TNG Cast Reflects On Best Big-Screen Experience

Star Trek: The Next Generationdebuted in syndication the week of September 28, 1987. So, believe it or not, the 25th anniversary of the series that captured lightning in a bottle… again, is upon us. Events of all kinds have been occurring in the Star Trek universe, from the release of TNG Blu-rays to a handful of full-cast convention appearances. StarTrek.com thought it’d be revealing, informative and entertaining to reach out to as many full-time first-season TNG actors as we could corral and ask each of them to answer six questions. Today, in part four of our cast interview, Marina Sirtis, Brent Spiner, Gates McFadden, Michael Dorn and Jonathan Frakes answer the following question:Which of the four TNG features was the best working experience for you, and why?

Michael Dorn: My all-time favorite TNG feature -- and also I feel the best Star Trek feature -- was First Contact. It was my favorite working experience because I believe we were at our peak. Next Generation was highly successful, our fan base was phenomenal, and we had a ball shooting. As usual, laughter was the order of the day -- along with some great scenes.Marina Sirtis: We had a really good time on Generations. We had a good time on all of them, for different reasons, but a lot of fun and funny things happened on Generations. Maybe because there was no gap between the series ending and the first movie starting. I think I had two days off before I started shooting on the movie. It was really a continuation, so I think that jocularity and everything continued into the movie. We all had a great time on First Contact, and I think it’s our favorite movie because it was the best movie of the four. I think we’d all agree with that. But we all had a great time on Generations. We really did. Brent Spiner: I think First Contact. A, it was the best script we had. B, we had some terrific guest stars in it. We did in all the films, actually, but we had some really wonderful guest stars in First Contact. Jonathan (Frakes) directed it and it was his first feature, and everybody was really into making it good. But, primarily, because it was the best script and we knew it actually had a chance of being a good movie.Gates McFadden:First Contact because I thought it was the strongest script and Jonathan did a great job directing it. Although I thought it was both fun and bittersweet to spend a week shooting (Generations) on the boat in Marina del Rey. I was intensely seasick for the first day, but then fell in love with the boat and being on the water. It was the farewell to the series for me.Jonathan Frakes: That’s got to be First Contact. It changed my life. The show changed my life, and then First Contact took it into another dimension, another galaxy, if you will. Visit StarTrek.com again tomorrow, as the TNG cast discusses which episodes they’re proudest of. And click HERE, HERE and HERE to read the first three parts of our cast interview.