Being associated with the same role for a prolonged period can often result in the actor being typecast or pigeonholed into that certain type of role in their careers. Fortunately, Brent Spiner never had to worry about that despite being attached to Lt. Commander Data for decades.
Often considered one of the most versatile actors in the Star Trek franchise, Spiner’s career extends beyond the confinements of sci-fi, as he has played a wide variety of roles throughout various genres. Part of the reason why he was never limited to playing a similar type of role is because his Star Trek persona allowed him to explore his acting chops to the fullest.
Star Trek Allowed Brent Spiner to Explore His Acting Abilities
While playing an android devoid of emotions doesn’t sound as gripping on paper, Brent Spiner‘s acting abilities were stretched to the limit throughout his tenure in Star Trek. In Star Trek: The New Generation, characters were allowed to live their wildest fantasies and stories, thanks to Holodeck, which was first introduced back in The Animated Series.
This made for some fun episodes, especially for Spiner, who was finally allowed to stretch his acting wings by playing all kinds of different roles, including Sherlock Holmes.
He said:
There’s that double-edged sword of being identified with one role, but if I’m going to have to be identified for a single role, at least it’s a role where I got to play all kinds of other different roles. I really enjoyed playing Sherlock Holmes when we did that [on TNG episodes ‘Elementary, Dear Data’ and ‘Ship in a Bottle’]. We did all kinds of things, and I was inhabited by different creatures and personalities. It’s a dream, for an actor, to be able to do that.
But among all the personalities he has tackled over the years, playing Data’s evil android brother was his favorite, as it was the closest to his actual self.
Lore Is the Closest to Brent Spiner in Terms of Personality
While Spiner made his debut as Data, who gradually became more human as the show progressed, the actor had a better time playing his evil android brother, Lore. Considering the character is revealed to have all the negative traits that Data lacked, the actor joked that he had a better time paying Lore as he was evil in real life.
Actually of the two characters – Data and Lore – I’m much more like Lore. I mean, Lore was easy to play because I am evil. So they said, ‘Yeah, just let yourself go, be yourself.’ So, okay!
His performances as Lore, Data, and every other personality he has portrayed throughout his decades-long stint in the Star Trek universe stands as a testament to his versatility.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount Plus.
