Although I’m a star trek fan of long standing, I’m just now catching the series for the first time (been out of the country for a while). Can a Treker(ee) of long standing give me a quick tutorial of how receptive the actors are to fans? For example I’ve heard that one of the females and a complete and total bitch, while Steward is a pretty good guy. I’m curious how the cast is in general. Thanks!
All I know is that when approached by feminists asking her how she felt that she had been turned into a sex symbol for lonely men (Star Trek fans), the girl who played Troi responded with “What, I’m sexy now? YAY! I’M A SEX SYMBOL!”
(Apparantly not the response the feminists had hoped for nor expected :D)
Other than that, sorry, I don’t have anything for you.
Of the few cast members I’ve met at conventions:
**Walter Koenig ** (Chekov) was a bit brusque at first but warmed up. (And boy, was Shatner not his favorite person!)
**Nichelle Nichols ** (Uhura) was the absolute nicest lady I’ve ever met.
**John de Lancie ** (Q) was very, very smart but not at all standoffish.
Of the two cast members I’ve met at conventions/signings:
James Doohan (Scotty) is dead.
DeForest Kelly (McCoy) is also dead.
They don’t let you go to conventions anymore, do they?
You’re a dangerous fan, Otto 
But isn’t this thread about TNG?
I’ve heard people put down Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) for being bitchy, but I saw no sign of this when I met her at a convention. She was gracious and funny, and showed remarkable patience with the fans, some of whom were demanding nitwits that I would have found difficult to endure if I’d been signing autographs for them.
This fits with what I’ve heard – she may be a bitch on set, but is so amiable about signing autographs that her autographs have practically no collector value.
So from a collector’s perspective she’s a bitch as well!
Otto! Get her!
-Joe, points out there’s more than one way to make something go up in value!
Kelly and Doohan were both on TNG.
Amusing James Doohan anecdote:
He was doing a radio interview a few years ago, before he ran into Otto. The interviewer asked him about his relationship with William Shatner. Scotty said, “Well, my Grandmother always said, if you can’t say anything nice about someone, don’t say anything at all.” And then stopped talking. Dead air for about 20 seconds. Then the interviewer continued on with other questions…
My impressions from SF conventions:
Michael Dorn is a sweetie and a flirt. Very approachable, and is great with kids. Wonderful sense of humor.
Brent Spiner is smart and funny, but rather prickly and not as friendly as one might hope. Seems to go into standup-comedian mode as a defense mechianism.
Jonathan Frakes is a big ol’ love muffin. But he is accompanied just about everywhere by his wife, Genie Francis.
Wil Wheaton is a whole lot more interesting than you might expect. And a whole lot older.
Auugh. Please excuse the typo. I know how to spell ‘mechanism’. I really do.
Tim Russ (Voyager) is pretty cool.
Some of the behind the scenes people are fantastic! The continuity people (some actually tried …), the writers, the set builders, the minitures and computer design people … If you ever get to see any of them at the cons, and you often see them behind tables or working the crowd or holding Q&A sessions, be sure to get one on one with them. Most of those people I’ve met are HUGE fans of any sci-fi and just love to talk.
One of my friends at Paramount/UPN/whatever said Bragga was a whiny, mysogonistic, backstabbing asshole. When I told her how the fans hated him, too, she said she knew all about that, but that we didn’t know the half of it. She seemed to like Berman, but viewed him as mostly just another suit now.
A Data Chia Head is actually a pretty neat idea. :dubious:
Robin Curtis (movie Saavik, TNG Tallera) was perfectly lovely when I met her 1993. I even flirted and she cracked up.
Max Grodenchik (DS9’s Rom) is also a nice guy. Ask him about “Norma Rom”. I told him that joke.
I’ve GAFIAted from fandom for about ten years, but I caught much of the TNG cast in Boston in the early 90s. All were fine but Colm Meaney was a lot of fun, and was thrilled when I asked him about working with James Huston on his last film, The Dead. He talked animatedly for about five minutes, leaving the whole room in stitches.
Seconding the good opinion of Walter Koenig and John DeLancie. Every time I’ve encountered them they have been the embodiment of charm and goodwill.
Patrick Stewart and Brent Spiner were crowd-pleasers when I saw them, very gracious, generous and funny.
Jonathan Frakes was extremely excited and cheerful–probably because First Contact was just about to come out at the time–but I get the feeling he’s that way most of the time.