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January 13, 2002 Portland, Oregon Two Reports: Kipli Gayle Stevers
Author: Kipli http://www.kipli.net/keating.htm Additional Convention Photos:
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I'm not a reporter in any capacity so this article will be rather informal. On January 12, 2002, I had the fortune to see Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed) in convention at Portland, OR. Being a college student, I could only afford to go to one day of the two day convention. Since I am a new big fan of Reed and Keating, I choose to see him instead of Conner Trinneer (Cmd. Trip Tucker). How many young women would say that?
My friend and I arrived in time to see Icheb and the Borg Twins from 'Voyager'. It was interesting to find we were the only women there our ages and we talked with Manu Intiraymi (Icheb) for a while, who seemed glad to find anyone around his age of 23. After killing a few more hours circling the dealers tables, finally we wandered back to the auditorium about a half hour before Keating was to show up. He was no disappointment. He tried to sneak from the side entrance and back behind some black curtains beside the stage while the scene in the Armory from "Flight or Fight" played out on the screen. Then as it ended, he jumped onto the stage.
The best way to describe Keating on stage that I can think of is "flamboyant drama queen." He loved the attention. He seemed exceedingly happy to be there, despite his claims that it was 78 degrees and the surf was up in California. It had managed not to rain while Keating was in Portland but it was a gray day. He then leapt into singing the theme song to 'Enterprise' as well as doing his soon to be patented impressions of Jolene Blalock's (T'Pol) suggestive poses from the 'Maxim' magazine. Then he went into explaining how he got the role of Reed, starting off with a joke of meeting producer Brannon Braga at a gay bar after Keating had finished singing 'Hello Dolly'. He added to the stories I had seen online about his receiving the job by elaborating that as soon as he realized he had the role, he raced to his car and started calling people he knew on his cell phone. After calling his agent, mum, and girlfriend, he received a call asking if he had told anyone yet. Keating told the audience that he couldn't stand not being able to tell anyone else for a week while the role was officially contracted.
Keating then told us he had been in England promoting the series premiere in the UK. Blalock and himself were there on a morning television program, which he claimed was produced for teenagers and forty year old men with the mind's of teenagers ("just my kind of program"). During the course of the interview he mentioned he felt 'Enterprise' had saved UPN's ass. The interviewer told him "You can't say that." Keating thought he meant he had pronounced "ass" instead of "arse". He apologized and said it correctly. "No, stop it!" He then wondered why the interviewer was getting so upset and explained he had been in the states for eight years. Ass and arse, what did it matter. "Stop saying that!" It was 7:45 in the morning and they were not allowed to say ass on live television when children might be watching. The station had to air an apology later during the show. He had told his mum and all his relatives to watch the show. His mum received many calls about how at age 6 he had a foul mouth in prep school and he hadn't changed. Then he smirked at the crowd.
Keating then opened it up to questions. Michael Hinman of SyFy Portal will be glad to hear someone asked about reading that Keating had been thinking of directing. Hinman's article was the first to break the news.
Someone asked about the 'Flight or Fight' scene we had seen and if Bakula had ever hurt himself during the takes when he slid down the stairs to Keating and Montgomery (Ensign Travis Mayweather). Keating said he had not but that the actors did have to do some voice over work on that scene because the sound hadn't been good enough. When Keating went to do his lines in the booth, the scene played and when Bakula slid down the stars Montgomery had dubbed over in a frightened high pitched voice "Oh Captain, you frightened me!" Keating did a fantastic version of this line which doesn't carry over onto paper. Keating enjoys his time with Anthony Montgomery and stated he probably likes him best as a friend out of the cast members. But he also said Montgomery cannot stop talking. During the horribly long and hot days of filming in EV suits in "Breaking the Ice", they are given headsets to speak to each other. Montgomery would not stop talking. It was just one long stream of words coming from him and he doesn't even seem to notice if anyone is paying him any attention.
He mentioned that none of the cast were troublemakers just yet but Conner Trinneer did start something during a scene on the Bridge while they were being rocked around. He got tossed around and then started into a long line of swears. The rest of them quickly followed suit and even Blalock went "Ouchies, my head."
Keating is a little worried Reed is getting knocked about a little too much. He seems to be beat up every other episode. In one to come he gets his butt kicked by a "super model" Klingon female. He mentioned he would have to talk to producer Rick Berman about it since everyone must think Reed is a huge wuss.
He made not mention of Reed's sexuality but did again comment that he is very proud of the upcoming episode 'Shuttlepod One'. An interesting side note, although I cannot recall the series (possibly 'G vs. E'), he guest stared as a bisexual ghost and claimed if he could pull that off he can pull of anything.
Someone asked what he found the most different about living in America. He said again that he'd been here for eight years and it wasn't too different any more. Going back to England for Christmas, he had a hard time driving on the other side of the road again. Then recalled when he first got to the states he took his friend's jeep out onto the highway. In England the slow lane of course is the left lane, so he ended up going 40 in LA in the fast lane. He thought he was cool with the top down and music going. He couldn't figure out why people were swearing at him and giving him the finger as they passed him by.
Another younger person asked where his girlfriend lived. He grinned slyly and answered, "At MY house." He said they had been living together for four months and she wants to get a cat. Keating is not so keen on the idea. Being a neat freak he can just picture cat hair all over his couch and his clothes, running a hand along his black shirt as he seemed not to like the idea at all.
Keating also commented that he had been interviewed by a techi-Trekkie and they launched into questions about how the weapons worked and this and that. He quickly admitted all he knew about the torpedoes were that they were gray. Then he also stated that none of the cast were any good with the props but Trinneer was the worst. He broke three phase pistols during the filming of the first episode. "Where's the phase pistol?" "Oh Conner had it last, it's gone."
Keating was a great entertainer and fielded the questions
well, even while he commented that making an actor go on stage without lines and
then answer questions truthfully in front of an audience is horrible. He seems
to enjoy the spotlight well enough though. He took his time while signing
autographs and was kind enough to pose for pictures as well as talk very shortly
with each person. And even though I was one of the last people in line for his
autograph, his signature was still legible. If you have the chance, please go
see Dominic Keating at a convention. He's fantastic entertainment.
Portland Oregon Convention
The Enterprise Crew - Dominic and Connor in Portland
"It's been a long time...gettin' from there to here.."
His next quip was "Hello Portland...it’s 78 degrees in Burbank and the
surf is up... but I love you!" (It was quite rainy and dingy in Portland at
the time). He kept up this high energy banter throughout the talk. We only later
found out he was exhausted and still on jet lag from his recent promotional tour
to England. He had traveled with Jolene Blalock, T'Pol, the stoic Vulcan from
the new show. He said he and his girlfriend (whom he had met about a year ago
while working on his previous acting job) had had the trip of a lifetime and
were treated like royalty by Sky TV who were promoting the premiere of
Enterprise in the UK. He started right out by "spoiling" on the upcoming ‘Silent Enemy." "...you get to look at a bit more of Malcolm Reed for the first time. It’s quite a good episode for me. The writers decided that although we didn’t know much about Reed and wanted to look a bit more at him, let’s not give it all away at once. So the episode is about me but you don’t know much about me by the end of it. It’s kind of strange. It’s my birthday in the episode and Hoshi is employed (aside: I’m not telling you how old I am so you can forget that...Malcolm’s age or mine...Malcolm’s a lot older than me) to try and find out something personal about Mr. Reed and there’s some funny stuff. There’s a lovely scene in the mess hall when she tries to get through to Malcolm and he totally misunderstands here intentions. Oh man...you’re going to be squirming in your seats for that one!" He recounted how his mother had rung him up the day after the premiere in England the previous week and had asked "Who are the pimply ones?" (the Suliban). "She didn’t get that part at all." Then he continued in a high pitched imitation of his mother: "’They’re not from Earth, are they?’ She’ll never get the show....I’ll be talking to you guys five years from now and my mum will never get this show!" "How did I get the job? I met Rick Berman in a gay bar," he joked. He was obviously very proud to be on Star Trek, and very grateful to have a regular job. "I got what every actor wants to hear (when his agent called with the news) - series regular!" (He then recounted the previously reported tale of how he had met Berman two years earlier while auditioning for Voyager...) He laughingly referred to the decon scene in Broken Bow and after joking about Tucker in that scene said "He’s coming tomorrow and you can ask him all about that...tell him I said so!" A little later he quipped (during a demonstration of something) "You think I’m bad with props, wait ‘til Connor Trineer gets here. He broke the first three phase pistols in the first ten days, ask him about that!" Then later a young lady asked Keating if this was his first convention and he said "No that’s Connor....he’s taller but not quite as good looking....I’m the convention Queen...this is my fourth convention. I love them. The first one I was really nervous. To ask an actor to put a mike in their hand without a script and ‘be yourself.’ That takes years of therapy! So it was very nerve wracking. I am enjoying it more now. Once I got to meet you guys and ‘feel the love’....God if they could hear me in England now they’d be throwing tomatoes!"
He's also really excited about the work he just completed but which hasn't
aired. "There's a great episode coming up called 'Shuttlepod One' Connor
and I are very proud of. We did a scene in - it might be 'Silent Enemy' - and
Brannon saw that and wrote this. We're marooned with a very limited air supply
and a ticking clock. Rick came by and he's a
He shared that the Ferengi are in in the next episode that Ethan Phillips is
playing one of them. He had come by the set the previous week.
Someone asked if he wanted to go into space. "I get scared getting on a
commercial airliner! I have a quiet moment as we take off where I connect with a
higher power and I have a quiet moment when we touch down where I really connect
with a higher power. ‘It’s not just me God, it’s all the other people you
don’t want to kill, OK? I can understand why if it were me alone it could all
go wrong but the pilot’s got a familiy....’"
"I played football and ran track at Kelso High and then played football
at PLU. Being an actor wasn't part of the plan," he announced, but with a
smirk, "but then I found out that being a pro football player wasn't
either." He attended drama school in Kansas City, Missouri, and got his
master’s degree so he’s classically trained. Then he "did a bunch of
theatre in New York and some little tiny soap opera stuff that I hope y’all
never see. Then I moved to LA and here I stand." (He was seated at the time
and the audience pointed that out). "Y’all are so literal!"
The Captain’s Dog? "The old adage, never act with animals or children.
They steal everything. They steal every scene they’re in. And I’m glad the
dog’s not mine." The next question started with "Dominic said..." at which point Connor says "What the hell did Dominic say about me? Next time I’m going first!" Next Connor’s mom asked him a question about Greg Brady and it came out that when Connor was a child he was a big Brady Bunch fan and had gone through a phase where he hated his own name and wanted to be called Greg. "So I feel strongly about Greg Brady." Did you watch Star Trek before? "I watched all the original ones as a child. I've never been one to just sit around and I’ve never really had a show I felt connected to. I've watched more Star Trek since I got the job than I had in the last 10 years. And that’s a good thing because there’s some awesome stuff there that I never gave a chance to. The things I’ve seen I’ve really enjoyed. I think I saw all the movies before. The last one I saw was First Contact. When I got the show, I just hoped I didn't have any prosthetics. Aces all the way around!"
"How old am I? 32. March 19, 1969." Dominic wouldn’t tell you?
Good....it’s the only thing he didn’t tell you!"
"My favorite beer? Budweiser, what’s your favorite beer?" Are there any pranksters on the set? "You’re not allowed to touch a lot of things, like if you’re not doing anything. You’re not supposed to play with a lot of stuff. Or actually I should say I’m not allowed to play with a lot of stuff (laughter). To this point we don’t have a lot of pranks that have occurred. They just make fun of me dropping things." How is it working with T'Pol? "That bitch." (laughter) "She's a sweetheart. She's great. She has what I think is the hardest part on the show, to keep that part interesting will continue to be difficult She works her butt off and she’s a very nice person."
Do you know any of the former Star Trek people and do you want to direct?
"Yes and yes. Roxann Dawson. LeVar Burton has done two episodes. I
definitely want to. Gosh, it's like having film school for free. If I get out of
there directing a few episodes.." The technobabble is the hardest thing about learning lines. Otherwise it’s pretty easy to learn lines.
What other jobs have you done? "I roofed for summers. I worked in crappy
places. I catered a lot in New York. Came home in debt after a summer of
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