Wil Wheaton is known for starring in the iconic Star Trek franchise in the role of Wesley Crusher in the iconic 1987 series Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, the actor revealed that some of the people were not honest with him, which could have potentially ruined his career!
Starring in the iconic series, Wheaton found worldwide fame for his portrayal of Crusher. When he joined another movie, one of the producers of the series straight up lied to Wheaton that they needed him on an urgent basis!
Wil Wheaton Found Another Opportunity
After the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation ended, Wil Wheaton got the amazing opportunity to work with notable director Miloš Forman in Valmont.
With the production of the next season some months away, Wheaton agreed to star in the film and was quite excited about the opportunity. According to the book The Fifty-Year Mission, Wil Wheaton revealed that the shooting of Valmont would end when the next season of Star Trek: The Next Generation would be in its first week of production.
Since they were shooting out of order, Wil Wheaton wasn’t worried since he had no scenes in that particular episode that they were shooting. However, things weren’t quite as simple as they seemed.
The shooting schedule for that movie would have run over into the first week of production on ‘Next Generation,’ which wasn’t going to be a problem because, for whatever reason, we were shooting that season out-of-order and we were shooting the second episode first.
Things took a turn for the worse for Wil Wheaton when one of the producers of Star Trek: The Next Generation called his agent and said that the episode was Wheaton-centric!
One of the producers told my agent that they could not write me out of that episode because it was a Wesley-focused episode, and I couldn’t go work for Miloš Forman in Paris.
While stating that the episode would focus on Wesley Crusher and his relationship with his mother, the producer stated that the scene was very important to the series.
The producer stated that it was of paramount importance that Wheaton abandon his project with Miloš Forman and join the production of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, it wasn’t the truth.
Wil Wheaton Was Lied To By One of The Producers!
As the discussion further continued, Wil Wheaton revealed that he was completely heartbroken by the recent update. Stating that he had found an amazing opportunity to work with Miloš Forman, Wheaton revealed that it was devastating for him.
Wheaton had ultimately no choice but to drop out of that project and rejoin the production of the next season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, the actor revealed that another tragedy was awaiting him.
I was really upset, because I was excited to have the opportunity to work with this amazing director in an amazing movie and in an amazing role that I thought really would have solidified my credentials as a young actor. I was really disappointed.
A few days before they began production on the next season of the series, Wil Wheaton’s character of Wesley Crusher was completely written out of the episode!
A few days before we began production on that season of ‘Next Generation,’ this producer wrote me out of the script entirely, and it was appalling to me. The message was very clear — we own you — and it was a move to sabotage my career.
The actor further continued that years down the line, Marina Sirtis (actress) told him that if he had done the film, he would have been a bigger star than they could have handled!
Wheaton learned an important lesson that not everyone is what they seem to be but he ultimately let it go.
Known for his iconic portrayal as Wesley Crusher, Wil Wheaton can be seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation which is available to stream on Disney+ in the U.S.
Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.
