Jeffrey_Combs

Well, thank you for that.

I have always been an original series STAR TREK fan. And when I was a kid, you know, that was on TV, and it really sparked my imagination, and I never would've dreamed that i would have grown up and been able to... in my small way, be a part of that Universe? Like all actors, young actors, you know, I'd go in on auditions.

I remember auditioning for ST:TNG and not getting any jobs. Much to my disappointment. And then I auditioned a couple of times for DEEP SPACE NINE, and finally, maybe on the third audition, I got cast. And... because of that, and I was on-set, one of the actors that i had done some theater with, and Victoria, I'm sorry but I'll have to spell this one for you, Rene Auberjonois, was getting ready to direct an episode, and he suggested me for a role in his episode to the producers.

And they said "Yes" and that turned into my character Brunt, and I started recurring as Brunt, and then the producers asked me to do Weyoun.

And the rest is sort've STAR TREK history!

And then of course when ENTERPRISE came along, they asked me to play an Andorian...

I get this question every once in a while, and it's a sad one to answer.

I had a lot of concern after 9/11. Because there was a passenger on one of the flights with two o's instead of one. It breaks my heart. First of all, the outpouring of concern, and then just my heart - but for an o in my name, it could've been me.

And it just hurts me down to the bottom of my soul. That that's an awful connection to that tragedy. I don't even know what to say about it. But it really just kinda - even though it happened the other side of the country - it reminds you there but for the grace of faith, it could be you.

So my heart goes out to his family.

Yes. I had an absolute wonderful time shooting WOULD YOU RATHER. One of my favorite movies I've ever been in. Simply because a lot of people seem to think that it's just about... that it's sort've crass, and that it's just exploitive, but really I think that movie has a lot to say about the 1/10th of 1% privileged versus the 99.99% of the rest of us. That... that the very rich can play with us. We are there for their amusement. And I thought it really had an overriding theme... that sort've spoke about our times right now. And I think because of the intense film... that that gets lost. But it's one of the overriding statements of that movie. What happens when all of the money is put into the hands of perhaps amoral people. They get perverse. And yes, you're right, I did have a lot of fun making that movie, because my thinking was someone that despicable - as an actor - I have to go the other way, and not comment on how awful this is, but play the character as if he were playing a game of RISK. Or STRATEGO. Or any other sort of board game. Except in this, it's with people's lives.

My fondest memories are... I was a young actor who had not done very much film at that point, so I was elated to have an opportunity to flesh out over a few weeks a character. And to be on a movie set, which at that point, I had not had much experience with. I'd just done a lot of theater. And also my great working relationship with Bruce Abott, the actor who plays Dan Cane, we're still really great friends, and he brings me joy, and he was so supportive. It was like playing music with Bruce. I get a lot of attention because i had the lead guitar solo, but Bruce was the rhythm guitar and the bass line together. And they never get the praise that they should.

It is a great idea. It originated actually during the Bush administration. Actually, it wasn't the President, the Vice-President who was REALLY in control. And so Herbert was brought in to resuscitate the Vice President, and all hell breaks loose! I think the reason it didn't get made was that it was too political. It was too on the nose. And the one thing you don't want to do is piss of 50% of your viewers. And producers and investors saw it that way. I think it could easily be done without it being so obvious, but I don't see anybody knocking down the doors to make another RE-ANIMATOR at this point.

HAHAHA! Uh... I have a hard time with questions like this. Because it kind've... it kind've shows that the questioner maybe doesn't quite grasp an actor's craft. I did not go to college and live on peanut butter sandwiches for years so that I could just do horror movies. I'm an actor. I'm a character actor. I enjoy all genres. However, I'm in a business where as soon as they put a stamp on you, they WILL do it. And just because I had success early on in my career in a horror movie, from then on it has been an uphill battle to try to get people to see me as an all-around actor who is capable of doing any and all kinds of styles as opposed to... pigeonholing me into "OH, that's just what he does."

It's not my battle alone. Every actor who's had any modicum of success - be it in film, television, sitcoms - I've known GREAT actors that get cast in a stupid, banal sitcom, and then they can't get arrested, because "aren't you a sitcom actor?"

So it's not my battle alone, and it's something we just keep pushing back on. I'm an actor. I'm not a horror actor, I'm not a comedy actor, I'm not a dramatic actor. I'm an actor. Give me a job, and I'll sell it. But the hardest thing that we have is these labels.

I have REALLY varied taste. One of my all-time favorites? THE BIG LEBOWSKI.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN...There's just so many! I don't have a top 10, or even top 20 or 30! My brain doesn't work with lists like that. But I am REALLY varied in my tastes. I especially love film Noir, especially because I like the look and the tone. There's something... the contrast, light and dark, there's a cynicism that I really like... Film Noir mostly came out after WWII, when the world was just - whatever idealism they had had just been busted like a beautiful vase. So you see a lot of hard boiled guys who have just seen too much. I really like that.

There's a certain melancholy wariness about the characters, that really appeals to me.

Right now I'm reading a biography of Fritz Lang, who was a great director, and nobody really knows much about him anymore. But he was a German director that migrated to the United States, and he was a great contributor to Film Noir. He brought German Expressionism to Film Noir, to Hollywood. I really like that genre a lot.

Thank YOU.

The hardest makeup was actually the shortest makeup. And that's a Farenghi, for the character Brunt. Awful makeup to be in. It's basically, you're wearing a helmet. And you cannot hear. And it's... as the hours go on, it becomes worse and worse. It's really sweaty. Plus it's like you're acting with a headcold. You can't hear very well, except your own echo-y muffled voice in your own ears. It's not fun.

So that was the hardest makeup.

But the other makeups took about 2.5 hours. Whereas the Brunt makeup took about 1.5 hours. But once you were in it, you were encased in rubber and you were a prisoner.

Actually, I have no favorite. I get this question when I go to conventions. And I always ask the person "Do you have any children?"

And they say "Yes" and I say "How many?" and they say "I have 3," and I say "Which one's your favorite?"

And then they go "OHHHH I see."

These are my babies, I love them all, and I don't play favorites.

Well, I think what they probably would've done is - it would've been kinda theatrically interesting to create friction, between characters.

Whether it would be Malcolm, or another character on the show, somebody would have to share their responsibilities with a new character, a new ALIEN on the ship, and all of that would've been really dramatically interesting.

So... you know, conflict is story.

So if you can put obstacles in front of characters they have to overcome, that only makes it MORE interesting.

So whatever they would've done, it would have been all to the betterment of the storylines, I think.

Of course, we're talking about a hypothetical. There is no fifth season. And I take it as a compliment. That came from an interview with Manny Coto, and he was saying that if they had been picked up for a fifth season, I would've been a series regular, and it means a lot to me. I take it as a compliment, that's all I can do.