Follow us on Google News
Get the latest updates directly in your Google News feed
Star Trek: The Next Generationgave fans plenty of memorable characters and shot multiple names to stellar fame. However, none might be as iconic as that of Jean-Luc Picard, played by the legendary Patrick Stewart. While fans may argue that it is impossible for them to imagine any other actor donning the role, the same is seemingly not true for a colleague of his.
That is none other than Brent Spiner, who played the role of the android Data inThe Next Generationand multiple other projects. Spinner published his own memoir,Fan Fiction,back in 2021, and during the promotion, talked about how he one day wishes to make a mini-series out of it.
In it, instead of castingThe Next Generation’sPatrick Stewart, he wished to star a James Bond actor for the role.
Brent Spiner wanted to cast Daniel Craig as Jean-Luc Picard inFan Fiction
The memoir by Spiner is based on real events. However, it is not your straightforward, run-of-the-mill memoir. Instead, it presents actual events as fictionalized accounts and the cast ofThe Next Generation,along with Spiner, is included as characters in this alternate version of the 1990s.
Hence, Spinner’s own claim, the following, is not concerning forStar Trekfans: (Via Inverse)
I’m already thinking Daniel Craig plays Patrick.
This is because he planned to include the actual cast ofThe Next Generationin his memoir miniseries as themselves. Hence, rather than Spiner intending to take away Stewart’s iconic role, he wanted to see the Charles Xavier actor play himself, whileDaniel Craigtook over the role of Picard for his mini-series.
“It looked different than anything else and that was intentional”: Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Brilliant Body Horror Episode With LeVar Burton Was a Triumph of Practical Effects Over CGI
One a former James Bond, the other a veteran who has worked in multiple huge franchises, the comment was therefore a compliment forPatrick Stewart. After all, while Stewart is now 83, Craig is 56, which means there is a gap of 17 years between the two. Still, Spinner thought that Craig will be able to play Picard perfectly, a role which was in the first place made iconic by Stewart.
Brent Spiner’sFan Fictionpresented a hilarious twist on his life
Spiner’s life has been chronicled by himself as part ofFan Fiction: A Mem-Noir: Inspired by True Events.While he sticks to the truth with respect to a range of major events in the narrative, certain events were exaggerated for dramatic effect:
It’s not really me. It’s a heightened-for-comedic-effect version of me. I don’t think I took myself as seriously as this guy takes himself. But it was fun to take myself back in time a little bit and be that guy again as opposed to the guy I am now. Which, by the way, if I were writing myself now, it wouldn’t be any more realistic. It’s the style of the piece that can tell you more about who I am than anything in the book.
The story itself deals withBrent Spiner, an actor who works onThe Next Generation,fear for his life after receiving fan mail from Lal, Data’s deceased daughter in the series. The actor revealed that while the book was written from a perspective of satire, he was still sure it would ruffle a few feathers:
I know it’s going to piss off people,” Spiner says. “But I think it will amuse a lot of people, too. And that’s really what I wanted to do; entertain people,” Spiner explains. “I didn’t want to write about my less-than-interesting life. I wanted to give them a piece of entertainment. So, I didn’t worry about it. That is sort of the way I see things — in a darkly comic sort of way.
“I could be a severe b**tard”: Patrick Stewart Forever Regrets His Conduct on Star Trek: The Next Generation That Stands Against Everything Jean-Luc Picard Represents
Of course, that did not quite happen, asFan Fictioncontinues to be a crucial piece of extra reading for more ardent fans ofStar Trek.
The Next Generationis available to be streamed on Amazon Prime.
Rishabh Bhatnagar
Editor/Reviewer
Articles Published :315
Rishabh Bhatnagar is an Entertainment and pop culture journalist/editor with Fandom Wire. He has more than 6 years of experience working for multiple major platforms and is himself an avid consumer of worthwhile content. A natural storyteller, Rishabh has a unique way with words and is always looking to improve, as a storyteller, writer, and a journalist.
