Star Trek: Voyager - Svensk TV Sajt -- Intervjuer

"Did you hear the hammering over there?" says Ethan Phillips, who plays Star Trek: Voyager's cook and Morale Officer, Neelix. He is referring to the work being done at Stage 18, where the sets for the new, fifth Trek series are currently being built. "While we're doing the finale, we can hear the hammering for the sets right across the alley."

Filming on 'Endgame', the final episode of Star Trek: Voyager that long last answers the burning question as to whether or not Captain Janeway will succeed in getting her crew home, kicked off on March 19 with an expected wrap on April 9. As can be expected, the cast and crew are feeling the weight of this ending, which promises to be an emotional send-off.

"I ran into Kate the day she got the script, right after she'd read the final scene," says Phillips. "She was bleary-eyed. There's a lot of sadness and emotion on the set. Gosh, we've been a family for a long time. We've really bonded with each other. Even our crew has become part of this family. Everybody has a function, whether it's the Best Boy or the Craft Service guy or the hair or makeup person."

Ethan Phillips as Voyager's 'Neelix' who is expected to leave the series just prior to the series finale in 'Destiny.'

With the hours ticking down to Voyager's conclusion, thought return to the past seven years. "What has this time meant to you?" Laura asks.

Phillips replies, "Well, a solid pay check, and a good group of people to work with. I'm proud of a lot of the shows we did. I think we entertained people. I also believe Voyager made people think sometimes. We had our turkeys and stuff, but overall, we batted pretty high. It was a great series to be attached to as an actor, because I like to tell stories. I like to be part of storytelling, and that's Voyager's strong suit. It means that I was doing what I set out to do when I began this career. It gave me a feeling of purpose."

I glance around the Mess Hall set, which, except for a pair of halogen lights, is currently dark. Racks of stainless steel cooking utensils and, on the countertop, the functional heating element viewers have often seen Neelix cooking on, dominate the wall in front of us. I mention the plastic replicator to our right.

"Yeah," Phillips jokes with his usual deadpan. "The only thing that replicator can replicate right now is nothing. I often go up to it and say, 'nothing, please' and that's what it gives me. So yeah, it's a little sad."

Laura and I exchange a laugh and smile. "When all is done, you'll have filmed 172 hours of Voyager," I say. "Do you have favourites?"

"Of the ones that my character was focused on, I have two - 'Jetrel' and 'Mortal Coil'. What I liked about the point of that first show is that you have to forgive the demons in your past or the bitterness and resentment will poison your whole life. And you have to move on from that. You have to get closure and forgive. I love 'Mortal Coil' because of the message that even if there is no deity and there is no moral compass, we never the less should be good people and that's the whole point of why we are here. Those two episodes spoke to me strongly, and I'm really glad I got to be the messenger in them. Overall, I liked 'Timeless', 'Heroes and Demons', 'Tuvix', 'Riddles', 'Someone to Watch Over Me', and 'The Gift', which was the episode where we said goodbye to Jennifer."

Phillips speaks of actress Jennifer Lien, who played 'Kes' as a series regular through Voyager's first three seasons. Laura asks, "Can you shed some light as to why Jennifer Lien was let go?"

"Well, the official word is that the writers felt they had come to an ending as to where they thought they could explore her character," Phillips recalls. "They wanted to bring on somebody new so they could kind of stimulate themselves and use their imaginations," he says jokingly, referring to the skin-tight uniform worn by Jeri Ryan, who plays reformed Borg, 'Seven of Nine'. "I'm always telling Jeri, 'you know she wears that dermal regenerating suit - let's check it out and see if it actually worked'." We share a laugh. "I think it is probably true that they really did want this new character, and they thought about this Borg having her journey from being part of the collective consciousness all the way down to an individual. There were budget restraints that wouldn't support having ten regulars on the show, and in the final analysis they felt they'd explored Kes enough. That's my take on it. I'm out of contact with Jennifer, but I think she's doing pretty well. She's done some movies and she's back in school now."

"Neelix as well seems to have gone to the sidelines during the last few seasons," I say. "Why was that?"

Phillips sighs, "Well, I think Neelix was conceived as more of a pitch hitter for the series. His function was more like spice to the main course. A cooking metaphor, I know, he added a little flavour when you needed it but he wasn't part of the main bulk of the stew. I think over the last few years, the writers got real caught up in the Doctor's character and in Jeri's. The general perception is that they are the most popular characters, which I believe to be true. Writers love to write for those kinds of characters, those individuals who are so 'Sci-Fi' by their very nature - a hologram, and somebody who's been compromised by the Borg. They really bring ideas to a writer's head, and also, they just like writing for them. I think it's been a matter of who the writers like writing for, and also, the kinds of stories they buy. That's just the way the cards played out. I got some good stuff to do over the last seven years," he adds. "And I have to tell you, the last couple of years, the makeup became so horrendously difficult to wear for me that I was glad to not be featured so heavily in the storylines. It became real torture to wear that stuff for seventeen hours a day. I couldn't take it. You can't sleep after you've been in makeup that long, and you can't think."

"Can you describe what it's like?" Laura asks.

"Imagine having a rubber ski mask glued to your head for seventeen hours, with contact lenses and teeth," Phillips says. "It's extraordinarily hot. I remember saying to Rick Berman the first year I put it on, 'this is not so bad'. Berman said, 'talk to me in four years', and he was right, because once you start sweating under that mask, it feels like ants crawling around your head. The removal process, which takes an hour and a half, is just a bath of oil and rubbing alcohol, and it stings. Oh, it's just disgusting."

My flesh crawls as I write down the words, stopping to scratch the tops of both arms. "Man, you have my total respect for that!" I gasp. "How long does the makeup application take to put on?

"Three hours to put on," Phillips says. "Then they're constantly maintaining it all day long, so I'm in and out of the makeup chair constantly. The sweat breaks down some of the glue, and things need to be patched and tweaked and coloured and painted and buffed to look good for the camera. I've figured out I've been in that chair for 3000 hours since the series began."

The concept boggles. "Wow," Laura states. "A torture chair!"

"Exactly," Phillips chuckles.

"We know you have a reputation among the cast for keeping things light," Laura continues. "What is you funniest memory of your time on the set?"

"The first thing that leaps to mind is there's a scene with Tim Russ, a dream sequence where he comes to the bridge with no clothing on." We have a laugh - just a few days earlier, we'd discussed this same scene with Kate Mulgrew. "The day we filmed that scene, the prop guy fashioned for Tim this huge, long black prosthetic. Tim attached it to his front of his pants. The turbo lift opened, and he walked out. The entire cast looked down and just went nuts with laughter. The camera was rolling, and that was the take we used. We just couldn't stop laughing. The director was like, 'Jesus Christ, would you guys shut up?' That memory to me is just a gem. We are always joking around like that. The directors are constantly trying to coral us."

"That's great," Laura says between laughs. "Everybody on the cast seems so close.

"Well, we try to have a good time on the set. It's long hours, and the more levity we can bring to it, the easier time passes."

"Could you talk about your friendships on Voyager?"

"I'm close with all of them," Phillips answers. "We have great friendships going here. I get along with everybody. There's not a clinker in the bunch. I'm very close with Kate, who I absolutely adore and admire. I think she's an extraordinary person. She has an unbelievable heart. She's the most professional person and the most generous actress I've ever worked with. If I don't know what I'm doing in a scene with her or I have any confusion or doubt, I just look into her eyes and I find my performance right there. She's just so giving, and always on in a scene. She's the least lazy person I've ever worked with as an actor. She's everything. Jeri, I love. We have a very warm and wonderful, fun relationship, which I also have with Roxann. Robbie McNeill gets a kick out of me, because I constantly wear a Robert Duncan McNeill Fan Club pin on the set. I've become close to Bob Picardo, who is just bright beyond belief. He can juggle a thousand things at once in his head and still make sense of all of them. Garrett is great. He's growing so much as an actor. Robert Beltran is one of the funniest people I've ever met in my life. I've become good friends with Tim Russ. He's an amazing musician. I go to see him play."

We mention Russ and his new CD, and ask what Phillips will do once the series wraps on April 9.

"I'm going to do a play right after this, over at the Pasadena Playhouse," Phillips reveals. "It's called 'Side Man'. It picked up the Tony Award, and of interest to Star Trek fans, Andy Robinson ('Garak', Deep Space 9) is directing it. We wrap Voyager on the 9th, and I start rehearsals for the play on April 10th. No grass is growing under my feet!"

We congratulate Ethan Phillips, truly one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. We shake hands set off to our next destination on the ship, to Engineering, where the beautiful B'Elanna Torres - Roxann Dawson - waits!

Up Next: Day Six: Half Klingon, Half Human, All Star!

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