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Posted:
17:27:45 on September 27 2001
By: Steve Krutzler
Dept: Enterprise | www.stenterprise.com
Today's edition of The Daily News (Longview, WA) features an extensive interview with ENTERPRISE's chief engineer, Connor Trinneer. Playing 'Charlie Trip Tucker III' is exciting and energizing for the Longview native. The Back In Time - Enterprise web site sent along this transcription of the article:
By Leslie Slape/The Daily News
After 35 years, nine movies and four different
television series, "Star Trek" has embarked on a new
journey --- and a Kelso High graduate is along for the
ride.
Connor Trinneer plays the role of Commander Charles
"Trip" Tucker III on the UPN television series
"Enterprise," which premiered last night on cable
Channel 12.
"He's a good ol' boy smart-ass," Trinneer said of his
character, the chief engineer on the first ship to
reach Warp 5. "He's the one who'll call a spade a
spade."
Set in the 22nd century, "Enterprise" takes Tucker and
his shipmates on humanity's first journey into deep
space, a century before the timeline of the original
"Star Trek" series.
"It's an awesome experience as an actor, to be able to
learn and create at the same time," Trinneer said.
"It's all new, we're a prequel, nothing to base it off
of but our own human experience."
In the first episode, a Klingon crash-lands on Earth
and must be returned to his home world before he dies.
To honor his request, Starfleet decides to launch the
Enterprise several weeks ahead of schedule, against
the advice of the Vulcans.
Trinneer, who saw the premiere earlier this week, said
it's a good show.
"I think people will like this," he said. "I'm
extremely critical of myself and what I see, and I
like it a lot. It's fun, it's irreverent. It's nice to
be able to see that what I thought was going on in my
head and what I was trying to achieve, it worked out."
Trinneer's parents, Michael and Judith Trinneer of
Longview, planned to watch Wednesday's premiere at the
Kelso Theater Pub because they don't have cable
television.
Michael Trinneer said he's very proud of his son, who
has worked steadily as an actor but never landed a
prime-time series until now.
"He's put in years of hard work. He went every day to
auditions, pounding the pavement all the time," the
elder Trinneer said. "He was ecstatic when he got the
job. He called me and said, 'Guess what, Dad,' with
this little-boy chuckle in his voice. 'I'm in my
trailer and in my bathrobe and I'm going to go to work
really soon.' "
The hiring came after five auditions and 3 1/2 weeks
of waiting in what Trinneer called "the most grueling
process I've been through."
"They had never met me before," he said. "Once they
saw me, they wanted to make damn sure they'd got the
right guy. In a word, it was a bitch."
But everything since the audition earlier this year
has been fun, he said, and his cast mates are "great."
"We're working together all the time, every day," he
said. "You get to know each other and you get to be
around each other all the time. We've begun to develop
relationships. That's great. How often do you get to
know somebody really well, the good and the bad ---
how often does that happen?"
The cast shot the pilot in mid-May and are shooting
episode 10 this week at Paramount Studios in
Hollywood.
The episode that he's getting the most questions about
is the one that takes Trinneer's character where no
man has gone before: He will be impregnated by an
alien.
"All I can tell you is, I really think it's going to
be a lot of fun to watch because it's just funny," he
said. "No issues to deal with. The pregnancy thing
happens --- all I can say is it's quite amusing. I
really went for 'You're a woman, you're pregnant, and
you're emotional.' "
It's scheduled to air Oct. 17.
While growing up in Kelso, Trinneer was an athlete,
not an actor.
As a wide receiver for the Kelso Hilanders, Trinneer
led the Scots in receptions and interceptions during
the 1986 season, when Kelso made the AAA semifinals.
The only theater exposure he had at Kelso High was a
classroom reading of "Our Town."
After graduating in 1987, he attended Pacific Lutheran
University on a football scholarship. He came to
realize he didn't want to continue playing football,
but didn't know what he was going to do instead.
In his junior year, a friend suggested he audition for
"A Doll's House."
"I don't know what it was, but something happened," he
said of the sensation that came over him at the
audition. "I walked out of there and screamed --- I
knew what I was going to do for the rest of my life!
And I didn't know what the hell I was doing."
Trinneer did as many plays as he could at PLU before
graduating in 1992. He then earned a master's of fine
arts degree in acting and directing from the
University of Missouri at Kansas City in 1995.
"Then I went to New York, did a lot of theater and
commercials and did a soap there," he said. He
performed off-Broadway, in the Utah Shakespeare
Festival and in Boston. He appeared in "Far East" at
Lincoln Center and reprised his stage role in a PBS
film adaptation.
Trinneer now lives in Los Angeles, where he became
active in the Circle X Theater Company and
guest-starred in several television series. But that
Holy Grail of actors --- a steady job in a prime-time
series --- eluded him until now.
"It's what you shoot for," he said. "There's a
gazillion of us out here. It's thrilling to get a
show, and on top of that getting a show that has some
kind of guarantee of getting on the air."
The original "Star Trek" series ran three years and
the three spinoffs ran seven years each. "Enterprise"
cast members hope their show runs seven years as well.
"If it works out that way, I have no problem with it,"
Trinneer said.
Before getting the job, "I was comfortable with the
knowledge that I may never own a house as an actor,"
he said. "Financial stability may never be part of my
life. I was fine with that. That's different now."
But despite the thrill, he keeps himself grounded.
"All I'm really doing is a job. I'm an actor," he
said. "I got a fantastic gig with the great fortune of
having the opportunity to do it day in and day out as
opposed to a commercial that goes for 11 days. I get
the opportunity and the luxury to open up my toolbox
and pull out some of the tools that I've learned."
One of those tools might be directing, he hopes.
Several members of other "Trek" casts have directed
episodes of their own series and others.
"Oh god yeah, to have the opportunity to have that put
in front of you and work with people that you know ---
they're very open to that," he said.
Unfortunately one of the tradeoffs of success ---
especially in a "Trek" franchise --- is loss of
anonymity. Trinneer said he recently typed his name in
an Internet search engine and got 800 hits. He said
there's no way he can feel ready for the fan
onslaught.
"Of course not, there's no way to get my mind around
it," he said. "I don't know what to expect. I'm a
really private person. I don't want to lose my private
time completely. I will keep ahold of that. Everything
in moderation. There's going to be a balance to this,
and things will start to settle."
And have veterans of the other shows offered advice?
"They've basically said, 'You know what? Enjoy the
ride,' " he said. "So I'm just enjoying the ride."
See Also: STENTERPRISE.com
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