A Key Star Trek Exec Fought To Cast One Actor In Enterprise

Looking back, "Star Trek: Enterprise" was perhaps too ambitious for its own good. It came at the tail end of a very, very successful run of media that the "Star Trek" franchise enjoyed throughout the 1990s, a run that included "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," "Star Trek: Voyager," and three "Star Trek" feature films. The shows and movies also came with an explosion of merch, conventions, home video sales, etc.

By the end of the 1990s, though, the franchise seemed played out. Interest was waning, and "Enterprise," at least at the time, felt like a last-ditch effort to keep "Star Trek" going. The show wasn't nearly as popular as its forebears, and had the misfortune of debuting only two weeks after 9/11. The optimism and peace of "Star Trek" didn't play well during the George W. Bush administration. 

The new series was, unlike any of the previous "Star Trek" shows, a prequel. It took place a century before the events of the 1966 show, and featured a new, steelier aesthetic. It was also unusual in that the series debuted with a well-established sci-fi star at its center: Scott Bakula, known for his star turn on "Quantum Leap," played Captain Jonathan Archer.  

Weirdly, the biggest casting drama on "Enterprise" wasn't surrounding Bakula, but his co-star Connor Trinneer, who played Charles "Trip" Tucker III, the Enterprise's chief engineer. According to an oral history printed by Den of Geek, executive producer Rick Berman had to fight for Trinneer's casting. It was the only time Berman had to do so. Someone, it seems, objected to Trinneer for some reason.

Berman, it should be noted, was very fond of Trinneer for the role Charles "Trip" Tucker III. Trip was a hayseed who happened to be brilliant with machines, and Trinneer possessed an affable, movie star quality that made the character appealing. He also had great chemistry with Bakula, making Trip and Captain Archer into believable friends. Berman didn't reveal which of his bosses objected to Trinneer, nor why the actor wasn't wholly embraced, but he did say that he had to go to bat for Trinneer. Which he did. Berman hadn't had to put his foot down on the casting of any of the previous "Star Trek" shows he worked on. Berman said: 

"Connor was the only actor in four television series that I had to fight for. I just love this guy. I think he's a remarkable actor, and I saw four pieces of tape on various things that he had done, and there was just something about him; that this character, Trip, that we had written, he was just made for." 

Prior to "Enterprise," Trinneer landed a few notable guest spots on hit shows like "One Life to Live," "Sliders" (the sci-fi series that ended on a cliffhanger), and "Touched by an Angel." He also appeared in an episode of the short-lived paranormal investigation series "Freakylinks." He was, like many "Star Trek" actors before him, a talented, struggling actor looking for a big break. "Enterprise" was it. Berman saw something in Trinneer, and his insistence on utilizing his talents ultimately turned out well. 

Connor Trinneer, meanwhile, went on record in the same oral history to express how much he loved his "Star Trek" gig. He didn't know much about "Star Trek" going in, other than it was terrifically popular, and had a built-in audience of sci-fi nerds. He also liked the idea of a "Star Trek" story about the very first Starfleet vessel in space, which was the role of the titular U.S.S. Enterprise. The actor said:

"I wanted this job a lot. It was a good, time-tested franchise with a good audience. It had so many different things happening in it and it gave me the opportunity to play kind of a space cowboy. It was a dream job. Plus, you got to use your imagination as you're meeting new species and races. Since this was our first time out, everything was new and we weren't used to anything. You, as the actor, got to take in something as the audience did for the very first time, which was my experience as both an actor and a character." 

Trinneer has been very loyal to Trekkies ever since. He regularly appears at "Star Trek" conventions, and even started a video chat show called "The Shuttlepod Show" with his "Enterprise" co-star Dominic Keating (who famously hated the Enterprise space suits). Trinneer and Keating have had extended, casual chats with actors, writers, and showrunners from all over the "Star Trek" franchise, including many they never interacted with during their "Enterprise" days. They also review classic "Star Trek" episodes, finally catching up with what the Trekkies all already knew. Berman, it seems, was 100% in the right. I wish we knew who disliked Trinneer so much.