies.

As reported on the blog of Stargate: Atlantis's Executive Producer Joseph Mallozzi, Picardo shared memories of working on Star Trek: Voyager with Andy Dick. "Andy Dick was pretty wild to be around," said Picardo. "The first day we met he said 'Hey 'Picardo'. That's so close to Captain Picard. Do you get teased a lot about that? And I said Wait a minute. Your name is Andy Dick and you're going to make fun of mine?'"

Picardo was more worried about what TV Guide would write regarding himself and guest star Dick. "I was actually concerned that when it aired that episode, T.V. Guide might do a close-up box about the episode with some unfortunate quotes like 'Picardo and Dick Inseparable!' or 'Picardo Handles Dick Adroitly' or 'Picardo Obviously Loves Dick.' But none of that happened."

Another question asked about Picardo's opinion regarding the closure of Star Trek: The Experience. "I do think it was unwise of whomever purchased the Vegas Hilton to decide to close this attraction only a few moments before the 'Star Trek' franchise if about to be revitalized by the new J.J. Abrams film," said Picardo. "I am especially delighted to report that we reference Star Trek: The Experience in an upcoming 'Stargate: Atlantis' episode set in Vegas. Dr. McKay's character points out that there's only one place an alien could easily get a job in Vegas and that's in Star Trek :The Experience. He of course gets a droll response from Richard Woolsey who happens to look more than little like that Doctor character from 'Star Trek.'"

Speaking of Woolsey, Picardo was asked what kind of character development would he have liked to have seen or would like to see in Woolsey. "I had hoped for a character arc with Ronon because I thought we were so marvelously mismatched: Ronon barely speaks and Woolsey can't seem to shut up," said Picardo. "I thought it would be fun if he agreed to Woolsey's secret request to be trained in hand-to-hand combat and weapons. My thought was that Ronon would agree to work with Woolsey with the caveat that he never open his mouth while they were training."

When asked which character was the most difficult to portray, Picardo said, "I would say that China Beach [Doctor Richard] was the most difficult because of the emotional demands of many of the episodes," said Picardo. "We were doing a series about a very unpopular war that had devastated a number of lives, especially among those who lost family members in the war and those who never fully assimilated back into society once they returned. We felt a tremendous responsibility had been given us in doing the show, that perhaps in some small way we could contribute to the healing of these old wounds. And I'm very proud of the work we did and impressive company of actors that I was honored to be a part of."

To read more, head to the blog entry located here.

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