## StarFest Con Report!

Note: The following is writen by Lark and not by myself. I have not changed any of the text, but only removed the headers, and made the report into one part instead of 5 parts, as it was in 5 parts to begin with. Take notice that this report is paraphrased, NOT word for word. Enjoy! :-)

Ok, folx, here it is. The report on StarFest 96.
The place was packed and there was a very limited area that could see very well; the rest had to look at the screens. But this is why I always carry a camera! They were letting people taking pictures come down front for a while, so I got some good pictures (I hope; I haven't developed them yet).
The man looked _good!_ (but you knew that) I especially enjoyed the white button-down shirt. He took off his brown jacket to appreciative hoots and hollers from the crowd.
He and Jeff Goldblum were both in good form, doing lots of humorous banter back and forth, but you will see that Spot really stole the show, even though he wasn't there. As someone already mentioned, you can get a videtape from StarCon. But I figured there are probably some of you who can't wait, so here's the run-down. First they brought the three out (Brent, Jeff Goldblum, and Dean Devlin) and Devlin talked a bit about ID4 and showed a clip that "we're only showing to the fans."
Then they went into Q&A mode. I don't have a little cassette recorder, so you'll have to rely on my sketchy notes of what was said. Remember these answers are paraphrased and _NOT_ word-for-word.
[I am ignoring the Jeff Goldblum questions. I hope nobody minds. All these questions were addressed to Brent unless otherwise noted.]
Q: Do you have anything in the works?
A: We just started filming for the next Star Trek film, but other than that there's nothing in the works. I do have something coming out after Independence Day, called Phenomenon, in which I have a brief scene with John Travolta.
Q: Are you ever going to be on DS9 or Voyager?
A: I haven't been asked to be on DS9 or Voyager. But I think I would enjoy it.
Q: What is it like acting to nothing when you have to do those special effects?
A: I try to imagine I'm looking at the Pillsbury Dough Boy. [much laughter]
Q: Is Data planning to keep his emotion chip?
A: I don't think _Data_ is planning anything. [more laughter] It's not up to me, really.
Q: I have to know what it was like working with the best Star Trek actor of all time. I mean, he really was the best. What was it like working with Spot? [mucho laughter]
A: Well, as you know, there's been more than one Spot. The first Spot couldn't act a lick. [laughter] But he passed away and we now have two new Spots. Their names are Brandy and Monster. These new ones can _act_!
Q: [from a child] I have a really rare toy that I can't send in the mail. Will you sign it for me?
A: A rare toy? [smiles] Ok, come on up here. [boy comes up] Yes, that is a rare toy. [shows it off to Goldblum] See, this is a Data action figure! I may run off with this myself. There you go.
Q: In Generations, was it more like playing Lore, or like playing Data?
A; It was more like playing ME, only with lots of makeup.
Q: How much control do you have over your characters?
Brent and Goldblum kind of hedged this question and passed it to Dean Devlin, the director/producer/creator (?) of ID4. He said something about the character always coming out different than the way the writers pictured it, but that's part of the creative process etc. also:
A; Brent brought the character [of the doctor in ID4] to life and just made it a really big part of the movie--so of course we had to add more scenes. [wild cheers from audience]
Q: [to Goldblum] When are you going to be on Star Trek?
A: Well, I'd like to. Yes, but no one's asked me. We could be brothers, you know.
Brent: Yes, we could do the Android Lounge Act.
Q: A friend of mine ran into Denise Crosby and she said that you do a great imitation of her grandfather. Could you do that for us?
A: [laughs] yes, well, [to Goldblum] do you know Denise Crosby? She was Tasha on the first season of Star Trek and her grandfather is Bing Crosby. She told me that her grandfather called her "niecie". So, when I call her, and I don't often, but when I do, I leave a message on her answering machine, saying, [I didn't hear all of this, there was too much laughter. Presumably it was an imitation of Bing Crosby] "This is grandpa . . ."
Q: What's it like working with each other?
A: [Goldblum] Brent is fantastic. He's relaxed, fearless, _very_ funny . . .
A: [BJS] Jeff's good too. [laughter] One of the reasons I was so excited to do Independence Day was because I had been a fan of Jeff's for a long time. When we were introduced on the set, they brought me on and said, "Here's Dr. Ogen [sp?]" and I thought, "My god, there's Jeff Goldblum, I can't believe it."
Q: What are your characters in the movie?
A: My role is not huge. Jeff is the star of the movie. [cheers] It's a sweet part. I play an Air Force Research Scientist who has some secrets to share with the President. It was a very, very fun part to play.
Q: Do you find it easy to work with the crew of Star Trek?
A: Oh, yes. We started filming two weeks ago, and it was so natural to be back. In fact, Patrick Stewart and I had a scene together and someone commented, "Boy, these guys know each other, don't they?!" It was like a Martin and Lewis routine. I'm not sure which I am. [laughter]
Q: [from a child] How do you read that fast? [laughter]
A: [grins and says very matter-of-factly straight to the kid,] It's done with mirrors. [fans obviously LTAO]
Q: What's it like working with Will Smith? [another actor in ID4, also star of The Fresh Prince on tv]
A:He's the sweetest guy to work with. We had maybe one line together, and he sent me a Christmas card. I love the guy.
Q: [the inevitable] Could you sign this for me?
A: No, I'm afraid not. I'd love to, but it wouldn't be fair to all these other people out here. [cheers] You can send it to me and I'll sign it and send it back. Yeah, send it to me . . .[smile] and you'll never see it again. [someone knows his own reputation ;) ]
Q: [from a kid] In the next Star Trek movie, are you going to act that way? [obviously disapproving of whatever _way_ he had acted. You know, how your mom used to say, "how could you act that way?" ] [hysterical laughter from crowd]
A: [that caught-off-guard-Data-face, a grin, and raised eyebrows. Followed by more laughter from the crowd] Well, . . . it will be different. . . . No, I'm not going to act _that_ way. I'm going to act _another_ way. [more laughter]
Q: Did you do a voice-over on a Gargoyles episode?
A: Yes, I did three or four episodes, actually. [did anyone else know this? What are the others besides The Mirror?] I played a character named Puck.
Q: Did you enjoy playing Puck?
A: yes, that's what I always play. [this wasn't entirely clear to me. Whether he was saying he always plays Puck on Gargoyles or whether he was saying there's a bit of Puck in every character he plays. ;) ]
Q: How do you think your career will go from here?
A: Up, I hope. That's where I'd like it to go.
Q: How do you feel working with Jonathan Frakes as a director?
A: Great. Jonathan's terrific. We always thought that his episodes were the best. We're having a great time.
Q: Have you ever had your lenses fall out?
A: I've never had them fall out. I've had trouble getting them out.
Q: [from another cute, but naive kid] Where'd you get the name Spot? That's not a cat's name! It's a dog's name! [obviously very upset that Data could be so stupid] [intense laughter from the crowd]
A: I didn't do it, to be honest with you. I always thought it should be named Spock. [laughter]
Q: [from yet another kid] Is Spot your real cat?
A: No, Spot is not my cat. In fact, Spot is not even a real cat. He's actually a very, very small dog who plays a cat brilliantly. [pause for the crowd to get back in their seats] No, Spot is a professional cat. He has these great trainers who do . . . absolutely nothing with him. They have all these stage directions written into the scripts and Spot only ever followed one of them. It said, "Spot walks over and eats the tuna." He did that well.
People kept asking Jeff Goldblum to repeat lines he had done in Jurassic Park. So finally Brent asked him: Remember that time in The Right Stuff when you vomited over the side? Could you . . . [laughter from crowd]
Q: [yes, it's another kid] How do you take your head off? [more laughter]
A: [another grin] How do I take my head off? When I auditioned for the part of Data, there were all these guys there. And I was the only one who could take his head off and that's how I got the part. [more laughter from audience]
Q: [same kid] Can you do it now? [still more]
A: Can I do it _now_? Well, see, I'd love to, but for insurance reasons, I can't. [laughter]
Someone asked Brent a question which I don't have written down, but I did write that he noticed her Sunday in the Park With George t-shirt.
Brent: That's a great shirt. Did you see that? I was in that, you know.
Jeff: you were?
Brent: yes, I was in it.
Jeff: you were?
Brent: Yes.
Jeff: Well, can you sing some of it for us? Which songs were you in? Brent: Well, I was in a number of them. I was in the big Sunday number and The Day Off and I had the line, [sings] "Work is what you do for others, Liebchen, art is what you do for yourself."
[at this point my notes get kind of sketchy because that was my favorite line in the whole musical, and I was no longer capable of any coherent thought. :)
]
Q: Have you found yourself typecast in science-fiction movies?
A: I did a lot of plays that weren't science fiction. And I didn't even know that ID4 was science fiction until we watched that clip. [laughter] I thought it was a romantic comedy . . . But it is [turning to Dean Devlin] the BEST movie I've ever been in!
Well, that's where my notes end. As you can see, a good time was had by all. [except maybe the mothers of those kids] Maybe Teena remembers some things I don't, and we'll get that from her report.
Wish you all could have been there!
Lark

If you liked this report, email me and I will forward your comments to Lark.

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