March 28 2024

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New 'Hailing Frequencies' Column

By Amy
December 15, 2000 - 2:04 PM

The latest edition of Michelle Erica Green's weekly 'Hailing Frequencies' column is out over at Mania. This week, Michelle does a 'gossip column', looking at the buzz for various Trek figures, from Shatner to Beltran to Stewart.

Robert Beltran

Has Voyager's first officer gone bonkers, or was he just in a good mood the day he let SFX take a photo of him standing at the top of an escalator with his pants down around his ankles? I'm sure Beltran must be sick of the "boxers or briefs" question that some woman always asks at conventions, but I never expected to see him answer it in such dramatic fashion.

Even stranger, in the interview that accompanies the photo, Beltran speaks affectionately about the cast of Voyager and only disses the writers a little bit. "I'm all for keeping the fans happy," he says, promising that if the producers want him to be in a Voyager film down the road, he'll do it. "I've always said that this has been a good gig, and the fans have been very loyal to me. I appreciate them very much...I appreciate the fact that the fans of the show enjoy it. I don't put them down for it."

Beltran thanked the fans for supporting charities, including Downs Syndrome, for which he raises money at the Galaxy Ball each year. (I've been told that the escalator photo was taken in the LA Airport Marriott as part of a shoot he did for the 1999 Galaxy Ball, and there was a previous photo with his pants on in an earlier issue of SFX.)

Beltran did say that although Trek tries to give the appearance of being sophisticated, "it's all done with smoke and mirrors. The storylines are about as thin as the thinnest wafer you can possibly eat." He also said he doesn't bother to give input to his character because they'd just change the percentage of damage to the shields or other ephemera.

To read the full article, follow the link to visit Mania Magazine, a part of Fandom.com.

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