Although Travis Mayweather was not given a great deal of development this first season of UPN's "Enterprise," Anthony Montgomery said he is is quite hopeful for the future.
In a recent interview with Star Trek: The Magazine, Montgomery shrugged off any concerns over the lack of focus on his character.
"I don't feel he's been neglected, because the show is not called 'Travis Mayweather'; it's called 'Enterprise,'" he said. "And I'm not worried about Travis. If I was a guest star I would have been thinking, 'OK, why aren't they writing for me? Did I do something wrong?' but now I know I'm a regular, and I'm part of an ensemble. There are seven people that they have to write for. I'm fine with that, and I always feel that Travis is a part of everything that's going on. Even if he's not in the episode, you hear his comm voice."
A little surprisingly, like his co-star Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Montgomery had previously auditioned for "Star Trek: Voyager" and was remembered when it came time to cast for "Enterprise." The young actor said he wasn't about to get his hopes up about getting the part, however.
"I was at my agent's office, literally about 10 minutes after I had left the lot, and I was reading a script for another audition that I was going in for the very next day. But then they called and told me I'd got the part."
Montgomery said he has has since turned into a Star Trek fan himself.
"Actually, I own the entire original series now. And I bought all of the Star Trek movies, and, let's see, 'Trekkies' also."
So after viewing the Trek fan documentary "Trekkies," how does Montgomery feel about the fans?
"I was very nervous going to my first official convention, but the fans were wonderful ... People are still placing me; sometimes they walk by and I get a quizzical look. But I was sitting on a bike in the gym, talking to a friend, and a guy came by and said, 'I just wanted to tell you I love your work on the show, and I think you guys look fantastic together; you're doing a wonderful job.' And that's what it's about. It's incredible."
He later talked about watching "Enterprise" himself.
"I try to catch as many shows as I can. I'm a fan of the show! And when I get a chance to watch our show, I don't watch it as a critic any more, which is what I was doing in the beginning; I just enjoy watching it.
"I can't really say that there's one particular episode that I like because quite honestly I loved them all, but I absolutely loved 'Dear Doctor,' I thought that was fantastic. John [Billingsley] (Doctor Phlox) is such a talented actor. I'm really blessed to be working with the talent pool that we have on this show," Montgomery said.
With so little development so far, Montgomery has had to work with his own personal idea of Mayweather's background.
"Rick [Berman] and Brannon [Braga] may know where Travis' parents are, and how long it's been since he's seen them, but I make up all of these for myself. I made up where his last girlfriend was and how they broke up. It's just the regular things that we do in life - the only difference is that he was raised on a cargo ship. I'm sure he's got into arguments with his older brother and got grounded by his father because they went out and took the shuttlepod somewhere that they weren't supposed to go."
As for his thoughts on Mayweather's development so far, Montgomery has one regret.
"I want to go back to the sweet spot. I loved that," he said of the part of a ship where the gravity is low as first introduced in the series pilot. "We haven't seen Travis there since, but it seems to me that if he wanted to go someplace to think, where would he go? He'd go to the sweet spot. If somebody was looking for him, there he'd be. That's his place to reflect."
Personally, Montgomery has been working with STAFF - Stop The Abuse Against Families Foundation.
"I'm going to start going around California first and then around the country, speaking to kids at schools about being abused and neglected, to help uplift kids who don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and just feel like their life is a dead end. As an entertainer, I'm blessed to be able to give something back and hopefully be able to affect people in a positive way."
You can read more from Anthony Montgomery in the July issue of Star Trek: The Magazine.
In a recent interview with Star Trek: The Magazine, Montgomery shrugged off any concerns over the lack of focus on his character.
"I don't feel he's been neglected, because the show is not called 'Travis Mayweather'; it's called 'Enterprise,'" he said. "And I'm not worried about Travis. If I was a guest star I would have been thinking, 'OK, why aren't they writing for me? Did I do something wrong?' but now I know I'm a regular, and I'm part of an ensemble. There are seven people that they have to write for. I'm fine with that, and I always feel that Travis is a part of everything that's going on. Even if he's not in the episode, you hear his comm voice."
A little surprisingly, like his co-star Dominic Keating (Lt. Malcolm Reed), Montgomery had previously auditioned for "Star Trek: Voyager" and was remembered when it came time to cast for "Enterprise." The young actor said he wasn't about to get his hopes up about getting the part, however.
"I was at my agent's office, literally about 10 minutes after I had left the lot, and I was reading a script for another audition that I was going in for the very next day. But then they called and told me I'd got the part."
Montgomery said he has has since turned into a Star Trek fan himself.
"Actually, I own the entire original series now. And I bought all of the Star Trek movies, and, let's see, 'Trekkies' also."
So after viewing the Trek fan documentary "Trekkies," how does Montgomery feel about the fans?
"I was very nervous going to my first official convention, but the fans were wonderful ... People are still placing me; sometimes they walk by and I get a quizzical look. But I was sitting on a bike in the gym, talking to a friend, and a guy came by and said, 'I just wanted to tell you I love your work on the show, and I think you guys look fantastic together; you're doing a wonderful job.' And that's what it's about. It's incredible."
He later talked about watching "Enterprise" himself.
"I try to catch as many shows as I can. I'm a fan of the show! And when I get a chance to watch our show, I don't watch it as a critic any more, which is what I was doing in the beginning; I just enjoy watching it.
"I can't really say that there's one particular episode that I like because quite honestly I loved them all, but I absolutely loved 'Dear Doctor,' I thought that was fantastic. John [Billingsley] (Doctor Phlox) is such a talented actor. I'm really blessed to be working with the talent pool that we have on this show," Montgomery said.
With so little development so far, Montgomery has had to work with his own personal idea of Mayweather's background.
"Rick [Berman] and Brannon [Braga] may know where Travis' parents are, and how long it's been since he's seen them, but I make up all of these for myself. I made up where his last girlfriend was and how they broke up. It's just the regular things that we do in life - the only difference is that he was raised on a cargo ship. I'm sure he's got into arguments with his older brother and got grounded by his father because they went out and took the shuttlepod somewhere that they weren't supposed to go."
As for his thoughts on Mayweather's development so far, Montgomery has one regret.
"I want to go back to the sweet spot. I loved that," he said of the part of a ship where the gravity is low as first introduced in the series pilot. "We haven't seen Travis there since, but it seems to me that if he wanted to go someplace to think, where would he go? He'd go to the sweet spot. If somebody was looking for him, there he'd be. That's his place to reflect."
Personally, Montgomery has been working with STAFF - Stop The Abuse Against Families Foundation.
"I'm going to start going around California first and then around the country, speaking to kids at schools about being abused and neglected, to help uplift kids who don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and just feel like their life is a dead end. As an entertainer, I'm blessed to be able to give something back and hopefully be able to affect people in a positive way."
You can read more from Anthony Montgomery in the July issue of Star Trek: The Magazine.
