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October 1, 2002

Watching Star Trek in college, Scott Bakula never dreamed that he would one day take on the mantle of Starfleet captain.

"I wasn't thinking about being an actor professionally, so it never crossed my mind," the actor recalls. Now, he delights in being part of something that has such tradition attached to it. "I think just the notion of being in this franchise is funny," he says. "There's just something delightful about what we get to do — it's not an hour drama that's about being a legal aid in downtown LA or whatever. The whole thing, to me, is kind of a lark ... We [the cast] all feel lucky to be a part of this — we're at this great studio that is so supportive of this franchise, with good reason, that we get to do a lot of stuff. To this day, I'll walk in and I'll see a set and say, 'Holy cow!'"

[...]

In the beginning, at least, Archer was presented as something of a throwback to the classic days of Kirk, Spock and Bones. Bakula, however, feels that the character has evolved beyond that. "The idea going in was that I was going to be the new Kirk," he remembers. "That makes sense. I was going to be the new captain who was kind of out there having a good time, and enjoying the ladies, and carrying on in true original Star Trek fashion. [But] it just never really felt right ... [One thing] that was a surprise is that there's a different energy when you put a woman, and a Vulcan woman, in that threesome. It just changes that energy. And I think to the good. I think it makes the show not be as predictable as if it were three guys again. I think that that's worked out for us."

[...]

Still, that doesn't mean Bakula hasn't had his share of fan experiences. "The contact that I've had with fans has been really terrific," he says. "A cab driver passed me the other day on the road and honked his horn, and I looked over, and he just saluted me and drove on ... So it's been nice. I haven't sat down and had a lot of long, in depth conversations with fans, but people that I know, friends of mine, they'll tell me what their friends are saying, or I'll get feedback. 'I hate the dog!' and 'We want you to kick some ass,' and 'We want you to kick the Vulcans' ass.' People are always compelled to give you their opinion. So I get a lot of feedback, even though I haven't been out there in conventions."

All in all, Bakula is enjoying his time commanding the NX-01 — even though not everything's in proper working order. "We're all in agreement to try and keep for as long as we can this notion that everything is still new and exciting to this crew," he says. "Things still don't work well. I've said, 'Please, let's not fix the transporter for a while.' Because I love the shuttlepod. As painful and challenging as it is to shoot in, and uncomfortable, it's got its own vibe to it that keeps us away from the easy fix of beam in and beam out ... I'm sure there will come a time when all of the sudden we figure it out if we need it but … I like that we're still figuring out as we go."

To read more, click on the link below:

http://www.startrek.com/launch/firstthoughts/bakula.asp