Acting is acting.
Almost everyone has worked at Paramount at one time or another.
And I think it's likely that there will be Data's out there one day. I hope so, if there are, that they all look exactly like me!
And I think that was the idea: by the end of the series, Data would ba about as close to human but still not be there.
And the basic sort of thrust of Star Trek being about equality and tolerance and things I believe in deeply.
And, you know, when you are a kid, everybody wants to be an actor. I think that everybody wants to be in show business, frankly.
Any job you can go to and have a laugh everyday has got to be a good job.
As I get older and I get more of this dialogue and I lose more and more brain cells, it really does become the most difficult part of the job!
But, I think Star Trek is a very honorable show and there is allot of television that one could be doing and feel embarrassed about and certainly not proud of, which I feel very proud to be part of Star Trek.
Certainly I find it most interesting to play a role that I can invent from nothing.
Data is no different from any other role I've ever played in that it's always difficult and it's always something that you just want to find some level of truth and believability in and try to solve problems along the way.
Generally, I have to be able to get the lines out of my mouth without making a mistake before I go to sleep.
Having spent so much time in a fictional world, I prefer to read about the real world.
I don't read fiction at all.
I don't read Science Fiction.
I have considered working with George Clooney, but so far, I'm only considering it.
I like coming to work every day and hanging out with 50 or 60 people who are a lot of fun to be around.
I really think that success in this field is about tenacity and just sticking with it.
I think as time has gone on, they've been pleased to find it not at all limiting role and probably the most wide open role in terms of what I am allowed to do.
I think he is a bit of an outsider: he doesn't quite fit in, he doesn't quite belong, and people relate to that idea of being an outsider and being alienated.
I think he is an extremely accessible character. In Data there is no potential for cruelty.
I think it's the business part of the word show business that causes me the most concern.
I think the idea, from the beginning, was that Data was a machine that basically teaches himself everything he experiences and sees becomes a part of his programming.
I think the potential for man is so enormous, if we can stay alive long enough, we're going to be seeing a lot of what Star Trek is projecting.
I think there is something like 90% unemployment in the Screen Actors Guild, so we are the exception.
I think they have developed the character very nicely and it's gone exactly as it was planned to happen.
I try not to make plans. Because, even the best laid plans etc. etc.
I wanted to direct very early on, and then we started having directors who were caterers, drivers, and grips, so I thought better of it.
I would assume that, at some point in the future, Paramount Pictures would consider doing a Next generation movie.
I'm an avid biography reader.
If I'm not mistaken, I think Data was the comic relief on the show.
If you look around at the people in show business today they are basically the people who didn't give up.
In my heart, I've never left Brazil.
My own personal favorite Cher song is the unforgettable Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.
No, actually I'm trying to stay away from the big screen.
People think that being on Star Trek is career suicide, but it's really just the opposite.
Producers in this crazy town simply won't leave me alone, and I'm having to be firm.
Radical surgery is never fun.
The Lindbergh biography is fantastic. I just read it. And I loved it.
There is also an innocence to Data.
There is no question that everybody who works in show business is lucky because of the number of people who wish they where working in show business.
There's a great mood on the set. It's a real fun place to come to work.
Truly, the best part of my job are the people.
Well my family and friends where delighted that I was going to be working on a regular basis and that they could turn on their TV every week and see me.
Well, I think there are other shows where it's a nightmare every day to come to work.
Well, I was always a huge fan of the movies. I spent a great deal of time, as a a kid, watching movies.
Yes, Data is hairless but I am not. And we are both anatomically correct.
[On his Lt. Cmdr. Data action figure] "At first, I was reluctant. But then I figured, if it's good enough for Alec Guinness, then it's good enough for me".
I don't think I should play Data anymore. I think I'm too old to play him anymore to be honest. I think it would look stupid putting that make-up on me at this point. There certain characters that I think work in a youthful way and I think I really skated along the edge in the last couple movies as it was." (Sept/12/2006
Released CD titled "Ol' Yellow Eyes Is Back" (based on an old crooner song of the '40s) with his male co-stars from ST-NG singing back up. Title of CD refers to his character of 'Data' on the show.
Last name changed to Mintz at about age 6, re-adopted Spiner as a stage name at about age 20.
He was a groomsman at Marina Sirtis's wedding, and served as Best Man at Patrick Stewart's wedding.
Godfather of Gates McFadden's son.
Graduated from Bellaire High School (Texas) in 1968
Has a son named "Jackson" born June 29, 2002.
In October 2004, began three guest appearances on "Enterprise" (2001), as Arik Soong, an ancestor of Noonian Soong, the creator of Data, his character from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987). He also played Noonian Soong in the TNG episodes "Brothers" and "Inheritance".
Is the only Houstonian, and for that matter, the only Texan, who appears in The Aviator (2004), whose subject, Howard Hughes, was born in Houston.
Has appeared with Erick Avari in three different productions: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), Independence Day (1996) and The Master of Disguise (2002).
Has played five different members of the Soong family on "Star Trek": Lt. Commander Data in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), Star Trek: Generations (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and "Enterprise" (2001), Dr. Noonien Soong and Lore in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), B-4 in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002) and Dr. Arik Soong in "Enterprise" (2001). Data, Lore and B-4 were all androids made in Dr. Noonien Soong's image and Dr. Arik Soong was his great-grandfather.
Along with Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, Colm Meaney and Jeffrey Combs, he is one of only six actors to appear in the series finales of two different "Star Trek" series ("Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) and "Enterprise" (2001)).
Has appeared in episodes of three different series with Jonathan Frakes and Marina Sirtis: "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), "Gargoyles" (1994) and "Enterprise" (2001)
Is the only "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987) regular to share scenes with all three "Star Trek" (1966) cast members who appeared on that series: DeForest Kelley, Leonard Nimoy and James Doohan.
Played a fictional character (James Campbell) in "Friends" (1994) and himself in the spin-off series "Joey" (2004).
Felt that he was getting too old to play Data on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987), which led to his character being killed off.
His character, Lt. Commander Data's "intriguing" went down in Trek history as replacing Mr. Spock's world famous "fascinating".
Genre enthusiasts liken Spiner's Data to another, intelligent, golden automaton: C3PO, of the "Star Wars" trilogies.
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