Brent Spiner Quotes

I always refer to [Stardust Memories] as Sharon Stone's and my first film.

[Trey Parker and Matt Stone]called me one Saturday morning and said, "Can you do an impression of Conan O'Brien?" And I said, "I don't know." Because that was really... He hadn't been on the air that long, and to be honest, I hadn't watched much of him at that point. So I went to Santa Monica to their studio and said, "Well, what does he sound like?" They said, "Well, just try it one time. Read the copy." And I read the copy one time, and they went, "Okay, that's fine. Thanks a lot, that'll do. That's perfect."

That job [on Out to Sea], more than any I've ever done, I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning. And not only that, but I had a great part. So it was just beyond fun on every level.

John Logan was kind of wrapping up - "Well, thanks for coming in..." - and I thought, "Oh, God, this is over and I'm out of here, and I really don't want to leave."So I said, "Can I ask you a question?" He said, "Sure." "What movie do you think you've seen more than any other movie?" And he said, "Wow, let me think about that. I guess probably The Searchers." And I said, "Well, oddly, that's the movie I've seen more than any other movie." And I wasn't just BS-ing. It's true. It's my favorite movie.

I went to New York out of college, and in my day, we were told that was the way you became a good actor. You don't go to Hollywood, you go straight to New York and work in the theater. So that's what most of the people I knew did.

I like to think of myself as the Rutger Hauer of this show Star Trek: The Next Generation. But then I like to think of myself as Rutger Hauer in real life: strikingly handsome, irresistible to women, an intergalactic enigma.

I can tell you one other story about Rent Control. The lead actress in the film, her name was Elizabeth Stack, and it turned out she was Robert Stack's daughter. The only problem with that - and she was lovely - was that she was basically hired because [Gian Luigi Polidoro] thought she was [film producer] Ray Stark's daughter. And he figured that if he ran out of money, her father would kick in some more. I can still remember the day he freaked out when he realized she was actually Robert Stack's daughter. He was just screaming "Untouchables!" over and over.

Hollywood has more than its share of harsh and crewel stories. In fact, it's probably more the norm than the exception.

We [with John Logan] started talking about The Searchers, and then he went on to tell me a story about when he first met John Wayne, and he said, "Hey, you be me and I'll be Wayne," and I said, "No, let me be Wayne!" Anyway, it was a very pleasant conversation, it was clear to him that I was a big movie fan, and by the time I got home, there was a phone call, asking if I'd mind doing one scene in the movie [The Aviator].

The Dain Curse [Tom Fink] was a great job. I was in New York, and I was young - I think I'm 28 years old in that - and I got to work with James Coburn and Jean Simmons and Jason Miller. Plus, it was a Dashiell Hammett story, and I had a great character. It was fantastic to shoot.

I don't read fiction at all.

[The Aviator] came about through John Logan, who I've been friends with for many years.

Gian Luigi Polidoro and his girlfriend had written this script, it was an American comedy, and they decided I was the guy to play the part. I was young, they offered me the lead in the film, and I said, "Sure, I'll do it." And I'm telling you, there is a movie waiting to be made about the making of a movie like that, particularly at that time in New York. I mean, we shot all over the streets of New York without permits. We would literally grab a shot and run. But Rent Control... I think the total cost was $100,000, and to this director's credit, I think it looks like $200,000.

Dr. Okun. Who's named after a special-effects guy named Jeff Okun, who had done Stargate for Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin, who did Independence Day. But "Brakish" just came up one day when Jeff Goldblum and I were improvising, and he told me his character's name and I told him mine.

I assumed, "Well, I must've sounded like Conan O'Brien, or a reasonable facsimile or something." And there I am in the movie [South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut ]. I was very lucky.

That was a really interesting series [Threshold ] that I think would've been really great had it continued. I know Brannon Braga, who was running the show at the time, had a lot of really interesting ideas for what was going to happen the second, third, fourth, and fifth seasons, and they had it really planned out what was going to go on. But CBS just decided to pull the plug on it.

[Independence Day] was a sweet, sweet job, because it was one of those big surprises.

Needless to say, I was impressed by Felicia [Day] and her moxie with how to do a web series. I mean, she's the queen of the web.

I do know that when I look around in show business, I see a lot of people who were in my drama class in high school.

Pierre [from Dude, Where's My Car?] could be the best thing I've ever done. When you distill it down to a minute and a half of work, that may be my finest effort.

The one on Fresh Hell is a little easier, because we make it up. It's a strange kind of hybrid of the real me and... Well, obviously it's me standing there, and it's my voice and my face, but it's also kind of filtered through Harry Hannigan's take on the character, the one he's writing.

I got Greg Aronowitz, who does [ Felicia Day] sets, to do mine as well, and he's just amazing. He can work miracles with nothing.

We had lunch that day [with Chris Ellis], and I was talking about this idea. I toyed with it a little bit on Twitter in story form at one point. And he thought it was a great idea, and he thought, "Well, let's bring my friend Harry Hannigan in, who's a wonderful writer, and let's see if we can put something together."

Although I could be wrong. If Roland Emmerich's thinking about doing that at some point, I'd be glad to don the long hair again. But sometimes you can just go a little bit further out with something you're only going to be doing for a short run

No, actually I'm trying to stay away from the big screen.

[Martin Scorsese ] basically works just like any other director. You work the scene, you try to find what's best in it and make it work. That's what it was like.

I felt like I was a natural [in The Simpsons].

Basically, my deal is that I choose roles based on three criteria. One is the role, obviously, if it's something that speaks to me. Two is, are they gonna pay me? And three is, who am I gonna work with? And, really, if one of those is there, I'm pretty likely to do it, but it's particularly important to me who I'm going to work with, 'cause that's part of the joy.

Obviously we're doing a comedy [Fresh Hell], and our intent is to entertain, but we're also really aware and trying to stay aware of the subtext of what it's like to reach a certain age and be dismissed, basically, from the fraternity you've always wanted to be a part of, and the desperation involved in trying to claw your way back into it.

I think that Enterprise was getting better and better, actually, and if it had kept going, I think it would've turned into as good a show as any other in the Star Trek franchise.

Comedy really is my bread and butter, even when I'm doing a serious character, with the exception of Outcast. I have found very little humor in this character. Most of the time, what I do, somewhere there is comedy in it.

So we [with Chris Ellis] did [Fresh Hell], and we did the first five episodes as a lark, just to see if anybody would respond or be interested, and we got enough feedback that was positive that we thought, "Let's keep going with this and see if we can flesh it out a bit this season." We've had 10 episodes, and they've been longer and a little more complete.

I love the South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. They're geniuses. I throw that word around a lot, but I really do mean it.

I did learn a lot from [ Felicia Day], though, and I was able to usurp some of her talent.

I had a fantastic teacher in high school. I had one of those guys you dream of having, who molds your life and inspires you to go in a particular direction, and he was quite brilliant. His name was Cecil Pickett, and a lot of the kids from my high-school drama class are in professional show business and have done quite well.

The character of Brent Spiner. We certainly collaborate on the concept of that, but he basically writes the script, then it's sort of a combination of his voice and my voice.

Radical surgery is never fun.

I'm an avid biography reader.

It really was not that difficult a process, because I was playing [Data from Star Trek] something that doesn't exist. So it was really based on... Imagination was the key element in that, and whatever I could think of, I could do, because there was no precedent for it. It wasn't like someone was going to say, "Well, an android would never do that." They didn't know!

I don't read Science Fiction.

That's what kids were like then. So I really like the movie [Dude, Where's My Car? ], I think it's genuinely funny, and I wish I hadn't been so arrogant about it. And, of course, I didn't know it was going to be my best work, either.

I think the potential for man is so enormous, if we can stay alive long enough, we're going to be seeing a lot of what Star Trek is projecting.