One of my favorite lines is, You better be careful, or I will be talking to Weyoun number nine. [both laugh], Jeffrey Combs: Yeah, they were wonderful writers. I get to express so many different aspects of myself in him that I dont always get a chance to do in real life. I had met [Star Trek casting director] Junie Lowry-Johnson when I was working with her brother, director Dick Lowry, on a made-for-television movie called The Gambler, Part III - The Legend Continues. So, perhaps something meaty, where their characters can interact occasionally, but light on the prostheses would work. Again, this is why DS9 is held up in such regard today. Mr. Welsh saw his incredible talent and encouraged him throughout his high school career. Alaimo says he wanted Gul Dukat to have an affair with Kira because HE, the real person, had a crush on Nana. It could be an awful script with a boring plot and either of these guys would make it shine somehow :). Did you ever talk to him about that? Tebok / Badar N'D'D, Dean of the Secret Order of Dirty Joke Writers, This page was last edited on 1 January 2023, at 03:23. Alaimos nothing but trouble. Well, it turned out great. ", As the series went on, he was pleasantly surprised to find out how central Nog was to many later episodes. Did you study Marc Alaimos performance, did you try to differentiate yourself as a different kind of Cardassian? They scaled back his makeup at his request, and they also took his feelings about Worf into account. Later, he would become a member of various theatre companies in New York and touring theater companies before eventually taking the leap to move to Los Angeles in 1973. he was never a handsome man. See Nicole de. I had done theater with him and he suggested that I play Brunt. ", Avery Brooks took command of Deep Space Nine as Captain Sisko, a landmark role he still expressed his pride in. Dukat is already unpredictable. Marc Alaimo (born Michael Joseph Alaimo; May 5, 1942) is an American actor, known for his villainous roles. Its amazing we are getting SO many interviews these days from actors in past shows from DS9 to ENT and a reminder how loved all these characters and shows still are. They were angry because I wasnt doing what they wanted me to do or expected me to do.". Jeffrey Combs: It was a role of a lifetime for Marc Alaimo. Hello Casey welcome to the TrekMovie conference call. Oftentimes he takes the most convenient course and thats part of the ongoing friction between the two characters. Jeff, you also played on Voyager. In conversation I mentioned to her that I had a classical theatre background, so she had me come in to read for The Next Generation and I got the job, says the actor happily. Compared to their higher-profile costars like Patrick Stewart or Jonathan Frakes, who have made millions and managed to hold onto them these five former Star Trek actors are surprisingly poor. Interview with Marc Alaimo. Jeffrey Combs: I remember one scene we had and the director said, Okay you guys, I really dont know how I want to block this. And Casey and I just said, We know! He spent most of this time, however, working in classical repertory theatre. It was an amazing experience. What episode were you in? About the moment he was going to kill me, I said, Marc, its me. Marc may have a sense of humor some times, but you never know when it is going to be there. It is the characters unpredictability that makes portraying him such a treat for actor Marc Alaimo. I did the whole thing of walking up the scaffold, seeing the rope, having it put around my neck and actually letting go and dying. By the time I finished and got up off the floor the girls were crying and the guys were stunned because they couldnt believe what I had done. I want to talk to you, so I did. He also voiced the role in the video game Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Dominion Wars. One thanksgiving, Visitor would invite Alaimo to her home for the holiday. ", However, his role as Weyoun made more of an impact. I think Dukat has tremendous respect for Sisko because he gets things done the right way. 7. Credit where its due, this was thoroughly enjoyable. Main Alaimo also appears in the documentary What We Left Behind. However, Dukat is an opportunist, so he plays both his good and bad sides to get exactly what he wants.. The character has become a fan favorite and still holds reverence even all these years later, thanks to the impeccable performance from Alaimo. Aliamo is a part of the Deep Space Nine documentary "What We Left Behind." His task is made no easier by Dukat, who reappears every now and then to upset things. Without these little happy accidents, we wouldnt be talking at all. The only thing I could watch about Cardassians was a couple of episodes of Next Generation, in which Marc Alaimo and David Warner played Cardassians, and that was somewhat helpful, but not really . If you do that you have to know how you got there before you do it. That much of the truth of Garak was like a glacier: you saw only the tip of the glacier, but then, underneath the tip, was the very complicated truth of his life. Alaimos costar Nana Visitor was convinced she did not like to work with Marc Alaimo. It was amazing the turnaround they gave him that I doubt anybody saw coming. Alaimo is a classically trained theatre actor, and performed as part of the Marquette University Players and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the 1960s in everything from Shakespeare and the classics to world premiere productions. Sisko might be the best captain in Star Trek. While he is most well known for his villainous roles, including his recurring character Gul Dukat on the hit television show Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he has had an extensive film and television career. They knew that. Like the crafty chameleon which changes colours to blend in with its surroundings, Cardassian Gul Dukats demeanour can go from sadistic to sympathetic to sexy depending upon what best suits the situation. That makes it fantastic. When I first came on, there was a lot of comedy That wasnt who Gowron was, at all, but it certainly was what the Ferengi were, and they went off and developed the Ferengi extraordinarily well. Alaimo was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin . Free Online Library", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marc_Alaimo&oldid=1130819280, Pages using infobox person with multiple spouses, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Episode: "The Record Ride for the Pony Express", Episode: "Mr. & Mrs. and the Bandstand Mystery", John Scalesi / Gillette / Barbarosa / Officer Baker, Episode: "Mystery of the Solid Gold Kicker", Episode: "Slammin' Sammy's Stunt Show Spectacular", Episode: "One of the Girls from Accounting", Episode: "Fear and Loathing with Russell Buckins", Frederick LaRouque / Gul Macet / Cmdr. If any role came up, they gave it to him. She encouraged fans to express their interest in the character so Roddenberry would let her return, and she got the chance to reprise the role on Deep Space Nine. He's already in makeup and I can't see him as anything else. I thought when he killed Gul Dukats daughter the character wasnt going to last much longer or stay in evil henchman role from that point on. Visitor realized that she actually hated Dukat and not Aliamo! Fletcher remarked, "DS9 was one of the best memories of my working life, of my day-to-day working life. So is there someone else with specefic knowledge of theatre who wants to make an interview with Mr. Alaimo with further details about that subject? 14 October 1997: Episode focus: "Bar Association". Links to the full interviews:Fan Expo - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OUKG6nmytAScifinewsDE - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRffeVUNFBA comments sorted by Best Top New Controversial Q&A Add a Comment . Top quality article here Trekmovie. Some of his favorite subjects include sci-fi, history, and obscure facts about 90's television. Since Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Aliamo has not had many acting credits. Thank you. And I had starred in the very first dramatic IMAX film and it was about the Alamo [1988s Alamo: The Price of Freedom]. Jeffrey Combs: The point is, they didnt know that. Very well written. He is described as fun to watch and effortlessly evil in the most charismatic way. One such individual is Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor), who goes on to become Bajoran liaison to Starfleet and first officer aboard Deep Space Nine. He has also patented a 3D chess set in 2002. Jeffrey Combs: For me, I looked at it this way. Thanks! He explained, "I told them that Im very protective of Worf, he is who he is and he became very popular being this guy and Id want him to open up but I didnt want him being taken out of who he is so you dont recognize him after a couple of years, like hes laughing and joking and having a good time. Four years later the Cardassian is forced to put on his best diplomatic smile and fight alongside Sisko when the Starfleet officer rescues him and key members of Cardassias government from the Klingons. Because of the prosthetics, though, I was fairly unrecognizable, so I just changed my voice to create a new character., Despite the fact that he had already appeared as a Cardassian on The Next Generation Alaimo was not the first choice when it came time to cast the part of Gul Dukat. Some of his theatrical roles include Iago in Othello, Rodolpho in Arthur Miller's A View From the Bridge and Lucky in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. He is reunited with his half-Bajoran, half-Cardassian daughter Tora Ziyal, born of his love affair with Tora Naprem, whom he met and fell in love with during the occupation. On television he has guest-starred on such programs as The Six Million Dollar Man, The A-Team, Charlies Angels and Quantum Leap, while his feature film work includes roles in The Dead Pool, Tango & Cash, Total Recall and Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult. Marc Alaimo was born on the 5th of May, 1942. They were all off on some shuttle. Dukat eventually joins forces with the Dominion to fight against the Federation but the war ends up costing him more than he bargains for. Star Trek: 6 Actors Who Regretted Being On Deep Space Nine (And 14 Who Adored It), The Last of Us Episode 8 Trailer Reveals Original Joel Actor's New Role, 1923's Teonna Actor Speculates On How She's Related To Yellowstone's Duttons, Happy Days' Original Title Would've Killed The Classic Show. Im not counting on it, but I would love it. I havent seen her in a long time and we really dont have much of a relationship, so it was easy to relate to Ziyal in that way as well and I believe it worked for the character. More from Nick, Star Trek Actor Reveals His Humiliating Experience Working With The Seinfeld Actors. . Alexander Siddig had a rough time playing Julian Bashir, especially when the writers made Dr. Bashir genetically enhanced. He also played a poker player who speaks French to Data in the episode "Time's Arrow". And they didnt. Casey Biggs: We just have great chemistry, dont we Jeff? It was marvelous. Interviews with Tony Todd and Ronald D. Moore. 10. Hans Beimler is the one that supposedly created my character and he said it just getting bigger and bigger because they were taking stuff. Glad you are here. Its like your first day of school and you dont know anybody, and for someone to come up like that really does release a lot of the anxiety. While he divorced her in May of 1979, he remarried Karla Grosesclos in August 1984. Alaimo has been playing characters in television shows since 1971. And I did a lot of those. They called Ira in to say, How can we fix it? And Ira being Ira said they had to change everything. Never were just evil villians. Although the major rejects almost everything that Dukat stands for he cannot help being oddly attracted to her. Some actors got their breakthrough roles in Deep Space Nine, or they got to play a more complicated and authoritative character than most of their other roles allowed. I liked Leeta in many ways, but if I were offered a new role in Trek, Id be happiest if it were entirely opposite of who she was. Jeffrey Combs: [laughs] Exactly! After high school, Alaimo attended Marquette University and was a member of the Marquette University Players and the Milwaukee Repertory Theater during the 1960s. He has the distinction of two firsts on Star Trek: TNG, playing the first Romulan, Commander Tebok, in the 1988 episode "The Neutral Zone", and the first Cardassian (in any Star Trek series), Gul Macet, in the 1991 episode, "The Wounded". Marc has over 30 years of investment banking, private equity, and operational experience. As a result, Aliamo finished school with outstanding marks and was even the school president! Majel Barrett has weaved in and out of Star Trek history as the voice of the computer, Nurse Chapel, Number One, Lwaxana Troi, and Gene Roddenberry's real-life wife. That is a really terrific piece. He married Doris Hefner and has one child with her. It turned out that he was an incredible friend of mine but didnt work out, so they called me in. I must tell you I loved doing the episode. And I had no idea how many episodes I would do at any given time. When he was not cast for Quark, he thought the opportunity had passed until he got a call asking him to guest star. He remarked, "It feels like a dream now. You can meet the most powerful people in the world and theyve got those same qualities somewhere inside of them where their own children can melt their hearts.. He said, "I took a bit of persuading My concern was that I wouldnt be able to do the movies I wanted to do. Star Trek is such a well-run franchise. What happened when we came together, we just worked really well off each other. He said, I want you to read this play. Marc Alaimo As Badar N'D'D. Marc Alaimo is best known for his astonishing role as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's big-bad Gul . Towards the middle I think they started getting it. That was great. Before he captured hearts and became a household name, Alaimo, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, had a hard childhood. According to Alaimo, Dukat may be transferring the feelings he had for Kira Meru to her daughter Nerys. My teacher said to me, Stay after class. Media in category "Marc Alaimo" The following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. Jeffrey Combs: We had mutual friends in town. You can follow this conversation by subscribing to the comment feed for this post. Marc Alaimo tells the story how Avery Brooks punched him into the hospital during filming the DS9 finale. Jeffrey Combs: Thats really unusual. Sadly, Dukat can not afford to damage his reputation by returning home with Ziyal so he contemplates killing her. How many characters did you play? Casey Biggs: Tell the story about when you went up to Alaimo when you were Brunt. He was also a member of various theatre companies in New York and touring companies across the country before making the move to Los Angeles in 1973. Marc Alamo See Photos Works at Marc Motorcycle Parts by TEAM MARC Lives in Dasmarias, Cavite Jean-marc Alaimo See Photos Lives in Meylan, Rhone-Alpes, France Marco Alaimo See Photos Alaimo Jean Marc See Photos Marco Alaimo See Photos Lives in Buffalo, New York Marco Alaimo See Photos Marco Alaimo See Photos Trainer at Enea's sport & wellness You have nothing to worry about. However, he felt the Deep Space Nine writers did not know what to do with the character. When he's not writing, he's probably wondering how Frank Dux got 52 consecutive knockouts in a single tournament. Weve all got a dark side to our nature but in a civilized culture you try to restrain or control that part of your personality. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was a bold, progressive series that took on social issues and complex relationships between its characters, and many of the actors who portrayed those beloved characters pride themselves on their roles to this day. Casey Biggs: And the wonderful thing was, with one of the first shows I did, Armin said, Come on, you want to rehearse? Not a lot of people do that on television. Casey Biggs: They sort of lied to me about that. He went on to portray Romulan Commander Tebok in The Neutral Zone, Cardassian Gul Macet in The Wounded and the high-rolling gambler Frederick LaRouque in Times Arrow. He was one of the first actors to test out the Ferengi makeup, and he helped the makeup artists tweak the process. I think when I began playing Dukat their [the shows producers] objective was to have an aggressive, fairly one-dimensional Cardassian, explains Alaimo. They all knew their jobs. Get this, I had auditioned, and we had been paired up. Alaimo also appeared in a season two episode of 21 Jump Street. I was able to slowly make the character my own and I endowed him with a variety of different characteristics. He is best known for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine . They gave me such great stuff that I never really felt I wasnt challenged, nor did I ever feel that they were dropping the ball on the character. He commented, "I have the great advantage of not looking like Quark and therefore, I have pretty much my anonymity. They do sort of pull those things on you. 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