Star Trek is one of the most unique pop culture phenomena to date because of its widespread inclusivity. To widen their multiculturalism, the Gene Roddenberry franchise roped in Irish actor Colm Meany as the transporter chief in The Next Generation‘s USS Enterprise-D. But the No Way Up actor’s Star Trek journey was a struggle as he initially did not want to play an Irish character.
As the seasons of The Next Generation progressed, Colm Meaney was given a more prominent part in the series before he was promoted to a series regular in the spin-off show Deep Space Nine. Appearing at a convention, Colm Meaney shared that he badly wanted to play varied roles rather than sticking to the Irishman stereotype, but the sci-fi show had different plans for him.
Colm Meaney was done with the stereotyped Irish accent in American movies
In a conversation at a Star Trek convention (via YouTube), the now 71-year-old Colm Meaney shared that he had numerous struggles during his early days in the industry. According to the actor, his natural Irish accent did not work well with the casting directors habituated with the stereotyped “sing-song” Irish accent in American movies, popularized by Barry Fitzgerald.
Barry Fitzgerald was a popular name in the industry with films like Going My Way and The Quiet Man under his collar. Despite such fame, Meaney hated how Fitzgerald’s Irish accent was considered the norm by the actors and the casting directors in the industry.
What we’re talking about here is: there’s a history in American films of Irish characters having these dreadful, dreadful, non-existent kind of accents. ‘Oh, top o’ the marnin’, top o’ the marnin’! Oh, sir Jesus Christ, oh dear Lard!’ And it’s all sing-song like that, you know. But the one I hold responsible for a lot of that is — and he was a great actor — but Barry Fitzgerald did it. And also Barry Fitzgerald had a chin like that and he’d be chewing the pipe and he talked like that, and so everybody in America thought Irish people talk like that.
Colm Meaney added that the Barry Fitzgerald effect heavily impacted his auditions as his natural accent was very different. He recalled many auditions where the makers accused him of not sounding Irish and he used to reply- “And I’d say [Barry Fitzgerald impression] ‘Oh, does that sound Irish? Does that sound Irish? Is that better?'”
This stereotyping issue led the Dublin-born actor to take a different path when he was cast as Chief Miles O’Brien in Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor attempted to shred his Irish accent as much as he could to sound American until he got a message from EP Rick Berman.
Star Trek: The Next Generation did not fulfill Colm Meaney’s desire
The Layer Cake actor was so tired of the Irishman stereotype, that after a point he badly craved for non-Irish roles. When Colm Meaney’s dialogues were gradually increased in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Irish actor started to sound as non-Irish as he could. To dodge the stereotyping, he did not want to play only Irish roles.
Nonetheless, Meaney’s attempt to make his character more American backfired after executive producer Rick Berman took notice of it. He immediately wrote Patrick Stewart‘s co-actor to maintain the ethnicity as Star Trek always stood as a symbol of Multiculturalism.
And I got notes from Rick Berman, ‘What are you doing!? What are you doing!?’ I said, just, ‘You know, I don’t want him to be too … I was thinking he was maybe second generation Irish or something, American.’ ‘No he’s not! He’s Irish! We want that Irish accent, we want that accent!’
Multiculturalism and inclusivity have always been crucial elements in the Star Trek universe. Gene Roddenberry’s belief in the idea of “infinite diversity in infinite combinations” allowed us to witness a diverse cast in the sci-fi franchise. Colm Meaney also understood that his Irish background was significant for his character in the show.
After that, Colm Meaney had a smooth Star Trek journey and also became a regular in the spin-off show Deep Space Nine after getting the role of Chief of Operations.
Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine can be streamed on Paramount+.
