Phlox's Prosthetics Had John Billingsley Flying Blind During His Time On Star Trek: Enterprise
It has been argued in the pages of /Film — by yours truly, incidentally — that Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) from "Star Trek: Enterprise" is one of the franchise's best characters. On his show, Dr. Phlox serves as the Enterprise's chief medical officer, stationed there thanks to a special interspecies exchange program. Dr. Phlox is a Denobulan, an alien species previously unseen in "Star Trek." Denobulans are, the human characters found, an upbeat, jovial people. They admired human optimism, and were amused by our prudishness; Denobulans each have multiple spouses, marrying into extensive, open polycules. Dr. Phlox was excited to serve with humans, eager to get to know us better, and actively engage in an exchange of ideas and philosophies. Phlox represented Trek's overriding themes of multiculturalism, showing that we can all get along if we were thrilled to encounter new ideas, rather than wary.
Billingsley played Phlox with aplomb and dedication, bringing a level of energy and joy to the otherwise staid and formal world of "Star Trek." Not that Capt. Archer (Scott Bakula) was a rules-obsessed stuffed shirt, but Phlox provided a counterpoint to then-nascent Starfleet militarism.
Thanks to the caprices of Paramount+, there is currently an overwhelming volume of new "Star Trek" in the world, with each new show taking place at a different place in the canon's centuries-long timeline. "Enterprise" took place about a century prior to the 1966 "Star Trek," while the current season of "Discovery" took place nearly a millennium after. The newest season of "Star Trek: Picard" is due to air on February 16, and it will reunite most of the cast of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Billingsley has mused that Phlox could easily come back in this marketplace ... but only theoretically. No one has asked him yet.
The eyeballs have it
In an exclusive interview with TrekMovie.com, John Billingsley talked about playing Phlox, happy to mull over the idea of his potential return. Billingsley, however, was very clear that he would not want to have a regular gig anymore, preferring to play a recurring character or even an occasional guest spot. The main reason for not wanting to play the role on the regular anymore was quite simple: Billingsley hated the makeup. Denobulans, like many "Star Trek" aliens, are possessed of pronounced cranial ridges on either temple that extend down to their cheeks. They have outsize eyebrows and small dimples on their chins. Most painfully for Billingsley, they have large, pale blue eyes. The prosthetics and contacts were downright painful for the actor. Billingsley said:
"I don't know if I'd want to be a regular again. But I'd certainly go back as a guest or recurring. I mean, to be really honest, the makeup is tiring, but the thing that really is tough was the eyeballs. They put these gargantuan contact lenses in your eyes. And, they can't account for astigmatism, because they cover the entire eye. So you're more or less blind all day. I mean, you can see, but you can't read ... So I'd have to feel like it was interesting. I don't know that I could do the series regular route again, but if it was a smaller arc? Sure, of course."
Without the ability to read, consulting a script was out of the question, as was acknowledging the smaller details of the set or of his co-stars' performances. One can easily understand why Billingsley would be reluctant to return to "Star Trek."
'I was a regular'
John Billingsley also, it seems, wasn't recognized by the new management team on "Star Trek." He suspected that was the case when was indeed asked to return to "Star Trek," ... but not as Dr. Phlox. Nor as an ancestor or descendant of Dr. Phlox (very much like actor Brent Spiner, who has played multiple members of the android Data's family throughout various Trek shows). It seems that Billingsley was just a random actor on their roster. He expressed his suspicions thus:
"I think that was probably about how I was asked to audition for a small, potentially recurring character. And I think it was for 'Prodigy' ... and I didn't, because candidly, if you're getting scale for voiceover work, and you're not a name, it's not a lot of money. And I didn't pin this on the show, this is how this industry works: A casting director who doesn't necessarily know your whole biography, who doubtless didn't realize I was on a 'Star Trek' show, just knows me as an actor and goes 'maybe John Billingsley will audition for this part.'"
Billingsley didn't respond personally, but seemingly had to remind them that, well, he was a main character on "Star Trek" in the past, saying:
"I said to my people, 'Hey, maybe just let that casting office know, I was on one of the 'Star Trek' shows, I was a series regular. If they're ever interested in either having me reprise my character or do something more substantive, happy to be asked. But I don't think I want to audition for a small part."
Billingsley may have been on "Star Trek: Prodigy" or "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" had he said yes, but his reasons for saying no are perfectly understandable.