WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.250 --> 00:00:02.293 This week we reveal Crusher family secrets 2 00:00:02.293 --> 00:00:04.754 as I chat with Ed Speleers, aka Beverly Crusher's 3 00:00:04.754 --> 00:00:06.923 youngest son Jack, and my Spacebrother. 4 00:00:06.923 --> 00:00:09.884 We discover what went into designing Vadic's terrifying ship 5 00:00:09.884 --> 00:00:12.679 the Shrike, and we go undercover to expose the seedy 6 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:14.723 underbelly of the Star Trek Universe. 7 00:00:14.723 --> 00:00:17.726 Remove your transporter inhibitors and beam directly into 8 00:00:17.726 --> 00:00:18.977 The Ready Room. 9 00:00:26.067 --> 00:00:27.360 Hey nerds, I'm Wil Wheaton. 10 00:00:27.360 --> 00:00:28.194 This is The Ready Room. 11 00:00:28.194 --> 00:00:29.779 You're official behind-the-scenes hub 12 00:00:29.779 --> 00:00:31.656 for all things Star Trek Universe. 13 00:00:31.656 --> 00:00:34.159 This week's episode of Star Trek: Picard, "Disengage", 14 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:36.036 had a ton of bombshells, 15 00:00:36.036 --> 00:00:38.788 and I am not just talking about the weapons on the Shrike. 16 00:00:38.788 --> 00:00:41.416 To avoid feeling like someone threw an entire starship 17 00:00:41.416 --> 00:00:45.462 at you, I am calling for a red alert. 18 00:00:45.462 --> 00:00:48.298 We'll be uncovering spoilers so significant that they change 19 00:00:48.298 --> 00:00:50.300 the Star Trek Universe forever. 20 00:00:50.300 --> 00:00:53.261 I am serious - change forever. 21 00:00:53.261 --> 00:00:54.763 So, nerds, I implore you, 22 00:00:54.763 --> 00:00:57.515 if you haven't seen this week's episode, escape to a nebula 23 00:00:57.515 --> 00:00:58.349 to stream it, 24 00:00:58.349 --> 00:01:00.852 and then report right back here to The Ready Room. 25 00:01:00.852 --> 00:01:01.728 Okay. 26 00:01:01.728 --> 00:01:04.939 I am so, so excited to be sitting down today 27 00:01:04.939 --> 00:01:07.192 with Ed Speleers who plays Jack Crusher- 28 00:01:07.192 --> 00:01:09.819 the son of Beverly Crusher and Wesley Crusher's kid 29 00:01:09.819 --> 00:01:11.446 brother who he never knew about- 30 00:01:11.446 --> 00:01:14.741 to talk in depth about joining the Star Trek family, 31 00:01:14.741 --> 00:01:18.453 and especially the stunning episode-ending revelation 32 00:01:18.453 --> 00:01:20.413 about Jack's parentage. 33 00:01:20.413 --> 00:01:23.041 Later, just like Raffi and Worf investigating heinous 34 00:01:23.041 --> 00:01:26.461 conspiracies, we will be confronting Ferengi crime bosses, 35 00:01:26.461 --> 00:01:30.256 Orion pirates, and black market traders as we go deep inside 36 00:01:30.256 --> 00:01:33.051 District Six, part of the sinister underground 37 00:01:33.051 --> 00:01:36.012 within Star Trek's otherwise utopian future. 38 00:01:36.012 --> 00:01:38.306 But before we get to any of that, 39 00:01:38.306 --> 00:01:41.351 there have been a lot of intimidating starships 40 00:01:41.351 --> 00:01:45.188 in Star Trek's history, but Vadic's heavily armed warship, 41 00:01:45.188 --> 00:01:49.484 the Shrike, is possibly the scariest of them all. 42 00:01:49.484 --> 00:01:52.779 I mean, I would not want to face off against the Shrike, 43 00:01:52.779 --> 00:01:56.533 alone and outside of Federation space? No, thank you. 44 00:01:56.533 --> 00:01:57.909 Hard pass. 45 00:01:57.909 --> 00:02:01.287 Here's a behind-the-scenes look at the process of designing 46 00:02:01.287 --> 00:02:03.081 this terrifying vessel. 47 00:02:03.081 --> 00:02:05.375 Control room? Engage! 48 00:02:05.375 --> 00:02:08.378 [Eleos] Proximity alert, unknown vessel approaching. 49 00:02:08.378 --> 00:02:09.921 You just led them straight to us. 50 00:02:09.921 --> 00:02:11.297 What the hell is going on? 51 00:02:11.297 --> 00:02:12.674 We are being hunted. 52 00:02:12.674 --> 00:02:14.217 By whom? 53 00:02:14.217 --> 00:02:15.969 [Eleos] Forward blast doors retracting. 54 00:02:15.969 --> 00:02:18.221 See for yourself. 55 00:02:30.400 --> 00:02:34.195 Some of the best Star Trek hinges on an amazing villain. 56 00:02:36.156 --> 00:02:37.657 Good afternoon. 57 00:02:38.825 --> 00:02:41.077 I am Captain Vadic. 58 00:02:41.077 --> 00:02:46.082 And we wanted to create one with Vadic, Amanda Plumber, 59 00:02:46.875 --> 00:02:47.750 and her ship. 60 00:02:47.750 --> 00:02:51.671 We wanted a really iconic ship, the Shrike. 61 00:02:51.671 --> 00:02:54.132 Something that terrifies you immediately 62 00:02:54.132 --> 00:02:55.758 when you see it coming out of a nebula 63 00:02:55.758 --> 00:02:58.553 and you know you don't want to be in its crosshairs. 64 00:02:58.553 --> 00:03:01.806 You have been causing us some concern, Captain. 65 00:03:01.806 --> 00:03:03.600 State your business. 66 00:03:03.600 --> 00:03:08.188 Oh, Admiral Jean-Luc Picard, 67 00:03:09.522 --> 00:03:12.108 in the synthetic flesh. 68 00:03:13.151 --> 00:03:15.278 The ship was amazing. 69 00:03:17.155 --> 00:03:22.160 Smaller. Homey for me, very homey. 70 00:03:22.535 --> 00:03:24.370 The colors were cool. 71 00:03:24.370 --> 00:03:27.081 They made a special chair for me, 72 00:03:27.081 --> 00:03:29.334 which was delightful. 73 00:03:29.334 --> 00:03:32.795 I could really move around in it and play in it. 74 00:03:32.795 --> 00:03:36.549 Turn your back to run and the only way you'll see the shot 75 00:03:36.549 --> 00:03:41.221 that kills you is through the hole in your proverbial chest. 76 00:03:41.221 --> 00:03:44.891 We've seen on Star Trek, two ships face off. 77 00:03:44.891 --> 00:03:48.394 We've seen photon torpedoes, we've seen phasers. 78 00:03:48.394 --> 00:03:52.857 I remember someone in the writer's room pitched that, 79 00:03:52.857 --> 00:03:55.818 what if you used a tractor beam and actually physically 80 00:03:55.818 --> 00:03:59.364 threw another ship at our hero's starship? 81 00:03:59.364 --> 00:04:03.243 When the Shrike throws the Eleos at the Titan, 82 00:04:03.243 --> 00:04:08.248 you want to have it feel realistic as far as scale and mass, 83 00:04:08.706 --> 00:04:11.709 because these are big ships doing big things. 84 00:04:11.709 --> 00:04:14.379 But you also want it super exciting and dramatic. 85 00:04:14.379 --> 00:04:15.213 Shields up. 86 00:04:15.213 --> 00:04:16.798 Evasive maneuvers. 87 00:04:23.054 --> 00:04:24.430 It was just such a great idea, 88 00:04:24.430 --> 00:04:26.557 which I wasn't sure if we could pull off, 89 00:04:26.557 --> 00:04:30.645 but we put it in the script and months and months 90 00:04:30.645 --> 00:04:33.481 of visual effects later, finally, we have this thing, 91 00:04:33.481 --> 00:04:36.317 and I think it'll be a really cool moment. 92 00:04:36.317 --> 00:04:39.612 I'm pretty excited to see how fans react to that. 93 00:04:41.114 --> 00:04:44.075 It's certainly something we haven't really seen 94 00:04:44.075 --> 00:04:46.661 in Star Trek before. 95 00:04:51.499 --> 00:04:53.960 When approaching any of the design of the ships that we've 96 00:04:53.960 --> 00:04:56.170 been doing in this Trek shows, it's been very important that 97 00:04:56.170 --> 00:04:57.630 each feel like its own thing. 98 00:04:57.630 --> 00:04:59.924 We're always looking at how to add as much definition 99 00:04:59.924 --> 00:05:01.092 and detail as possible. 100 00:05:01.092 --> 00:05:04.304 So each of the ships feel like it's their own character 101 00:05:04.304 --> 00:05:05.680 and they really stand alone. 102 00:05:07.432 --> 00:05:09.976 I thought you might care to know the name 103 00:05:11.227 --> 00:05:15.440 of my particular vessel, the Shrike. 104 00:05:16.816 --> 00:05:19.402 Some of the challenges in bringing the Shrike to life 105 00:05:19.402 --> 00:05:22.947 is that you wanna break ground if you can, 106 00:05:22.947 --> 00:05:24.407 on the design of a ship, 107 00:05:24.407 --> 00:05:27.410 but it still has to fit in the Star Trek Universe. 108 00:05:27.410 --> 00:05:30.580 I feel like Dave Blass, our production designer, 109 00:05:30.580 --> 00:05:34.083 worked with his team and really came up with, like, 110 00:05:34.083 --> 00:05:37.295 a menacing silhouette that has a lot of drama to it. 111 00:05:37.295 --> 00:05:40.423 We started with John Eaves and Doug Drexler, 112 00:05:40.423 --> 00:05:43.801 two amazing concept artists from the history of Star Trek, 113 00:05:43.801 --> 00:05:45.553 and we just went back and forth and back and forth 114 00:05:45.553 --> 00:05:47.347 going around of how we want it to look, 115 00:05:47.347 --> 00:05:50.767 and refined it down to a simple design of the, you know, 116 00:05:50.767 --> 00:05:52.810 when you saw it, it felt like a predator. 117 00:05:54.187 --> 00:05:59.025 The big difference between cinema and TV is that in TV you 118 00:05:59.025 --> 00:06:02.445 have to roll one set into another set, into another set. 119 00:06:02.445 --> 00:06:05.156 So, when it came down to the Shrike and the bridge, 120 00:06:05.156 --> 00:06:07.241 so we're like, okay, well what do we have available? 121 00:06:07.241 --> 00:06:09.827 Well, we have the downstairs of La Sirena. 122 00:06:09.827 --> 00:06:12.080 So, it was sitting there looking at it going, 123 00:06:12.080 --> 00:06:15.041 how can I take the geometry and change the geometry 124 00:06:15.041 --> 00:06:17.752 of the ship, change it dramatically, 125 00:06:17.752 --> 00:06:20.588 and then work with the lighting designer Crescenzo 126 00:06:20.588 --> 00:06:23.174 and come up with something that's drastically different 127 00:06:23.174 --> 00:06:24.759 and gives it a very big mood? 128 00:06:24.759 --> 00:06:27.762 So, when you're dealing with the lighting on the ship, 129 00:06:27.762 --> 00:06:29.263 the embedded lighting, 130 00:06:29.263 --> 00:06:32.683 the design of that lighting, is so crucial. 131 00:06:32.683 --> 00:06:36.979 So, we came up with a lot of different facets of angles 132 00:06:36.979 --> 00:06:39.399 of light that when cast would walk through, 133 00:06:39.399 --> 00:06:42.652 they would get little glimpse of light into their eyes. 134 00:06:42.652 --> 00:06:45.279 We would look around the set and you would see these 135 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:48.282 fingers of light, shafts of light, 136 00:06:48.282 --> 00:06:51.577 and it created these really dark quasi-silhouettes, 137 00:06:51.577 --> 00:06:54.705 these dark silhouettes that made the characters 138 00:06:54.705 --> 00:06:56.541 really ominous looking. 139 00:06:56.541 --> 00:07:01.546 I'll peck and I'll jab everything that makes you, you. 140 00:07:03.047 --> 00:07:07.844 Behind the Captain's chair we have this organic material 141 00:07:07.844 --> 00:07:09.971 and I'd like to say it was something super cool 142 00:07:09.971 --> 00:07:12.640 and high tech, but it was really window screen. 143 00:07:12.640 --> 00:07:14.976 You just crunch it up and it's like metal window screen that 144 00:07:14.976 --> 00:07:16.686 you crunch up and you uplight it. 145 00:07:16.686 --> 00:07:19.021 What I liked was that it allowed for the joining 146 00:07:19.021 --> 00:07:20.440 of lighting and design. 147 00:07:20.440 --> 00:07:22.608 Again, working with Crescenzo, 148 00:07:22.608 --> 00:07:25.778 it was creating the the web patterns that we did 149 00:07:25.778 --> 00:07:28.656 that allowed the smoke and the lights to come through. 150 00:07:28.656 --> 00:07:29.532 It really worked together. 151 00:07:29.532 --> 00:07:31.909 It without the lighting, there was no set. 152 00:07:31.909 --> 00:07:36.831 So, it was a really nice combination of lighting and design. 153 00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:47.008 Oh, follow him. 154 00:07:50.094 --> 00:07:51.304 Follow him! 155 00:08:06.861 --> 00:08:09.113 I'm thrilled to be sitting down with Ed Speleers, 156 00:08:09.113 --> 00:08:11.324 who of course plays Jack Crusher. 157 00:08:11.324 --> 00:08:12.575 Ed, thank you for being here. 158 00:08:12.575 --> 00:08:14.035 It is so nice to talk to you. 159 00:08:14.035 --> 00:08:16.120 Wil, thank you very much for, for bringing me in. 160 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:17.497 It's a real honor to be here. 161 00:08:17.497 --> 00:08:19.040 I've watched quite a few of these, so. 162 00:08:19.040 --> 00:08:21.417 Well, I wanted to ask you about that. 163 00:08:21.417 --> 00:08:24.587 What's your relationship to Star Trek before you auditioned? 164 00:08:24.587 --> 00:08:26.380 There's a nostalgic element. 165 00:08:26.380 --> 00:08:27.215 Yeah? 166 00:08:27.215 --> 00:08:30.635 My dad was a big fan of the original sort of the Kirk era. 167 00:08:30.635 --> 00:08:32.053 The very beginning. 168 00:08:32.053 --> 00:08:36.557 But the TNG unit, that franchise, that era. 169 00:08:37.517 --> 00:08:41.562 I have fond memories of coming back from school 170 00:08:41.562 --> 00:08:43.689 on the south coast of England, 171 00:08:43.689 --> 00:08:48.694 the rain battering the windows, gray, fire on, 172 00:08:48.903 --> 00:08:50.863 I think about 6:00, maybe 6:30, 173 00:08:51.822 --> 00:08:55.785 and off we went with the theme tune and The Next Generation, 174 00:08:55.785 --> 00:09:00.122 So, I have fond memories of Worf, of Riker, 175 00:09:00.122 --> 00:09:02.375 of everybody, really. 176 00:09:02.375 --> 00:09:05.586 When I met you for half a second on the set, 177 00:09:05.586 --> 00:09:08.464 I just felt right away, oh, here's someone who 178 00:09:08.464 --> 00:09:11.217 just fits! 179 00:09:11.217 --> 00:09:12.301 Like, just kind of fits into everything. 180 00:09:12.301 --> 00:09:15.888 And I talked to Gates and she would not stop going on and on 181 00:09:15.888 --> 00:09:19.183 and on about how much she loved you and how amazing you are 182 00:09:19.183 --> 00:09:20.810 and how excited she was to work with you. 183 00:09:20.810 --> 00:09:23.563 And then she drops to me, "And he's playing your brother!" 184 00:09:23.563 --> 00:09:25.856 and I was like, "Gates, I don't know that." 185 00:09:27.191 --> 00:09:29.402 And Gates texts me back, 186 00:09:29.402 --> 00:09:32.029 "I'm gonna get fired if anyone knows that I told you." 187 00:09:32.029 --> 00:09:32.989 And I was like, "No, it's okay, 188 00:09:32.989 --> 00:09:35.199 NDAs have an exclusion for family." 189 00:09:35.199 --> 00:09:36.576 Yeah, of course. 190 00:09:36.576 --> 00:09:37.410 And I count as family. 191 00:09:37.410 --> 00:09:39.287 So, let's talk about that elephant in the room 192 00:09:39.287 --> 00:09:40.121 a little bit. - I know. 193 00:09:40.121 --> 00:09:42.665 Jack is Beverly's son, obviously. 194 00:09:42.665 --> 00:09:45.209 We find out at the end of this episode what we all 195 00:09:45.209 --> 00:09:46.919 kind of knew from the beginning. 196 00:09:46.919 --> 00:09:48.588 He is Picard's son. 197 00:09:48.588 --> 00:09:52.174 Would you just talk to me about sort of playing the child of 198 00:09:52.174 --> 00:09:54.552 literal Star Trek royalty? 199 00:09:54.552 --> 00:09:56.596 I mean, it's a thing, isn't it? 200 00:09:56.596 --> 00:09:57.388 Yeah. 201 00:09:57.388 --> 00:10:00.099 I mean it's also, we need to talk about the fact where, 202 00:10:00.099 --> 00:10:02.143 yeah, I mean, I'm sat next to my brother at the moment, 203 00:10:02.143 --> 00:10:04.562 so you know, half brother. 204 00:10:04.562 --> 00:10:07.398 So yeah, I feel that it's such a, 205 00:10:08.274 --> 00:10:10.359 it's such an interesting thing to try and get your head 206 00:10:10.359 --> 00:10:14.280 around. Like, it's like being the son of the most famous man 207 00:10:14.280 --> 00:10:15.323 in the world, essentially. 208 00:10:15.323 --> 00:10:16.157 Yeah. 209 00:10:16.157 --> 00:10:18.075 That's because Picard, in the Star Trek Universe, 210 00:10:18.075 --> 00:10:23.080 everybody knows who he is and he's held by in large in such 211 00:10:23.289 --> 00:10:28.294 high esteem. And the fact that Jack is fighting that really. 212 00:10:29.378 --> 00:10:31.005 I think he's, we don't really, he's, 213 00:10:31.005 --> 00:10:35.343 we don't really know where he sits with that, with where, 214 00:10:35.343 --> 00:10:37.261 you know, when we meet him and once we uncover the fact 215 00:10:37.261 --> 00:10:40.848 that he is, you know, Picard's son, he's still, 216 00:10:40.848 --> 00:10:42.308 we don't know what that means to him. 217 00:10:42.308 --> 00:10:43.142 Yeah. 218 00:10:43.142 --> 00:10:44.185 Because why hasn't that happened before? 219 00:10:44.185 --> 00:10:46.145 Why hasn't that been confronted before? 220 00:10:46.145 --> 00:10:48.147 And so obviously that's something that's deep rooted in him 221 00:10:48.147 --> 00:10:50.232 and something that he has been battling with 222 00:10:50.232 --> 00:10:52.860 his whole adult life and beyond. 223 00:10:52.860 --> 00:10:54.487 There's a theme this season in these, 224 00:10:54.487 --> 00:10:59.116 these first two episodes of Picard and Riker, and the 225 00:10:59.116 --> 00:11:02.286 legendary Starfleet men that they are, 226 00:11:02.286 --> 00:11:04.538 coming to the Titan and nobody on the Titan 227 00:11:04.538 --> 00:11:05.706 being impressed with them. 228 00:11:05.706 --> 00:11:08.709 And I actually quite love that. 229 00:11:08.709 --> 00:11:11.629 I love seeing these people who I venerate, 230 00:11:11.629 --> 00:11:14.090 who I just adore and worship kind of being people, right? 231 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:16.509 And being viewed as people. 232 00:11:16.509 --> 00:11:18.594 As an actor, you go in to prepare this character. 233 00:11:18.594 --> 00:11:22.973 You're not part of Star Trek, the big whole Star Trek thing, 234 00:11:22.973 --> 00:11:24.975 right, you're Jack, you're Beverly's son. 235 00:11:24.975 --> 00:11:28.479 Jack has every right in the world to not be thrilled 236 00:11:28.479 --> 00:11:30.314 about being around this guy. 237 00:11:30.314 --> 00:11:33.526 Did you prepare through that process? 238 00:11:33.526 --> 00:11:36.278 Did you spend time thinking about all of this time that 239 00:11:36.278 --> 00:11:38.406 Picard has not been in Jack's life? 240 00:11:38.406 --> 00:11:39.407 I think it's a very good question. 241 00:11:39.407 --> 00:11:42.827 I feel that I try to explore as much of an understanding 242 00:11:42.827 --> 00:11:45.663 of who Jack was as possible. 243 00:11:45.663 --> 00:11:46.497 And I feel that, 244 00:11:46.497 --> 00:11:49.250 it's interesting you say about being in that world. 245 00:11:49.250 --> 00:11:53.504 Jack has pushed everything to do with Starfleet away as 246 00:11:53.504 --> 00:11:54.880 far as possible 247 00:11:54.880 --> 00:11:57.508 that, like, anything to do with that world. 248 00:11:57.508 --> 00:11:58.759 Course, cause it's tied into his father. 249 00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:00.970 I mean, it is tied into his mother as well, 250 00:12:00.970 --> 00:12:01.929 but it's obviously his mother Beverly, 251 00:12:01.929 --> 00:12:03.222 she's broken away and done her own thing. 252 00:12:03.222 --> 00:12:04.515 So he can relate to that. 253 00:12:04.515 --> 00:12:05.725 Yeah. 254 00:12:05.725 --> 00:12:08.519 And I don't think she's ever bad mouthed Starfleet. 255 00:12:08.519 --> 00:12:10.980 I don't think that's ever been her, her port of call. 256 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:13.733 But I feel because it's so closely associated 257 00:12:13.733 --> 00:12:17.653 with his father and this relationship that he doesn't have, 258 00:12:17.653 --> 00:12:21.157 he inherently fights against it, butts up against it. 259 00:12:21.157 --> 00:12:23.409 And that's why I think we see this sort of Robin Hood 260 00:12:23.409 --> 00:12:25.536 element and you see it early on in Episode 2. 261 00:12:25.536 --> 00:12:29.206 This sort of slightly, not nefarious, but there is a, 262 00:12:29.206 --> 00:12:32.126 there is a, for want of a better phrase, 263 00:12:32.126 --> 00:12:34.420 a Jack the Lad quality to him. 264 00:12:37.590 --> 00:12:38.883 Romulan ale. 265 00:12:40.134 --> 00:12:42.970 A new miracle cure I'm not aware of? 266 00:12:42.970 --> 00:12:44.346 For sterilization. 267 00:12:44.346 --> 00:12:46.682 It's ideal antiseptic and the commonly prescribed treatment 268 00:12:46.682 --> 00:12:49.393 for life in general, all of which we are happy to share. 269 00:12:49.393 --> 00:12:53.856 There is that burning, I think drive and, you know, 270 00:12:53.856 --> 00:12:57.067 maybe modus operandi of trying to prove that he 271 00:12:57.067 --> 00:12:59.111 doesn't need the help of a big machine. 272 00:12:59.111 --> 00:13:00.863 And actually that doesn't represent anything 273 00:13:00.863 --> 00:13:02.323 that he can connect with. 274 00:13:02.323 --> 00:13:05.201 And I think that's one of the biggest things for me, 275 00:13:05.201 --> 00:13:07.286 that he's searching for in this season, his connection. 276 00:13:07.286 --> 00:13:09.455 Connection is hugely important to him, 277 00:13:09.455 --> 00:13:10.748 even though he doesn't know it. 278 00:13:10.748 --> 00:13:14.376 I see these things in Jack that he clearly gets 279 00:13:14.376 --> 00:13:15.586 from his mother 280 00:13:15.586 --> 00:13:19.089 that desire to be outside of the system and that desire 281 00:13:19.089 --> 00:13:23.093 to push back against what everyone expects him to do. 282 00:13:23.093 --> 00:13:26.806 Did you and Gates have any conversations about the, like, 283 00:13:26.806 --> 00:13:28.724 kind of like what your relationship was, 284 00:13:28.724 --> 00:13:30.309 the character relationship is off camera? 285 00:13:30.309 --> 00:13:31.143 Absolutely. 286 00:13:31.143 --> 00:13:33.521 I think Gates and I, we struck it off straight away. 287 00:13:33.521 --> 00:13:36.065 We, you know, we got into the nitty gritty with character 288 00:13:36.065 --> 00:13:37.608 'cause she loves to do that as you well know. 289 00:13:37.608 --> 00:13:38.442 Oh, I know. 290 00:13:38.442 --> 00:13:41.195 With a huge theater background. 291 00:13:41.195 --> 00:13:42.905 Yeah, that's her real, her real burning passion. 292 00:13:42.905 --> 00:13:46.408 And I feel that we got into that and I think Gates made it 293 00:13:46.408 --> 00:13:48.160 very clear to me she wanted to be a part of this again, 294 00:13:48.160 --> 00:13:49.662 because she wanted to have that, 295 00:13:49.662 --> 00:13:51.914 she wanted to have those moments. 296 00:13:51.914 --> 00:13:54.708 And it's paramount that no- 297 00:13:54.708 --> 00:13:56.085 Nice. 298 00:13:56.085 --> 00:13:57.294 No pun intended. 299 00:13:57.294 --> 00:14:01.298 That a guy who has been brought up by his mother 300 00:14:01.298 --> 00:14:04.218 is gonna have a huge, huge connection to his mother. 301 00:14:04.218 --> 00:14:06.846 You have done some amazing fantasy roles 302 00:14:06.846 --> 00:14:08.556 and some great period pieces. 303 00:14:08.556 --> 00:14:10.808 My kids are obsessed with Downton Abbey. 304 00:14:10.808 --> 00:14:11.934 Are they? 305 00:14:11.934 --> 00:14:12.768 They just like, it's a big deal that I'm talking 306 00:14:12.768 --> 00:14:14.395 to you today. - Oh, okay. 307 00:14:14.395 --> 00:14:15.396 - For Ryan, it's a big deal. - Oh wow. 308 00:14:15.396 --> 00:14:17.147 So those shows are like, you know, 309 00:14:17.147 --> 00:14:21.569 they're genre in their way, they're period very much. 310 00:14:21.569 --> 00:14:23.571 We can think of the 24th century, 311 00:14:23.571 --> 00:14:24.864 25th century as a period piece. 312 00:14:24.864 --> 00:14:26.115 A time period's a period, right? 313 00:14:26.115 --> 00:14:26.949 Yeah, right! 314 00:14:26.949 --> 00:14:29.743 Do you find places where the preparation and the skill 315 00:14:29.743 --> 00:14:32.371 and those things that are unique to those experiences 316 00:14:32.371 --> 00:14:34.123 translated to the Star Trek experience for you? 317 00:14:34.123 --> 00:14:36.584 Well, I think as you well know as an actor, 318 00:14:36.584 --> 00:14:39.753 I think that one of the beauties of this, 319 00:14:39.753 --> 00:14:42.464 of this career and this industry is you get the opportunity 320 00:14:42.464 --> 00:14:44.466 to delve into many different time periods, 321 00:14:44.466 --> 00:14:45.342 many different worlds. 322 00:14:45.342 --> 00:14:47.094 And that is what, that's what drives me 323 00:14:47.094 --> 00:14:48.554 to do what I do for a living. 324 00:14:48.554 --> 00:14:50.347 I think that that's, you know, more than anything else, 325 00:14:50.347 --> 00:14:53.225 it comes down to understanding humans or whoever, 326 00:14:53.225 --> 00:14:54.852 whatever you're playing. 327 00:14:54.852 --> 00:14:59.273 And the great thing about being in the 24th century is yes, 328 00:14:59.273 --> 00:15:01.358 you get all the, all the gizmos, all the toys 329 00:15:01.358 --> 00:15:02.484 Yeah. 330 00:15:02.484 --> 00:15:03.360 it looks amazing. 331 00:15:03.360 --> 00:15:04.361 And you, and you're charging around with phasers 332 00:15:04.361 --> 00:15:07.197 and it's great and it looks wonderful and it's high-end. 333 00:15:07.197 --> 00:15:09.742 However, still at the core of it all, 334 00:15:09.742 --> 00:15:12.036 you can strip that away from any time period. 335 00:15:12.036 --> 00:15:13.412 We're still dealing with family. 336 00:15:13.412 --> 00:15:14.246 Yeah. 337 00:15:14.246 --> 00:15:16.081 We're still dealing with human relationships, 338 00:15:16.081 --> 00:15:17.917 we're still dealing with morality, 339 00:15:17.917 --> 00:15:20.210 trying to understand people better, 340 00:15:20.210 --> 00:15:23.339 trying to push things forward to, for the greater good. 341 00:15:23.339 --> 00:15:27.509 Which is, I mean, for me is the Star Trek what I've taken 342 00:15:27.509 --> 00:15:29.929 to be the Star Trek core and the foundation of it. 343 00:15:29.929 --> 00:15:32.890 And to what actually makes it such a popular world 344 00:15:32.890 --> 00:15:34.975 and why it's been so popular for however many 345 00:15:34.975 --> 00:15:36.101 60 years or something? 346 00:15:36.101 --> 00:15:37.561 We talking 60 years? - Yeah. 347 00:15:37.561 --> 00:15:38.854 Yeah. 348 00:15:38.854 --> 00:15:41.565 So, I think the time period is one thing, 349 00:15:41.565 --> 00:15:45.235 and obviously you have to adapt to that, but I feel that it, 350 00:15:45.235 --> 00:15:46.904 the skillset is still the same. 351 00:15:46.904 --> 00:15:48.697 You need to be applying to what, 352 00:15:48.697 --> 00:15:49.531 what's the script telling me? 353 00:15:49.531 --> 00:15:51.033 What's the character telling me? 354 00:15:51.033 --> 00:15:52.326 What am I feeling, what am I thinking? 355 00:15:52.326 --> 00:15:53.744 "How am I gonna get outta this situation?" 356 00:15:53.744 --> 00:15:55.454 is what normally what Jack's thinking. 357 00:15:55.454 --> 00:15:59.083 When I first walked onto the bridge in 1987. 358 00:15:59.083 --> 00:16:00.125 Wow. 359 00:16:00.125 --> 00:16:01.877 - I - - Wow. 360 00:16:01.877 --> 00:16:03.712 - I lost, I lost my mind. - Yeah. 361 00:16:03.712 --> 00:16:06.215 I could not believe that it was real and I was there 362 00:16:06.215 --> 00:16:08.926 and, dear young Wil Wheaton, 363 00:16:08.926 --> 00:16:12.429 who is watching Star Trek on a tiny black and white TV, 364 00:16:12.429 --> 00:16:14.306 it happens, buddy. 365 00:16:14.306 --> 00:16:17.434 Tell me about the first time you went in to experience. 366 00:16:17.434 --> 00:16:20.145 [Ed] I was blown away by the scale of it, straight away. 367 00:16:20.145 --> 00:16:21.480 - [Wil] It's huge. - [Ed] It's massive. 368 00:16:21.480 --> 00:16:22.606 - [Wil] Yeah. 369 00:16:22.606 --> 00:16:24.900 And it's shiny. 370 00:16:24.900 --> 00:16:26.527 It's got that new ship smell. 371 00:16:26.527 --> 00:16:28.028 [Wil] It really is. 372 00:16:28.028 --> 00:16:29.613 It's like two and a half times the size of our bridge. 373 00:16:29.613 --> 00:16:30.906 Right, it's, yeah. 374 00:16:30.906 --> 00:16:32.491 And, and yeah, and shiny. 375 00:16:32.491 --> 00:16:33.993 - Shiny. - So beautiful. 376 00:16:33.993 --> 00:16:36.245 Shiny but dark and metallic and all these, it was like a, 377 00:16:36.245 --> 00:16:37.997 it's like a nightclub you really wanna be in. 378 00:16:37.997 --> 00:16:39.081 Yeah. 379 00:16:39.081 --> 00:16:40.749 But I was blown away by how many people were involved 380 00:16:40.749 --> 00:16:42.835 to make that bridge work, 381 00:16:42.835 --> 00:16:45.879 whether it be like people behind the screens, 382 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:49.341 to make those screens actually operate and work 383 00:16:49.341 --> 00:16:50.592 and be realistic. 384 00:16:50.592 --> 00:16:52.970 To every detail that was put into that from Dave Blass, 385 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:56.265 the production designer was, like, incredible. 386 00:16:56.265 --> 00:16:58.183 It's, again, as an actor, 387 00:16:58.183 --> 00:17:01.311 you have to create feelings and emotions and you have to do 388 00:17:01.311 --> 00:17:04.857 that sapping off the environment you're working in. 389 00:17:04.857 --> 00:17:05.733 Yeah. 390 00:17:05.733 --> 00:17:06.942 But when you have a space like that, 391 00:17:06.942 --> 00:17:08.360 it just starts flowing. 392 00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:10.362 But yeah, I was, I'm not gonna deny it, 393 00:17:10.362 --> 00:17:11.488 I was completely overwhelmed. 394 00:17:11.488 --> 00:17:13.157 There's a real pinch yourself moment. 395 00:17:13.157 --> 00:17:15.409 You're like, how, 396 00:17:15.409 --> 00:17:17.578 how am I standing here? - I know. 397 00:17:17.578 --> 00:17:19.121 And I'm looking to the left of me, 398 00:17:19.121 --> 00:17:20.789 there's oh, there's Seven of Nine. 399 00:17:20.789 --> 00:17:23.625 You looking to the right of me, there's, oh there's Riker, 400 00:17:23.625 --> 00:17:25.127 there's, you're like, what? What? 401 00:17:25.127 --> 00:17:26.795 What is actually taking place with my day to day? 402 00:17:26.795 --> 00:17:27.963 Oh, I've got a phaser on me. 403 00:17:27.963 --> 00:17:29.673 I mean it's like completely bonkers. 404 00:17:29.673 --> 00:17:31.800 The thing, the feeling I took from it, 405 00:17:31.800 --> 00:17:34.094 and I know you feel this as well, 'cause it, 406 00:17:34.094 --> 00:17:36.472 it just comes clearly from you. 407 00:17:36.472 --> 00:17:39.433 You're so effusive about the whole thing, 408 00:17:39.433 --> 00:17:43.187 is that no matter the scale, no matter how grand 409 00:17:43.187 --> 00:17:46.482 it might feel and high concept and high-end, 410 00:17:46.482 --> 00:17:49.359 there's a family there, both sides of, of the camera. 411 00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:50.569 Yeah. 412 00:17:50.569 --> 00:17:51.612 Everyone is making this machine, this unit, 413 00:17:51.612 --> 00:17:55.240 to work in a way that is, it allows an amazing space 414 00:17:55.240 --> 00:17:57.451 to play as an actor and to go out and have fun 415 00:17:57.451 --> 00:17:59.953 and do your job to the best of your ability. 416 00:17:59.953 --> 00:18:03.248 And I have to thank, I have to thank Paramount, 417 00:18:03.248 --> 00:18:06.585 and CBS, and Terry Matalas, and everybody involved 418 00:18:06.585 --> 00:18:09.463 to make that machine feel like that, as a safe space. 419 00:18:09.463 --> 00:18:12.091 I mean it's just, it felt like a big family. 420 00:18:12.091 --> 00:18:13.133 Yeah, I get that. 421 00:18:13.133 --> 00:18:14.593 Yeah, I know, yeah. 422 00:18:14.593 --> 00:18:16.553 This is a surreal thing. 423 00:18:16.553 --> 00:18:17.554 This is, I mean this is kind of - 424 00:18:17.554 --> 00:18:19.556 I get that too. 425 00:18:19.556 --> 00:18:21.725 I have a question for you about Jack, but before we do that, 426 00:18:21.725 --> 00:18:24.478 I wanna stay with family, specifically your family. 427 00:18:24.478 --> 00:18:26.355 You brought in a drawing this morning 428 00:18:26.355 --> 00:18:27.397 - Oh yeah. - your daughter did. 429 00:18:27.397 --> 00:18:29.358 It's so wonderful and beautiful. Can we share it? 430 00:18:29.358 --> 00:18:30.609 Yeah, of course we can. 431 00:18:30.609 --> 00:18:33.487 Let's share it! It's wonderful, I love this. 432 00:18:33.487 --> 00:18:36.490 So, I was going out for lunch yesterday 433 00:18:36.490 --> 00:18:40.619 with Jonathan Frakes and Terry Matalas, and I came back 434 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:43.205 and my daughter, 'cause she knew I was coming on here today, 435 00:18:43.205 --> 00:18:45.207 she was like, "Daddy, I did a drawing for you." 436 00:18:45.207 --> 00:18:46.416 So this is her, 437 00:18:46.416 --> 00:18:51.421 her rainbow Starship Enterprise that she drew just for me. 438 00:18:51.630 --> 00:18:53.632 And she was like, "When you gonna go meet Wil today, 439 00:18:53.632 --> 00:18:54.758 this is for your work so you can take it with you 440 00:18:54.758 --> 00:18:55.592 for your work." 441 00:18:55.592 --> 00:18:58.428 And I mean, so this will be framed at some point 442 00:18:58.428 --> 00:19:01.014 next to the poster of Picard Season 3. 443 00:19:01.014 --> 00:19:01.849 That's great. 444 00:19:01.849 --> 00:19:02.683 This is going up there next to it. 445 00:19:02.683 --> 00:19:03.517 I love that. 446 00:19:03.517 --> 00:19:04.560 So yeah, I was very... 447 00:19:04.560 --> 00:19:05.727 I absolutely love that. 448 00:19:05.727 --> 00:19:06.562 - Yeah, she's... - That's so cool. 449 00:19:06.562 --> 00:19:07.604 She's very sweet, they're both very sweet. 450 00:19:07.604 --> 00:19:09.606 Let's go back to Jack for a little bit. 451 00:19:09.606 --> 00:19:11.233 He is being hunted. 452 00:19:12.109 --> 00:19:13.902 He is being all kinds of hunted 453 00:19:13.902 --> 00:19:16.530 and we're not entirely sure why. 454 00:19:16.530 --> 00:19:20.242 It, part of this fun of the season for me is trying 455 00:19:20.242 --> 00:19:22.786 to figure out, like, is Jack being hunted 456 00:19:22.786 --> 00:19:23.954 'cause he's a bad guy? 457 00:19:23.954 --> 00:19:25.330 Did he do something bad? 458 00:19:25.330 --> 00:19:29.126 I mean maybe, like sometimes villains don't necessarily, 459 00:19:29.126 --> 00:19:32.671 they aren't the villain we think they are when we see them. 460 00:19:32.671 --> 00:19:35.924 Vadic is one of the most terrifying Star Trek villains 461 00:19:35.924 --> 00:19:36.884 I've ever seen! - Yeah. 462 00:19:36.884 --> 00:19:40.179 And Amanda Plummer is so freaking good - 463 00:19:40.179 --> 00:19:41.847 in that role. - She's incredible. 464 00:19:41.847 --> 00:19:43.307 Good afternoon. 465 00:19:44.474 --> 00:19:46.977 I believe it is afternoon in Sol system. 466 00:19:48.020 --> 00:19:50.439 [Wil] What does it feel like to play a guy 467 00:19:50.439 --> 00:19:52.858 who is pursued by her? 468 00:19:52.858 --> 00:19:54.526 I mean, talk about surreal! 469 00:19:54.526 --> 00:19:56.153 That's about as surreal as it gets. 470 00:19:56.153 --> 00:19:58.989 And the Shrike is a terrifying Starship. 471 00:19:58.989 --> 00:20:02.576 I know and I think when Lieutenant Mura announces the 472 00:20:02.576 --> 00:20:03.410 arsenal that it has, 473 00:20:03.410 --> 00:20:05.495 it's like it's, the list just is relentless. 474 00:20:05.495 --> 00:20:07.456 I think even Todd Stashwick, Captain Shaw, 475 00:20:07.456 --> 00:20:09.708 is like, "Ah, okay, okay, we get the picture." 476 00:20:09.708 --> 00:20:11.168 Captain Liam Shaw. 477 00:20:11.168 --> 00:20:12.794 That's me. 478 00:20:12.794 --> 00:20:15.130 It's important for you to know that I was having a nice 479 00:20:15.130 --> 00:20:16.215 morning before all of this. 480 00:20:16.215 --> 00:20:17.716 You mentioned Shaw. 481 00:20:17.716 --> 00:20:20.219 I think Todd Stashwick steals every scene that he is in 482 00:20:20.219 --> 00:20:22.846 this season. I just think he is phenomenal in this series. 483 00:20:22.846 --> 00:20:27.392 I love his being totally unimpressed with Riker and Picard. 484 00:20:27.392 --> 00:20:28.477 It's amazing. 485 00:20:28.477 --> 00:20:29.311 I think it's incredible. 486 00:20:29.311 --> 00:20:33.315 But he is like not real into Jack being on his ship, either. 487 00:20:33.315 --> 00:20:34.775 Whoever this kid may be, 488 00:20:34.775 --> 00:20:37.486 he is not worth the lives of my crew. 489 00:20:37.486 --> 00:20:39.821 I think it's great having unique conflict 490 00:20:39.821 --> 00:20:43.951 and I feel that I personally love being in that position 491 00:20:43.951 --> 00:20:45.911 as Jack who's, who's an outsider, 492 00:20:45.911 --> 00:20:48.372 who's trying to find his way and trying to fit. 493 00:20:48.372 --> 00:20:50.123 So from a character standpoint 494 00:20:50.123 --> 00:20:54.544 when Jack says, "Look, okay, I'm turning myself in." 495 00:20:54.544 --> 00:20:55.379 Right? 496 00:20:55.379 --> 00:20:56.213 Like, let's do that. 497 00:20:56.213 --> 00:20:58.465 Would you talk me through his decision making process in 498 00:20:58.465 --> 00:21:01.802 that and how it reflects his feelings for Shaw, the crew 499 00:21:01.802 --> 00:21:03.553 of the Titan, and the people he is around? 500 00:21:03.553 --> 00:21:04.721 That's a big choice to make. 501 00:21:04.721 --> 00:21:06.014 Yeah, it's a big choice. 502 00:21:06.014 --> 00:21:08.892 And I think it sort of touches on this feeling inside of him 503 00:21:08.892 --> 00:21:11.520 that actually yet, okay, he does put on a show and he does, 504 00:21:11.520 --> 00:21:14.314 he does bristle his own, you know, you know, 505 00:21:14.314 --> 00:21:16.942 bristle himself up and he likes to be a bit pugnacious 506 00:21:16.942 --> 00:21:20.237 and argumentative, but actually deep down 507 00:21:20.237 --> 00:21:23.991 he does know what is good, and he does want people 508 00:21:23.991 --> 00:21:25.534 to be okay. - Yeah. 509 00:21:25.534 --> 00:21:26.660 And it comes down to what we're talking about a little bit 510 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:28.412 earlier on, that understanding of how people operate, 511 00:21:28.412 --> 00:21:30.622 an understanding of what's right and wrong himself. 512 00:21:30.622 --> 00:21:33.292 And I feel that Jack makes the decision 'cause he is like, 513 00:21:33.292 --> 00:21:35.294 "I don't wanna see all these people get hurt. 514 00:21:35.294 --> 00:21:37.546 I don't wanna see that. There's no need for it." 515 00:21:37.546 --> 00:21:39.464 And he's brave enough to confront that and be like, 516 00:21:39.464 --> 00:21:42.342 "Okay, this is my-I've messed up 517 00:21:42.342 --> 00:21:43.802 and I want to deal with it myself." 518 00:21:43.802 --> 00:21:48.724 And that in a weird, not actually a weird way, 519 00:21:48.724 --> 00:21:53.562 in an interesting way is quite Picard-esque, I think. 520 00:21:53.562 --> 00:21:56.690 Although it's, he's doing it in a very different way. 521 00:21:56.690 --> 00:21:57.649 Yeah. 522 00:21:57.649 --> 00:21:58.525 He's doing under a different guise. 523 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:01.194 It's the sort of thing that Jean-Luc Picard would do. 524 00:22:01.194 --> 00:22:03.071 Be like, "Okay, let's deal with this head on." 525 00:22:03.071 --> 00:22:06.783 In this episode there is this very heated conversation 526 00:22:06.783 --> 00:22:09.453 with Picard and Riker and Jack. 527 00:22:09.453 --> 00:22:14.458 When you, Ed, go into the set with Frakes and Patrick and 528 00:22:15.417 --> 00:22:19.254 and Gates, does the little boy that watched Star Trek 529 00:22:19.254 --> 00:22:21.465 jump up and down inside of you at all? 530 00:22:21.465 --> 00:22:23.842 Do you have to like tell him to settle down so you can work? 531 00:22:23.842 --> 00:22:26.136 I ask you, because this is the thing I have to do. 532 00:22:26.136 --> 00:22:26.970 I see. 533 00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:27.846 I have to be like, listen, Trekkie-Wil, 534 00:22:27.846 --> 00:22:29.348 it's time to be professional. 535 00:22:29.348 --> 00:22:32.184 So you're in a room with big heavy hitters. 536 00:22:32.184 --> 00:22:34.853 Exciting, intimidating, just another day at the office? 537 00:22:34.853 --> 00:22:36.188 All of these things? 538 00:22:36.188 --> 00:22:38.565 It's never for me another day at the office. 539 00:22:38.565 --> 00:22:39.399 That's awesome. 540 00:22:39.399 --> 00:22:41.026 It's never that. 541 00:22:41.026 --> 00:22:43.111 Because I think if it's that then you're taking your foot 542 00:22:43.111 --> 00:22:45.614 off the gas and then, you're in danger zone 543 00:22:45.614 --> 00:22:47.991 and it, who knows, it could all go horribly wrong. 544 00:22:47.991 --> 00:22:49.785 I'm not saying it's gone horribly right. 545 00:22:49.785 --> 00:22:53.080 But what I did feel early on in some of those scenes 546 00:22:53.080 --> 00:22:56.166 was I can't let other people down here. 547 00:22:56.166 --> 00:22:57.793 I'm with, - Man. 548 00:22:57.793 --> 00:22:59.378 - I'm, you know, I'm stepping up to the plate 549 00:22:59.378 --> 00:23:02.297 with some big heavy hitters who know this inside out 550 00:23:02.297 --> 00:23:04.174 and they're not gonna, even if they're the nicest people 551 00:23:04.174 --> 00:23:05.967 in the world, which they are, 552 00:23:05.967 --> 00:23:08.387 they're not gonna take prisoners or suffer fools gladly. 553 00:23:08.387 --> 00:23:10.722 So you've gotta match them and you've gotta surpass that as 554 00:23:10.722 --> 00:23:11.556 well, I felt. 555 00:23:11.556 --> 00:23:14.518 You are accused of organized crime on Andoria, 556 00:23:14.518 --> 00:23:17.145 actual terrorism on Binar 3 and you're wanted for the 557 00:23:17.145 --> 00:23:19.439 death of a man on Andreas 5. 558 00:23:19.439 --> 00:23:20.399 That's unfair. 559 00:23:20.399 --> 00:23:22.192 He's a Falsettian and they go into a deep hibernation 560 00:23:22.192 --> 00:23:26.363 for seven cycles, so knowing is he dead or is he alive, 561 00:23:26.363 --> 00:23:27.572 who's to say? 562 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:32.619 I relish that 'cause I felt it tuned into Jack as well. 563 00:23:32.619 --> 00:23:34.913 So it was a, it was a lovely little way for me 564 00:23:34.913 --> 00:23:36.790 to step into something that was like, 565 00:23:36.790 --> 00:23:38.083 "Okay, come on there guys, what have you got? 566 00:23:38.083 --> 00:23:39.543 I'm gonna bring you this. 567 00:23:39.543 --> 00:23:40.710 Let's see what you guys have got. 568 00:23:40.710 --> 00:23:42.337 Let's have some fun and let's play." 569 00:23:42.337 --> 00:23:43.338 And I love that. 570 00:23:43.338 --> 00:23:46.049 I know before I sat down you were talking about ice hockey 571 00:23:46.049 --> 00:23:48.718 and sports and I'm a big, big football fan. 572 00:23:48.718 --> 00:23:49.928 - Yeah. - My football, and - 573 00:23:49.928 --> 00:23:51.346 Who's your team, who's your club? 574 00:23:51.346 --> 00:23:52.931 Tottenham Hotspur. 575 00:23:52.931 --> 00:23:55.058 - Talk to Marina about that? - Yeah, of course. 576 00:23:55.058 --> 00:23:57.227 I mean that's like the first thing. 577 00:23:57.227 --> 00:23:58.145 That was the first thing - Yeah. 578 00:23:58.145 --> 00:23:58.979 - that's the first thing. - Yeah. 579 00:23:58.979 --> 00:24:00.355 With a lot of effing and blinding as well. 580 00:24:00.355 --> 00:24:02.023 Yeah, absolutely. 581 00:24:03.483 --> 00:24:04.359 Which was great. 582 00:24:04.359 --> 00:24:08.822 But as a result, I have that sense of, 583 00:24:08.822 --> 00:24:10.031 and I play a lot, 584 00:24:10.031 --> 00:24:11.825 and I have that sense of competition, I mean, 585 00:24:11.825 --> 00:24:14.202 not that it means that at work and an acting environment is 586 00:24:14.202 --> 00:24:15.579 competition, but it means that when you're stepping 587 00:24:15.579 --> 00:24:17.330 into the world of working with these people, 588 00:24:17.330 --> 00:24:19.124 you've gotta be ready in on your game. 589 00:24:19.124 --> 00:24:20.709 And, and I feel 590 00:24:20.709 --> 00:24:22.085 I've relished that. I've made mistakes in the past 591 00:24:22.085 --> 00:24:23.962 when I haven't and it's not worked out. 592 00:24:23.962 --> 00:24:26.381 So you know this, you've got one opportunity. 593 00:24:26.381 --> 00:24:29.342 This is a huge opportunity to be given by people, by, 594 00:24:29.342 --> 00:24:31.303 you know, very, you know, serious players 595 00:24:31.303 --> 00:24:32.929 and they've given me a chance. 596 00:24:32.929 --> 00:24:36.433 I can't let the pressure of who these people are 597 00:24:36.433 --> 00:24:38.268 in front of me override that. 598 00:24:38.268 --> 00:24:40.896 You have to just throw yourself into it. 599 00:24:40.896 --> 00:24:43.690 About two months ago, I saw Patrick briefly 600 00:24:43.690 --> 00:24:46.443 and he had just met Lionel Messi. 601 00:24:49.029 --> 00:24:49.863 I just... 602 00:24:49.863 --> 00:24:50.989 I mean there's not many things you can just 603 00:24:50.989 --> 00:24:52.032 pick up off the floor. 604 00:24:52.032 --> 00:24:53.533 I'm telling you the, so the next time you see Patrick, 605 00:24:53.533 --> 00:24:54.451 Wow. 606 00:24:54.451 --> 00:24:57.621 you can can ask him because if you wanna see the gravitas 607 00:24:57.621 --> 00:25:00.582 and the grace and the Shakespearean Sir Patrick Stewart 608 00:25:00.582 --> 00:25:03.293 of everything turn into a 10-year-old kid 609 00:25:03.293 --> 00:25:05.253 who's excited cuz he met his hero, 610 00:25:05.253 --> 00:25:08.298 the way he lights up and just explodes with joy when he 611 00:25:08.298 --> 00:25:09.966 tells the story. - Wow. 612 00:25:09.966 --> 00:25:10.800 It's a great thing. 613 00:25:10.800 --> 00:25:12.219 I'm looking forward to talking about that. 614 00:25:12.219 --> 00:25:13.053 You will, 615 00:25:13.053 --> 00:25:13.887 you will greatly enjoy that. 616 00:25:13.887 --> 00:25:15.388 Without spoiling anything, 617 00:25:15.388 --> 00:25:17.516 which is so hard for us to do. 618 00:25:17.516 --> 00:25:18.350 Yeah. 619 00:25:18.350 --> 00:25:19.559 Do you want to drop any hints 620 00:25:19.559 --> 00:25:21.520 about the rest of the season? 621 00:25:21.520 --> 00:25:25.690 I just, I don't know what I can say. 622 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:26.775 It's so difficult. 623 00:25:26.775 --> 00:25:29.110 I mean, I would just, I mean, I know that the people 624 00:25:29.110 --> 00:25:31.363 watching this, I would hope that the people watching this 625 00:25:31.363 --> 00:25:32.989 are gonna stick with it. 626 00:25:32.989 --> 00:25:34.950 But I would just say stick with it because I don't think 627 00:25:34.950 --> 00:25:37.786 you realize what you're in for. 628 00:25:37.786 --> 00:25:40.872 I think this, this season, 629 00:25:40.872 --> 00:25:44.292 it's like an all, it's like a big symphony. 630 00:25:44.292 --> 00:25:46.878 It just crescendos, it rattles along at a pace, 631 00:25:46.878 --> 00:25:48.755 but it goes and goes and goes. 632 00:25:48.755 --> 00:25:52.759 And it's like a throwback not just to, to Next Gen of old, 633 00:25:52.759 --> 00:25:54.386 not just to films like First Contact. 634 00:25:54.386 --> 00:25:59.391 It is a throwback to some sort of 80's era-fueled movie 635 00:25:59.391 --> 00:26:02.269 with amazing music all the way through, 636 00:26:02.269 --> 00:26:04.312 characters so fleshed out. 637 00:26:04.312 --> 00:26:05.272 I know I've mentioned it a two or three times, 638 00:26:05.272 --> 00:26:09.317 but this high concept, high-octane action and story, 639 00:26:09.317 --> 00:26:12.320 but which is under undercut and underpinned by beautiful 640 00:26:12.320 --> 00:26:14.197 family relationships. - Yeah. 641 00:26:14.197 --> 00:26:17.534 And I'm so proud to have been a part of this season. 642 00:26:17.534 --> 00:26:19.327 What happens after that, who knows? 643 00:26:19.327 --> 00:26:21.162 But I'm so, so proud to be given 644 00:26:21.162 --> 00:26:21.997 an opportunity by Paramount. 645 00:26:21.997 --> 00:26:26.835 I'm so, and I'm so eager to see what people think. 646 00:26:26.835 --> 00:26:29.754 That's so awesome. I love that for you. 647 00:26:29.754 --> 00:26:31.756 And I love that we share a Spacemom. 648 00:26:31.756 --> 00:26:33.842 I mean, that's about as cool as it can get. 649 00:26:33.842 --> 00:26:34.843 I just think that's pretty great. 650 00:26:34.843 --> 00:26:36.511 Thank you so much for being here. 651 00:26:36.511 --> 00:26:37.345 It's an honor. 652 00:26:37.345 --> 00:26:38.263 Such a pleasure talking with you. 653 00:26:38.263 --> 00:26:40.307 No, likewise, thank you so much for bringing me in. 654 00:26:58.575 --> 00:27:01.828 The future that Star Trek represents is so inspiring. 655 00:27:01.828 --> 00:27:05.457 It is one of peace, equality and Infinite Diversity 656 00:27:05.457 --> 00:27:06.875 in Infinite Combinations. 657 00:27:06.875 --> 00:27:10.462 It's basically all the best things and it is a future 658 00:27:10.462 --> 00:27:12.839 I desperately want to live in. 659 00:27:12.839 --> 00:27:16.426 Now, despite the great strides taken to achieve this vision 660 00:27:16.426 --> 00:27:19.929 of perfection, there will always be those who stand 661 00:27:19.929 --> 00:27:23.558 in selfish opposition: the pirates, the greedy profiteers, 662 00:27:23.558 --> 00:27:26.269 and the warlords who are determined to subvert 663 00:27:26.269 --> 00:27:30.357 the United Federation of Planet's vision of utopia. 664 00:27:30.357 --> 00:27:33.318 Here is a look at the creation of one of Star Trek's 665 00:27:33.318 --> 00:27:37.906 seediest locales where they all hang out, District Six. 666 00:27:57.425 --> 00:27:59.010 Stepping over junkies is one hell of a way 667 00:27:59.010 --> 00:28:00.053 to conceal a drug den. 668 00:28:00.053 --> 00:28:02.097 We're not open to strangers, move on. 669 00:28:04.474 --> 00:28:06.059 So, Season 3, 670 00:28:06.059 --> 00:28:09.229 we find Raffi in a very interesting sort of situation. 671 00:28:09.229 --> 00:28:10.814 She doesn't seem to be doing the best. 672 00:28:10.814 --> 00:28:13.274 She's in a sketchy neighborhood. 673 00:28:13.274 --> 00:28:14.609 Hey, watch it freak. 674 00:28:14.609 --> 00:28:15.485 I'm not your dealer. 675 00:28:15.485 --> 00:28:16.528 When you think of Star Trek, 676 00:28:16.528 --> 00:28:19.239 most of the locations are set on our amazing ships, 677 00:28:19.239 --> 00:28:20.615 which are fun and beautiful, 678 00:28:20.615 --> 00:28:22.826 but we always try to open up the palette as well of finding 679 00:28:22.826 --> 00:28:26.204 certain locations or locales that feel like this isn't 680 00:28:26.204 --> 00:28:28.289 what you would expect on a Star Trek show. 681 00:28:29.541 --> 00:28:31.960 One of the things you don't normally see in Star Trek 682 00:28:31.960 --> 00:28:34.003 is the seedy underworld. 683 00:28:34.003 --> 00:28:38.007 You're like the all-knowing oracle of the underworld 684 00:28:38.007 --> 00:28:39.050 and shit, right?. 685 00:28:40.927 --> 00:28:44.305 And so that was a lot of fun designing this planet, 686 00:28:44.305 --> 00:28:47.934 which when I worked on Enterprise, I was a PA, 687 00:28:47.934 --> 00:28:50.895 and they had named this horrible planet after me. 688 00:28:50.895 --> 00:28:54.315 I've seen things I could never imagine back home. 689 00:28:54.315 --> 00:28:59.112 I saw that ring moons of M'Talas Prime. 690 00:28:59.112 --> 00:29:02.282 So, when we were talking initially about what's a horrible 691 00:29:02.282 --> 00:29:04.576 place to be in, someone in the writer's room, 692 00:29:04.576 --> 00:29:05.869 "Well there's M'Talas Prime" and I was like, 693 00:29:05.869 --> 00:29:06.870 "All right, here we go." 694 00:29:06.870 --> 00:29:09.414 At night, it can drop to five or even 10 degrees below zero. 695 00:29:09.414 --> 00:29:11.207 That doesn't sound so bad. 696 00:29:11.207 --> 00:29:13.752 During the day, the temperature can rise to as high 697 00:29:13.752 --> 00:29:15.587 as 170 degrees. 698 00:29:15.587 --> 00:29:19.758 So, we decided to put that into the show. 699 00:29:19.758 --> 00:29:22.177 I'm happy to be associated with the worst place 700 00:29:22.177 --> 00:29:23.136 in the galaxy. 701 00:29:23.136 --> 00:29:25.972 Being able to design District Six and just make this 702 00:29:25.972 --> 00:29:29.976 underbelly alien world with strange alien meats and all 703 00:29:29.976 --> 00:29:31.686 kinds of weird things are going on, 704 00:29:31.686 --> 00:29:33.396 it was a really fun palette to play with. 705 00:29:33.396 --> 00:29:35.231 District Six was really fun. 706 00:29:35.231 --> 00:29:37.150 And whenever you're doing something like that, 707 00:29:37.150 --> 00:29:39.486 it's kind of looking at what has been done before. 708 00:29:39.486 --> 00:29:41.654 They did an alien market on Discovery. 709 00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:50.789 - [Georgiou] What is that? - Delicious. 710 00:29:50.789 --> 00:29:51.623 It's a space whale. 711 00:29:51.623 --> 00:29:52.874 Gormagander? 712 00:29:52.874 --> 00:29:57.212 And we actually did an Okinawa market in Season 2. 713 00:29:57.212 --> 00:29:59.339 All right, come on, let's get outta here. 714 00:29:59.339 --> 00:30:00.423 [Computer] Lockdown initiated. 715 00:30:01.424 --> 00:30:03.343 And it was that that inspired the Showrunner 716 00:30:03.343 --> 00:30:05.261 Terry, he said, "Oh, that is so great. 717 00:30:05.261 --> 00:30:06.971 We only used it for one scene! Let's do that 718 00:30:06.971 --> 00:30:09.098 but do it on a bigger scale." 719 00:30:09.098 --> 00:30:10.809 As you're walking through District Six, 720 00:30:10.809 --> 00:30:13.812 you can sit there and point to, pick out different elements 721 00:30:13.812 --> 00:30:16.272 from every other set that's been played throughout 722 00:30:16.272 --> 00:30:18.608 the course of Picard because we just said, "Okay, 723 00:30:18.608 --> 00:30:20.318 what have we got in the garage that we can put in and turn 724 00:30:20.318 --> 00:30:21.444 into something else?" 725 00:30:24.322 --> 00:30:27.158 We went over the list of all of the, like, Klingon foods 726 00:30:27.158 --> 00:30:29.494 and alien foods and we had signage, it was made up 727 00:30:29.494 --> 00:30:31.704 for Klingon White Fang Steaks. 728 00:30:31.704 --> 00:30:35.458 And we called up a Marc Okrand who created the Klingon 729 00:30:35.458 --> 00:30:36.292 language, he gave us notes. 730 00:30:36.292 --> 00:30:38.962 If you'll see in a sign, and it's in Orion, it's real Orion. 731 00:30:38.962 --> 00:30:40.964 It's like we have Geoffrey Mandel, 732 00:30:40.964 --> 00:30:44.217 who was the graphic designer for many years on Star Trek. 733 00:30:44.217 --> 00:30:46.177 It's that thing of going, "Okay, well how do you do the, 734 00:30:46.177 --> 00:30:47.011 what's the language?" 735 00:30:47.011 --> 00:30:48.638 He goes, "Well, here's what we did on this show. 736 00:30:48.638 --> 00:30:50.348 Here's the original graphic that we used 737 00:30:50.348 --> 00:30:52.183 on this episode of Enterprise." 738 00:30:52.183 --> 00:30:53.893 So, not only are we doing a callback, 739 00:30:53.893 --> 00:30:56.437 it's the actual sign that was used. 740 00:30:56.437 --> 00:30:58.606 And we did that a lot throughout the show where we're 741 00:30:58.606 --> 00:31:01.568 pulling props or details from the actual sets. 742 00:31:03.695 --> 00:31:06.573 Well that, that is a seedy place for sure. 743 00:31:06.573 --> 00:31:11.578 And one of the seedier characters there is Sneed. 744 00:31:11.870 --> 00:31:15.164 I like human things, retro things. 745 00:31:15.164 --> 00:31:17.458 It's like pressure and coal. 746 00:31:17.458 --> 00:31:19.752 Let something get old long enough, 747 00:31:19.752 --> 00:31:22.005 eventually it becomes vintage 748 00:31:22.005 --> 00:31:25.341 and of value. 749 00:31:25.341 --> 00:31:28.720 He was a real challenge because it was all about creating 750 00:31:28.720 --> 00:31:33.016 something new, but honoring canon and the expectation 751 00:31:33.016 --> 00:31:36.644 that the audience will have of this particular character. 752 00:31:36.644 --> 00:31:40.815 Ooh, la la, you nasty girl. 753 00:31:40.815 --> 00:31:43.776 But nobody comes in here asking nothing for something. 754 00:31:45.945 --> 00:31:47.697 It would offend me if they did. 755 00:31:47.697 --> 00:31:52.493 We designed prison tattoos and things that, that certainly 756 00:31:52.493 --> 00:31:57.332 indicated his life of crime as a gangster ne'er-do-well. 757 00:31:57.332 --> 00:32:00.585 This is Toluco. 758 00:32:00.585 --> 00:32:03.004 Do you really think I wouldn't tie up my loose ends 759 00:32:03.004 --> 00:32:06.758 or risk my goddamn reputation selling out the big fish? 760 00:32:06.758 --> 00:32:10.428 The area for Sneed, the gangster's lair, was just wall-to- 761 00:32:10.428 --> 00:32:12.639 wall-to-wall Easter eggs. 762 00:32:12.639 --> 00:32:14.557 There was the Klingon gambling table, 763 00:32:14.557 --> 00:32:17.352 there was the Ferengi Book of Acquisition. 764 00:32:17.352 --> 00:32:19.103 There was an episode of Lower Decks 765 00:32:19.103 --> 00:32:21.731 where they had the Ferengi going after Mugatu 766 00:32:21.731 --> 00:32:23.107 and they had like the Mugatu horns. 767 00:32:23.107 --> 00:32:25.151 You know you guys could just replicate stuff, right? 768 00:32:25.151 --> 00:32:26.778 Like the, the stuff you buy with latinum, 769 00:32:26.778 --> 00:32:27.820 you could just replicate. 770 00:32:27.820 --> 00:32:28.863 You guys are dumb. 771 00:32:28.863 --> 00:32:31.699 So, we had Mugatu horns on the thing and all the stuff has 772 00:32:31.699 --> 00:32:34.285 been figured out and it all plays into Trek history, 773 00:32:34.285 --> 00:32:36.496 including the graffiti and you know, so it was, 774 00:32:36.496 --> 00:32:37.914 it was a lot of fun. 775 00:33:08.027 --> 00:33:11.155 The U.S.S. Titan, escaping from Vadic into a nebula 776 00:33:11.155 --> 00:33:13.950 has left me feeling tense. 777 00:33:13.950 --> 00:33:17.161 If you're feeling that way too and are looking for a hint of 778 00:33:17.161 --> 00:33:19.330 what's to come, maybe a bit of optimism, 779 00:33:19.330 --> 00:33:22.083 here's an exclusive clip from next week's episode. 780 00:33:48.151 --> 00:33:49.569 [Mura] No sign of the Shrike, sir. 781 00:33:49.569 --> 00:33:50.611 We've lost contact. 782 00:33:57.827 --> 00:33:58.995 And there go the sensors. 783 00:34:02.081 --> 00:34:03.041 We lost her. 784 00:34:07.754 --> 00:34:08.588 For now. 785 00:34:11.549 --> 00:34:14.052 I'm really sorry we all have to wait seven days 786 00:34:14.052 --> 00:34:15.219 to find out what happens. 787 00:34:15.219 --> 00:34:20.224 I recommend maybe binging Lower Decks in the meantime. 788 00:34:20.224 --> 00:34:23.895 Thank you once again for visiting me here in The Ready Room. 789 00:34:23.895 --> 00:34:26.522 And a personal thank you to Ed Speleers for joining me 790 00:34:26.522 --> 00:34:30.943 for what turned out to be a really wonderful family chat. 791 00:34:30.943 --> 00:34:32.361 Next week, we'll be right back here, 792 00:34:32.361 --> 00:34:35.114 joined by Captain William T. Riker himself, 793 00:34:35.114 --> 00:34:38.576 my dear friend Jonathan Frakes, as we dig into Season 3, 794 00:34:38.576 --> 00:34:42.955 Episode 3 of Star Trek: Picard titled "17 Seconds." 795 00:34:42.955 --> 00:34:45.249 Until then, I'm Wil Wheaton. 796 00:34:45.249 --> 00:34:47.251 Live long and prosper.