Gene Roddenberry’s seminal creation of Star Trek has shaped entire generations ever since the ’60s. Be it Star Trek: The Original Series or Star Trek: The Next Generation, the space saga, with its unusual hopefulness and contagious optimism, has exerted a monumental influence in the pop-cultural orbit.
Not to mention, the franchise gifted viewers with perhaps some of the most cherished characters of all time, including the likes of Picard, the grouchy intellectual with a heart of gold played by Patrick Stewart, and Brent Spiner’s genius android (who also happened to be an avid member of the tortured poets department) with a burning desire to be human, much like Spock.
But there was one The Next Generation star that Spiner may not have been the biggest fan of.
Brent Spiner Was Fed Up of His Star Trek Co-Star
The android Starfleet officer, Data – depicted by Brent Spiner in Star Trek: The Next Generation and several other shows and spinoffs – in his vehement longing to be human, ended up having a pet cat named Spot as an attempt to become more like the Earth-originated species. But while Data developed a heartfelt fondness for the cat, Spiner? Not so much.
At the 2010 Philadelphia Comic-Con, Spiner, 75, admitted that the cat who played Spot in the sci-fi show was perhaps “the stupidest” actor he’s ever collaborated with, and one who took a frustratingly long time to get even the most rudimentary takes right.
That cat, I have to say, was the stupidest actor I ever worked with. Seriously…I know there are a lot of cat lovers and I have nothing against cats, but that cat, never took a piece of direction. Ever. One time…they wrote in, ‘Spot eats tuna out of a can.’ And he picked it up on the first take. Otherwise, we were there all day with that cat, yeah. Bless his soul.
Even a few years down the line, the Independence Day star’s disapproval of his feline co-stars remained more or less the same, if not worse.
At a 2013 convention, Spiner revealed that he’d worked with three different cats during the early ’90s on the Star Trek series, all of which, though “long gone” (sadly enough), were nevertheless incorrigibly terrible actors, “the worst” even. “When we would open a script and see Spot, our stomachs would turn over because we knew it was going to be a long day,” he said.
Things Started to Look Up for Him in Star Trek: Picard
While Spiner didn’t have the best time with the previous cat actors in The Next Generation – mainly because the writers and producers demanded seemingly impossible things from the kitties – the 2020 show panned out much more smoothly for both him and Spot.
In an interview with TrekMovie.com, the Night Court alum recalled how TNG writers, Ron Moore and Brannon Braga used to cook up scenes involving Spot “just to irritate” him, which would ultimately result in prolonged working hours thanks to the cat’s acting skills or lack thereof.
Fortunately enough, however, the new Spot that Spiner got to work with in Star Trek: Picard was not a pain in his butt.
And this cat was a brilliant actor. I would say this cat is considered the Daniel Day-Lewis of cats. It wasn’t really required to do anything other than snuggle with me, which it did brilliantly. So I was fine doing that scene.
But you know what they say, all’s well that ends well, right?
Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Picard are both available for streaming on Paramount+.
