With most of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast in London at Destination Star Trek this weekend, conversation inevitably turned to their last feature film, 2002’s Star Trek: Nemesis. Some interesting things were said by Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Denise Crosby and even Jeri Ryan.

Dorn, Sirtis, Crosby and Ryan Talk Star Trek Nemesis

Much has been said about the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, which turned out to be both a critical and financial disappointment, and it turns out that Destination Star Trek in London was a chance for even more to be said. During a Next Generation cast reunion (moderated by William Shatner) on Saturday, one audience questioner asked the group "how did it feel" filming Star Trek: Nemesis as "the end of an era." Shatner asked Michael Dorn to take the lead, who replied:

"We knew it was the end, but it wasn’t like ‘oh my god’, it was sort of like, it was a tough shoot and there was a lot of different things happening…"



Michael Dorn at Destination Star Trek London – says Star Trek: Nemesis was a tough shoot (Photo: Daniel Lewis)

Not satisfied with this answer, Marina Sirtis (appearing a little frustrated) interjected

"Oh come on say it! The director was an idiot!"



Marina Sirtis at Destination Star Trek London – doesn’t hold back on her opinion of the director for "Star Trek: Nemesis" (Photo: Daniel Lewis)

The comment was met by applause and Shatner, quick to jump on the band wagon, asked "Who was the director?" and swiftly replied with the quip "Stuart Baird… son of a bitch!" After the Sirtis eruption, Dorn returned to his answer and noted that it wasn’t a big deal for him because he had been through a ‘finish’ twice before (with Next Gen’s "All Good Things" and DS9’s "What You Leave Behind").

Later during the same TNG reunion chat, Denise Crosby was talking about the development of her half-Romulan character Sela, when the subject of Nemesis came up again. Crosby told the crowd:

"I talked to the producers of Nemesis when I found out that they were doing a story about Romulans…and I suggested they should try to visit that character [Sela]…I can’t tell you what they said, but they did not do that."



Denise Crosby at Destination Star Trek London – says she tried to talk her way into Nemesis (Photo: Daniel Lewis)

During her Sunday talk at Destination Star Trek in London, Star Trek: Voyager star Jeri Ryan was asked about the possibility of a Star Trek: Voyager movie. Directly replying to the question she answered "that ship has probably already sailed", but it lead her to talking about Star Trek: Nemesis, which was filmed just half a year after Voyager went off the air. Jeri recalled a certain telephone conversation about the film:

"the call came and they said ‘put Jeri Ryan in the movie’, and I’m like okay… in what way are you going to put Jeri Ryan in this movie? ‘Well, we’re going to replace one of the characters with Seven’…which makes absolutely no sense"

Ryan then went on to speak of a fear of being typecast, and having only just finished work on Voyager (and having just started on Boston Public), she declined the offer of the role in the movie. Ryan continued, telling the gathered fans that after this she was then asked "would you be a guest at the wedding?" Again, Jeri summed up the general feeling in the room, shouting into the microphone "No! I don’t know these people, I don’t want to go to their wedding!"



Jeri Ryan at Destination Star Trek London – says she turned down offer to replace one of the characters in "Nemesis" (Photo: Daniel Lewis)

Which character would Ryan’s Seven have replaced?

It has been reported before that Ryan turned down a role for Nemesis, with the speculation that Kate Mulgrew’s brief role as Admiral Janeway was written in after Ryan turned down the part. Today when Ryan said the plan was to have Seven "replace" one of the characters in Nemesis, the London audience gasped, taking it to mean she was talking about replacing one of the main TNG cast and not Mulgrew’s cameo. That may not have been what she meant, but her latest comment is more evidence that the role they had in mind for Ryan was more substantial than a simple cameo.



Publicity photo for "Star Trek: Nemesis"

More DST 3 to come

Destination Star Trek wrapped up today, but TrekMovie has much more coverage coming including panel highlights, exclusive interviews, cosplay photos and more.

Our coverage so far:

All DST photos by Daniel Lewis for TrekMovie.com

Ronan O’Flaherty is an Irish based, life-long Star Trek fan, software engineer and radio presenter. His site is currently under revamp at www.ronanoflaherty.ie.