Tim Russ On 'Of Gods And Men'

Of Gods and Men was recently released online and Tim Russ discussed his involvement with the fan film in which he reprises his character of Tuvok.

As reported at Sci Fi Pulse, a phone call started the chain of events which resulted in Russ's involvement with Of Gods and Men. "I was just sitting around one day and the phone rang," Russ said. "It was [Of Gods and Men producer] Sky Conway, who told me he had a project he wanted to do and asked if I would be interested in playing a role in it. I said I would if I could direct it as well. Since there was no one attached and I had already directed Roddenberry on Patrol for him successfully, he thought that would be a good idea."

Of Gods and Men is set a dozen years after the disappearance of Captain James T. Kirk into the Nexus while trying to save the crew of the Enterprise-B. Three characters from that fateful trip, Chekov, Uhura and John Harriman, come together in Of Gods and Men for the dedication of a ship, but a distress call cuts short their reunion. Soon, they find themselves in a very different place in a parallel timeline.

Working on Of Gods and Men was a collaborative effort. "I worked on the story with the writers; Jack Trevino and Ethan Calk, Sky Conway," said Russ. "We all pitched in with ideas even down to the hours before shooting each day on the set. We made changes constantly to clean up plot and timeline as well as editing material we didn't need to shoot, which at times included input from the 1st A.D., Mark Linn." Russ contrasted this with working on Voyager, where "On the series, any changes, even down to one word of dialogue, would have to go through the executive producers first."

Russ went on to speak of Star Trek in general and when asked about problems with the franchise said, "I think it needed a fresh start and a different perspective. With a new producer on the feature, it should have a completely different look and feel. I think any future series concept should have an edgier look and feel."

With Star Trek XI being filmed, Russ had advice for the actors taking on the challenge of playing Kirk and Spock. "If I were them, I'd use Kirk and Spock's characters as we know them as a template, and build their younger versions from there." But Russ is not a fan of prequels because "...you know what the ending is already. There can be no surprises as to the lives of the main characters only background information. It's like reading the last page of a book first."

To read the article, head to the link located here. To view Of Gods and Men click here.

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