Why the Role of DATA Gave BRENT SPINER Anxiety Early in His STAR TREK Tenure
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Brent Spiner (Star Trek, Independence Day) joins us this week to drop some bombs about a certain someone’s return from the dead in Picard Season 3. Brent shares how he feels about being recognized (mostly) for a single character as Data in Star Trek - and later gets into the weeds on what his experience with the android has been like over the last few decades. We also talk about lessons learned from Joe DiMaggio, how he beat himself out for a Saturn Award, and tons of stories from his other roles in Night Court, Master of Disguise, and more!
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Why the Role of DATA Gave BRENT SPINER Anxiety Early in His STAR TREK Tenure #insideofyou #startrek #brentspiner
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He proved in Masks that he was the best actor on the show. Learning that he had less than a day to prepare for the role ups him to legendary status
he's right up there with stewart
That was a good eps. too. New exactly which one he was talking about as soon as he said masks.
@@lce839 I knew when he said the one he played 5 characters 😂 my mind immediately said “the one with the Masks!”
@@nathanriele6817 He make a great marvel or dc character. Good or bad guy.
@L CE it would be interesting to see him as an older Loki opposite Tom Hiddleston in an episode of the Loki series.
Brent played lots of roles. Data, Lor, his creator, a possessed android, a western outlaw, and Sherlock Holmes. This man is talented.
Check out Night Court, old comedy. You’ll crap yourself
and the cowboys hahah
@@nottheoneyourelookingfor0504 The Wheelers are coming back to Night Court!
Misaka is waking Picard!
Well technically he played Data - playing Sherlock Holmes : )
His acting in Masks being “preposterous,” as he puts it, worked out well since Data was essentially performing a dramatic reenactment of mythology.
He was representing an ENTIRE CULTURE. That couldn't have been easy.
I definitely think him leaning into that and solid editing choices gave it the right feel of skimming along the surface of a vast mythology.
@@gtcsfms It was HIS " Inner Light ", although he didn't live a whole lifetime on a doomed planet in a couple of hours like Picard.
Legendarily one of the all time worst episodes, but we dont blame the actors.
@@jerk1921 The *only* reason why that episode is even worth watching is because Spiner made it so entertaining. I don't know if he was having fun playing those characters, but he sure made it fun to watch.
Brent Spiner is one of the most underrated actors of our time. Patrick Steward got more of the attention & won more awards, but the versatility required to play Data made his role one of the most difficult roles in television history.
As a Brit I agree. I think the magic allure of STNG was all the characters were extremely talented and all bought their own, magic, niche etc.
Brent is Soo underrated as an actor. He's brilliant.
Totally! Brent got and executed the comedy pieces that Patrick could not
I agree that he did a complicated role with such ease. Deserves a lot of credit. But Patrick Stewart is still levels above anyone on the show
Steward makes it for the 💰 he gives a 💩 about Star Trek.
I can totally see him and Patrick just laughing their asses off at each other trying to get through that final Masks scene.
I doubt I would have kept it together. (Even if I wasn't tired...)
The ONLY episode in the series where I saw bored actors not caring about the show.
Interestingly enough that was one of my more favorited episodes.
yup
Other cast members complimented Brent on his ability to always be prepared every episode. True professional.
brent like many other starving actors were just grateful for a acting gig that paid well and he sure appreciated that and gave it his 1000%.
@@joeswanson733 He was also a regular on night court, but that was not a main roll, and I would be surprised if it even managed to pay his rent.
😂
'Masks' is one of my favorite TNG episodes, Brent was amazing in it and brought those characters to life.
In the episode Deja Q where Data breaks out in uncontrollable laughter is one of the most enjoyable infectious experiences of this show. It still brings joy to my soul.
Yeah I always get upset with Geordi interrupts the moment! 🥲 “what’s so funny?”
Essence of humanity
The fact that Brent spinner is nothing like data In character yet his performance as data would make you think he's not acting, is insane.
I always had great respect for how he transitions so seamlessly from robotic to having emotions when he is Lore or has a chip.
Not often do actors portray characters like Brent does! Law being so different to Data, Noonian Soong again sooooo different. I’ve been rewatching TNG and it blows my mind to see how he does it. Picard, series 3 was, is fantastic and the 4 in 1 is class!
They might have laughed but I thought the episode was amazing and fantastic and looked like so much fun bouncing from character to character. Probably what made me want to go into acting more than anything.
Honestly, for all the flak that Masks gets, it's one of the most memorable ones and I loved it as a kid.
It's definitely memorable. I almost never watch it, or most of season 7 in general, and yet I can still hear Data crowing about Korgano in my head.
I loved it as an adult. I thought it was really good and very creative.
Acting is a call to be our bigger selves.
The one where he played a gunman of the "Ancient West" was brilliant.
A Fistful Of Datas.
Seeing him in drag made me want to remove my retinas ! 👁👁👁
@@DanielAppleton-lr9eq Did you?
Brent Spiner is such an incredible performer and actor. I loved him as Data, and it was heartbreaking when they “killed” the character off in Nemesis. But it was such a good sacrifice, something that Data would do in a heartbeat to save someone, regardless that the person he was saving was his friend and Captain.
It saddens me that they didn’t treat him better on TNG though. That producer saying “we have faith in you” was basically “fuck you” to him. I hate it when people are treated as subhuman, like he’s a dog or a sheep.
All of that has been redeemed. Data is now his best self.
considering brent was not a big name at the time and he was under contract... they basically owned you for the duration of the contract.
He was memorizing lines, not digging trenches.
@@kingkeefage I love that we didn’t just get him back, but that we also got Geordi’s “special project” too… I squealed like a little girl when I saw her! ❤️
@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated It's funny that they spent so much time telling an elaborate story to lead up to the ending we all wanted. Honestly, they could've told any story, even a musical western, and people still would've been happy with that ending.
That original TNG bridge set was a work of art. The top level where Worf was literally on top of Picard. Seeing everyone walking up and down. Just fantastic. Don’t know why they changed it for the movies.
Same reason they change anything in a film... some producer or director has a very thin hair up his butt.
Its crazy to think how old The Next Generation actually is. Ive been watching reruns recently. You can tell they were really shooting for creativity in that universe. Good stuff
36-37 years since it debuted...1987. Now I feel old... :-(
Underrated actor, criminally so. Brent Spiner turned in several award worthy performances over the years playing Data. If Spiner were not on a genre show I think he would've gotten more acting recognition.
Brent Spiner is a stellar actor. An asset to Star Trek and the acting profession.
Brent has always been my fave TNG actor,I've always had a soft spot for Data 😊. Brent is a very underrated actor... We love you ❤
The one thing a lot of people might not remember is that Data never used conjunctions...most of us do. To eliminate those out of our daily vocabulary is almost impossible,
Example?
You mean contractions, not conjunctions.
*almost never, there were a few over the years.
@@endorbr Yep
Hey I am old...lol..i forgot
@@robmelton3552 It’s bad enough that he can’t say words like “can’t,” but it would be super awkward if Data couldn’t say things like: And, But, If, etc. 😉
The thing with TNG is that each actor totally nailed their character. That said Mr. Spiner also had to play a much wider variety of them. Respect!
Brent, I have watched most every episode of TNG multiple times since they were released and you were and always will be one of, “if not the best characters” of the entire series!
Always an absolutely magnificent performance and really nailing the concept of a sentient entity “that, not who” was always trying to improve and become more human!
Awesome performance Sir!!!
"Masks" and "A Fist Full of Datas" were great showcases of his acting.
Spiner was more than just "a star", he could portray ALL of the faces of dramatic performance. Sure, he wasn't always given enough TIME to do everything as deep and as powerful as he could have, but his vocal and physical work was obviously unequaled.
This will always be a perfect series thanks to mostly great scripts and superb actors. Both Data and Picard are now immortalized, and we all look forward to viewing the episodes again and again.
I love Brent. And I have always loved Data. Out of the entire TNG characters, Data has always been my favorite.
Me too
Mine too! I love Data so much.
I would love to meet him, if I could. I met Jonathan Frakes in January, and he was so nice to talk to.
Data is THE reason I got into Sci-Fi. His character made so much sense to me.
I don't have the background to point to technical reasons, but something about these shorts of yours make me think they're really well edited.
Greatest continuing acting performance I've ever seen on TV - Brent Spiner doing Data.
Brent is a fantastic actor, saw him in New York in Sunday in the Park with George and he was brilliant then
Kudos Mr Spiner! The absurdity of the acting in The Mask episode is what made Data the most engaging and amazing "Robot" character in television sci-fi history. It fit Data's struggles with humanity to a "T"
My dad was a huge Star Trek fan and he introduced me to the show at a very young age and Data was always my favorite on NTG and Brent is such a great actor when I hear his voice in cartoons my inner child sqwees so loud it travels through time and escapes my throat in the present day.
If I were an actor being entrusted with a new role in a new Star Trek series, I would probably have some anxiety too. Thank you, Brent, for this interview and for creating Data. 🖖🏻🖖🏼🖖🏽🖖🏾🖖🏿
As soon as he mentioned 5 characters I knew he was referring to Masks. DATA is my favorite TNG character. Maybe favorite character period
2:28 I noticed as a kid that the data content was really deep and I.Appreciate that he was an actor being given ideas by other people which is I think definitely something...
Data is still one of my favourite ST characters, I also really liked his villainous take in ST Enterprise
Data was as beloved as Spock, for the same reasons. It was the same kind of a character, regurgitated by formula. A science-based character, logical to fault, struggles with human emotions but clearly has them in the background. This creates a kind of chemistry that Star Trek is most well known for.
DATA was ALWAYS my favourite & most sympathetic character in TNG & Brent Spiner’s acting was so often a true Masterclass…..
He is also a hugely entertaining person off the set, who never fails to put a smile on people’s faces or cause them to laugh out loud. A hugely affable & talented Guy - his voice impression of Patrick Stewart, for example, is SPOOKILY authentic - & if I could only meet one actor in person from the TNG crew, it would be Brent - hands down. 😊
26 episodes! Daaaaamn! I got a six pager early on in this acting/V.O. adventure and what I did was I read my lines and recorded them into my phone. I'd listen to them over and over again while driving from Ventura into L.A. and by the time I got there I had them down.
Yep working 5 days a weeks
Masks is one of the best funny bad episodes in the series and Data is one of my favorite characters, great interview!
Brent is right! By season 3, any one of the main cast could carry the show. One of the strongest main casts in television history imo. I could also say the same about DS9. But that's just my opinion. DS9 has a special place in my heart.
When Q makes Data laugh as a gift is my favorite moment in TNG.
For those curious, the other Data-centric episode he was talking about was probably "Thine Own Self", or "the one where he lost his memory in a shuttle accident and exposed a medieval village to radioactive metal". Of course, this is going by airing order, so depending on how they filmed everything I might be wrong, but it would make the most sense based on what little evidence I could find.
I was pretty sure Brent was talking about 'A Fistful of Datas'. But I guess Masks was an intense episode to learn too.
Great stuff! I remember thinking back in the day, while in the middle of watching that TNG episode 'Masks,' whether or not they had trouble keeping straight faces during that scene he mentioned. How cool to learn that they did indeed have trouble keeping it together while filming that scene, lol....but they pulled it off! Legendary and masterful performers!
Yeah because Brent had to do Thine Own Self followed by Mask, which were Episode 16 and 17
brent got so good at playing data and lore and making them very distinct characters even in the slightest of movements... that in (spoiler alert) star trek picard season 3 when data is data and then a slight head movement probably less than a second had me going THATS LORE! and sure enough it was. the change was immediate and fans who watched tng a lot were basically conditioning ourselves just for this one moment that was less than a second. i respected brent spiner and always thought he was so talented but from one second of screen time i realized how wrong i was. he isnt just talented, hes probably one of the best actors of his generation.
it is 100% believable that he did not sleep until he not just got the words right but the mannerisms and pacing as well.
im thankful for his hard work and pure dedication to the craft
Both of these guys had a lot of dialogue to learn in their respective series of Smallville and TNG. Michael R. (as Lex) can relate to Brent S. to the amount of dialogue, however, Brent had multiple characters to learn at times. That is harder! Brent is awesome in his roles.
If it wasn't Data it was LeForge who was spouting all the technobable. It's not like lex had paragraphs of meaningless goobledegook to spout off, more than that the directors and script supervisors on TNG were extremely strict that the actors recite the dialog exactly as it was on page.
"No, sir. My brother's positronic brain has a type L phase discriminating amplifier. Mine is a type R." And that's mild. usually the technobable would go on for many sentences.
These are by a mile the best interviews I've ever seen. Every actor is so comfortable here. Probably because they are talking to an equally gifted actor who is great at doing interviews : )
I thought the interviewer is acting like HE's the guest ... commonplace today
christ, if brent had constant time crunches with memorizing lines, imagine what patrick went through. he was the main character of almost every episode.
he's a glutton for it though. Dude eats and breathes acting, to the point that at a time when most of us just want to settle our old bones into a chair and slowly fossilize, he's still putting himself up there.
@@KairuHakubi reply to this so I can block you
@@angelafahlenkamp9311 you should block me or i’ll annoy you
I found out recently that Brent Spiner was the second oldest cast member after Patrick Stewart.
I remember that episode! Data asking Geordi "What is it like... to lose your mind?", and then being taken over by all sorts of other personalities, warnings of the mysterious Masaka... As I remember though, and I could be wrong... The character, Masaka, expressing herself through Data, was the goddess of the Sun, while Picard wore the mask of Korgano - the god of the Moon. Either way, pretty much the same dynamic.
Masks! Seriously one of my most favourite episodes!
Also because a beautiful song from my country (The Netherlands) reminds me of it every time I hear it. (A song called "Pastorale" from 1968 in which the lead singer is the sun, singing about himself.)
*Tilts head slightly & clicks tongue: "Captain!"
Brent Spiners recurring role on Night Court will always be my favorite.. I always wondered how much of his dialogue on that show was just made up on the spot
The Wheelers are returning to Night Court!
Data was the most important character like Spock. It never would have worked without him.
I remember when I played the Devil in a primary school play about Noah and the flood. I clutched onto the script. The teacher ripped it away from me, and the adrenaline help me remember perfectly. I was the best! I did study the script every day for a week after school, but I was afraid of making a mistake. Data is great!
Masks is actually one of my favorite Next Gen episodes. It's always stuck with me in a way that few Next Gen episodes have (mind you I was like 7 when they initially aired and I haven't really rewatched them)
After night court I knew Brent would be amazing in almost every role he would ever have.
Back in the day where the actors and crew on set actually worked and created 26 episodes a season. 6 days a week 16 hours a day. now we get 8 episodes a season if we're lucky and it takes years for a season to come out.
A Fistful of Datas is one of my favourite Data episodes and my boyfriend's is Time's Arrow. :)
When Brent says the producers realized that each one of them could carry an episode, is where TNG\DS9\VOY ruled! It gave time to learn about and get involved with each character. These new shows, most notably Discovery (yes i hated it, but watched anyway) just seem to focus on the story arc only. I know really NOTHING about any of the characters in discovery...after 4 season. I don't care about the characters at all. Picard was great, but i think we should get back to episodic story telling. No more season long story arc, at least not entirely focused on it. TNG you can turn on any episode and enjoy it without needing to know what happened before it. THat was nice.
I’d love to see Brent revise his character on NightCourt reboot too. That would be GR8‼️
BTW the heavy audio processing makes it sound like it was recorded on a phone. The good mics should allow something more natural-sounding without suppression of quiet sounds and background.
Great man, great actor 🙏
No one does maniacal better than Brent Spiner ! I loved Masks - very memorable on a subconscious level.. Masaka is waking !! Top tier !
That "masks" episode was amazing, acting was incredible!
May be incredible acting, but that’s almost objectively considered one of the worst tng episodes.
@@fscottnoah7223 i give em a bit of credit for trying something very bizarre. Wasnt a very good episode but the corporations wouldnt allow that kinda creative attempts nowadays i think.
@@fscottnoah7223 One of the best episodes. People over obsessed with boring Klingon politics. Maybe encounter strange stuff in space once in a while.
His acting is just Data and his Bob Wheeler character with variations and a mix of those 2 in between.
@@fscottnoah7223 It's a really bad episode. Writing, concept, sci-fi-just dumb. Stewart was pretty wooden in it, if you ask me, but Spiner did his parts top-notch! For the excrement he had to work with, he ran with it.
Brent is an amazing actor, but his role has also been supported with excellent editors.
Brent Spiner's Data was the best character. I loved it when he played the evil twin Lore. Every one of his holodeck episodes were great. I enjoyed his Sherlock and Fistful of Datas was incredible. Also, who could forget his impromptu song "Life Forms?" Brent Spiner was the glue of the Next Generation cast.
What a great guy.
Specifically Masks shows a range of Brent Spiner that he could just submit as an acting reel and get any job. As a kid it TERRIFIED me to see Data laughing and crying and scared the way he portrays himself in it.
I laughed so hard at him and Andy Dick in, Dude Where's My Car.
there's a couple episodes I remember Brent having some serious red eye and I always just presumed it was the paint
Several episodes were amazing as when Data becomes father.
Like Data will always be my favourite character in Star Trek hey!! Like I literally cried when he died in the movie!! I have not seen The Next Generation TV Series but just the movies and he totally resonated with me hey!!
Unbelievable, how discipline and pressure - I mean "belief" - by the producers can create enough force to turn a man into a bullet. I had no idea they raced through the show like this during production. And there are so many difficult passages in Data's dialog, even entire tricky poems. It's such a weird contradiction that something that brings so much joy to the world like TNG has been such a grind to produce. But I guess that explains, why we don't see more like it.
The exploration of what it means to be human through the eyes of Data is one of my very favorite experiences with Star Trek. I feel he's very much a continuation of that exploration Spock started.
I always imagined Brent having fun with that episode, playing so many laughably silly characters. I'm sorry it was such a stressful experience.
My favorite Star Trek character!
When Brent did Bob Wheelers voice as Data I absolutely died! What a talent.
Must have been hard work. ALso thinking of episodes where he has to play Lore as well. Or that one episode where he palys Data, Lore, and Dr. Soongh.
I always relate to do striving to be human.
One of the better characters on all Star Treks. He always stood out to me as a kid because he was very believable and had the perfect amount of make up done to make him look just barely non human.
"Thine Own Self" (the show that Brent forgot the name for, Data forgot himself was the "ice man" "Jaden" for a few days, indirectly caused and directly cured radiation poisoning in a town) and "Masks" were both excellent.
I remember that episode it was a great one
Data had to be played by a comedian, and especially in Masks, had to be one with a wide acting range. We're lucky they got Brent Spiner, because there aren't many others, and maybe not *any* at the time, who could do that.
Brent doesn't get the credit he deserves! All the characters & makeup & prosthetics & after the workday,he goes home & maintains a family life that we don't know much about,but apparently he is a great father & husband!
I already made a comment, but again Brent is an underrated actor& my favorite episodes are " The measure of a man"& A fistful of Datas" In which Brent does a fantastic job playing more than one character and as an Android playing a character! That in itself deserves an Oscar! I've never met Brent & probably never will,I live in a town in-between ROSWELL N.M. ( saw the shirt) and Carlsbad N.M. ( Carlsbad caverns) called ARTESIA N.M. ... if ever were to meet Brent,I would say thanks for all the work you have done,not just in Star trek... but all your work!!! You are one of the greatest actors of our time... Patrick Stewart is a good actor, but he's not an American! So in that respect,You are the greatest American actor!
That would've been stressful, but I'm glad writers understood (like fans) he was the best character and actor on the show. When they started writing a lot of Data episodes is when the show really took off for me. The same can be said of Seven (Jeri Ryan) on Voyager. I wish ST would go back to those episodic formats where they'd really develop characters. Star Trek is better that way.
I just saw that episode on Pluto tv. lol it’s crazy.
Only Brent spiner could have played data. He's a great actor, very smart.
"All these guys can carry the show.", boy -- after hearing some flak about how Sonequa Martin-Green DID carry Discovery through some of its seasons until the audience warmed up (and we have to remember that without it, we wouldn't be having this Star Trek revival movement we're all loving.) to it.
This is an important lesson to future showrunners, but at the same time *testament* to the TNG alumni acting and talents: there are SEVERAL Beverly Crusher episodes that are reference to many a doctor and a nurse, just as there are Data episodes that philosophers and lawyers talk about to this day.
Brent Spiner is a national treasure. Please watch him in Out to Sea!
That episode is one that I love so much 😆 funny when you learn about these things 😆
That particular is amazing. Now that I hear the backstory only adds to his brilliance as an actor
Brent got the roles from "Masks" reversed, he was possessed by the Sun Goddess program, and Picard took on the role of the Moon God
I liked "Masks" a lot -- I love it when shows that have the cred to take risks color WAY outside the lines just to see what will happen. It's a lot of fun.
2:30 i think the 5 characters he plays is when data contracted a virus that affected the holodeck. He was playing the cowboy villain (totally hot btw), the son, a mexican sidekick, and 2 other shooters during the gun standoff. The acting was remarkable. He has some outstanding talent.
Wished they wouldve made a movie with him as a cowboy villain
Ok nmd, hes talking about the weird alien invasion that took over the ship. But seriously, this guy carried the show
I loved Masks. Fun to see Night Court after TNG and get a Spiner guest appearance.
I'll watch any interviews with the cast of TNG, hell I'll watch any interviews with ANY Star Trek alums....I grew up with them being my Church pew, gave stories of morality with BIPOC women in postuons of authority and that representation meant everything to this little girl, I was 5 years old when I first saw a colored woman on the bridge of a ship in charge of communications, I can still feel the chills when my Mom said in the future women will be just as valuable as men are considered to be now and that was in the year 1981....I still LOVE all things Star Trek because it's a show about human morality without ever the need to inject religion into it so EVERYONE can enjoy it!
please reply to this so I can block you.