Collins Proud Of Trek Role
Stephen Collins, who played Willard Decker in Robert Wise's 1979 film Star Trek: The Motion Picture, told SCI FI Wire that he welcomed the chance to provide audio commentary on the recent director's-edition DVD release of the first Trek movie. "I love being part of this," Collins said during The WB's winter press tour promoting his TV show, 7th Heaven. "When I was cast in the Star Trek movie, and right before we started shooting, there was a photo session, and DeForest Kelley ... who plays Bones, Dr. McCoy, said, 'This will never be out of your life. It will never go away.' And he meant it as a good thing, which it primarily is."
Collins won the role of the captain of the Enterprise, never having seen an episode of the original series. But he quickly warmed to his part in the venerable franchise. "I love being part of Star Trek," he said. "I particularly love that I was a captain of the Enterprise, lest you all forget. I try to put that out as much as I can. For the first 20 minutes of the movie, I was the captain of the Enterprise. And then Kirk demoted me. But it's a good trivia question, if you want to stump your friends. Name all the captains of the Enterprise. Most people won't name me."