“Roaches and my organs are going to be the only things left after the holocaust”: Brent Spiner Was Terrified What Star Trek: The Next Generation Was Doing to His Body

The legacy of Star Trek is irrefutable in the inherent extent of its lore and expansive mythology. But what makes the franchise so magnanimous and singular in its said legacy is the contribution of its cast and crew members.

Be it The Original Series starring the iconic duo of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy or its follow-up sequel starring Patrick Stewart as the indelible Jean-Luc Picard, the sci-fi industry was forever transformed by the storytelling prowess of Star Trek and all its accompanying subset of pop culture references and global fan phenomenon.

Star Trek Presented Some Unforeseen Problems Off-Screen

In the run-up to Star Trek: The Next Generation, the popularity of the IP was already well established in its 40-year run. First launched in 1966 with Star Trek: The Original Series, the story could only go uphill from there, irrespective of its need to come up with a fresh set of weekly adventures or new alien planets and species to tackle.

However, what remained constant throughout these intergalactic and interstellar voyages was the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise and their assigned roles on the Starfleet. While the rest of the crew got off easy, for Brent Spiner, the story was a little different than what an actor would originally expect, i.e. the role of a robot named Data.

One of the characteristic features of Data involved his golden-hued “skin” or shell that could distinguish him from the other human or alien races. Although it was considered generally benign to begin with, years of exposure to the skin paint soon grew to be a matter of genuine concern for Spiner, as he would go on to reveal later.

Star Trek Imprints Its Legacy on the Cast’s Internal Organs

On any given day, Brent Spiner would not be a diva on set, that was more of a William Shatner thing from the cast of The Original Series. But for The Next Generation’s resident android, Data, a small hitch regarding his bodily paint soon became the cause for some much-needed intervention behind the scenes.

In an interview with Good Morning America, Spiner lamented his internal woes to the audience, saying:

I don’t know what [the gold make-up] is doing inside [my body] basically. I think, one day they’re gonna find my organs… Roaches and my organs are gonna be the only things left after a holocaust.

Although the complaint registers as superficially hilarious at first, upon a deeper introspection, it becomes clear that the concern is very real for the actor. The make-up of the era was not as organically procured or tested for the impact of its long-term usage on the skin.

Contracting a semi-permanent skin infection or causing long-term damage could not be entirely ruled out as potential possibilities of using the gold paint for so many consistent years on the show. Although that itself stands as a worrying side-effect of being contractually obligated to a Hollywood production, it also questions the cost of paving one’s legacy as an actor on the big screen.

Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+