Jonathan Frakes’ stature within the “Star Trek” Universe just keeps rising.
The affable actor, creator, producer and director continues to differentiate himself behind the camera in past projects like “Star Trek: First Contact” and “Star Trek: Revolt” or helming pivotal episodes in newer Paramount+ series like “Star Trek: Discovery,” “Star Trek: Picard” and most recently for “Star Trek: Strange Recent Worlds.”
Regardless of where Jonathan Frakes appears within the credits, one can expect a healthy dose of humanity, heroics and humor and nowhere is that this more evident than within the amusing “Star Trek: Strange Recent Worlds” Season 2 crossover with “Star Trek: Lower Decks,” “Those Old Scientists.”
In a brand new interview with Variety, the Pennsylvania-born filmmaker discusses his 45-year Hollywood profession because it concerns the Gene Roddenberry-conceived sci-fi world of “Star Trek” and its many variations on the massive and small screens over the many years.
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From his co-starring gig as Commander Will Riker in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, then onto TV directorial duties on “The Next Generation” in addition to “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager” while graduating as much as big-budget feature movies, Frakes is omnipresent.
When all tallied up, Frakes has been a component of 221 different “Star Trek” episodes over the course of 36 years and he’s still going strong with unbridled creative energy and a collaborative spirit.
Episode 7 of “Strange Recent Worlds” was his 222nd “Star Trek” endeavor that found “Star Trek: Lower Decks” animated characters Brad Boimler (Jack Quaid) and Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) entering a wierd portal to merge back in time as live-action refugees encountering “Strange Recent Worlds” Captain Christopher Pike and his legendary U.S.S. Enterprise crew.
“I didn’t campaign for it,” Frakes told Variety. “But I’m told that the philosophy on ‘Strange Recent Worlds’ is that they struggle to assign a director to an episode that will be fit. And I feel due to all of the ‘Star Trek’ canon involved and since I knew the tone of ‘Lower Decks’ because I played Riker on that show, it made sense.”
With a galaxy of experience on his four-decade “Star Trek” resume, it’s no surprise Frakes had previously directed Anson Mount, Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn when those major roles were first being developed on “Star Trek: Discovery” Season 2.
“I knew from having done ‘Discovery’ for a 12 months with Anson that he is absolutely sneaky funny, although you don’t see much of that with Pike,” Frakes adds. “Rebecca, she’s a singer in addition to a comedian. And Ethan has a pleasant humorousness. So I secretly knew that this was going to be a playground.”
Based on the interview, Frakes was extremely excited on the prospect of allowing Quaid and Newsome free rein to improvise a few of their exchanges, an idea eagerly supported by executive producers Henry Alonso Myers and Akiva Goldsman.
“Which does not occur loads on ‘Star Trek,’ as you most likely have heard,” notes Frakes. “I mean, especially in our f***ing show, [“The Next Generation”] they were so strict. It was like we were doing Shakespeare or Chekhov.”
Considered one of those awesome improvs had Mariner revealing to Boimler that, “Look, I’m gonna keep this like 100% profesh, but I used to be thoroughly unprepared for the way hot young Spock was going to be,” delivering the funniest line in your complete episode.
“It was just implausible,” Frakes says. “Perhaps this can open some eyes.”
“Star Trek: Strange Recent Worlds” streams exclusively on Paramount+.