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For seven seasons, actor Brent Spiner played the fan-favorite character Data inStar Trek: The Next Generation. The character was known for his insightful observations on the human consciousness as an AI system and gave valuable advice to Captain Picard. The actor reprised his role for the four films with theTNGcast.
Despite sacrificing his life in the filmStar Trek: Nemesis, Data returns in the showPicard, albeit with multiple changes. Spiner was reportedly not entirely convinced when he performed the ‘Data taking over Lore’ scene in the show’s third season and was not sure how his performance would land.
Brent Spiner Was Unsure About Data’s Return InStar Trek: Picard
Brent Spinerplayed the role of Data for seven seasons ofStar Trek: The Next Generation. The actor also portrayed his evil twin Lore and their creator Dr. Noonien Soong. While Soong was set to be played by another actor, Spiner convinced the makers to play it, implying that Soong created both Data and Lore in his own image.
“I felt I had some leverage”: Brent Spiner Defended Making 2 Greedy Demands If They Wanted Data in the First Star Trek: TNG Movie
Spiner reprised his role in four films starring theTNGcast. Data sacrificed his life inStar Trek: Nemesis, but his consciousness was kept alive in a device, which was revealed inStar Trek: Picard.In the new generation show, Data exists along with the consciousness of Lore and Soong.
In season three ofPicard, Data finally returns to full form after defeating Lore’s consciousness by giving him his memories. Brent Spiner was reportedly not convinced of his performance until the episode was aired and was received well by fans. He said in an interview withThe Mary Sue,
I personally had no concept how this was gonna land. I thought it was sort of a risk. Terry [Matalas] pitched the idea to me. We tweaked it a little bit, [and] tried to understand it better, and I’m so happy that it’s being received the way it is.
The episode sees Data being threatened to be vanquished by Lore and while the crew tries to save him, Data manipulates Lore into taking his memories (which Lore did not possess and differentiated him from Data), thus merging himself with Lore’s consciousness.
The Network Was Reportedly Not Sure If Audiences Would Accept Similarly Dressed Data And Lore
While Brent Spiner mostly played Data in theStar Trek: The Next Generationseries, he would also portray multiple other variants such as the Sherlock Holmes variant and his evil twin Lore. Spiner not only differentiated the two characters with the way he performed but also with slight tweaks in the costume.
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However, when he reprised his two roles inPicard, he was wearing the same costume, which the network reportedly thought would confuse audiences during his pivotal scene. He said,
I know when we initially proposed that scene, there was some concern, I think, on the part of the network more than anyone whether they really wanna be in two different kinds of costumes so that the audience would be able to distinguish between the two characters.
And Terry and I really thought that, and I kept saying, ‘I really think when you see it, if you let us do it, you will be able to tell which character is which.‘
However, Spiner reportedly convinced them by saying that the difference lay in his performance as well and how differently he played both characters, which ultimately worked for the scene.
Star Trek: Picardis available to stream on Paramount+.
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2417
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
