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How J.J. Abrams snuck Wesley Crusher into Star Trek!
Talk about keeping a secret!
Wil Wheaton—that's Star Trek: The Next Generation's Wesley Crusher to you—revealed on his personal blog today that he actually played a part in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek movie, a big secret that no one managed to dig up until now.
Wheaton did voice-over work at the urging of Greg Grunberg (that's Heroes' Matt Parkman and a longtime buddy of Abrams'). Here's what he did, according to Wheaton's blog:
I ended up providing voices for all the Romulans on Nero's ship, including the guy who tells him that "it's time" at the very beginning of the movie. (Yeah, how cool is that?) ...
After recording his voice part, Wheaton hung out with Abrams while they tweaked the sound on the movie:
So you know that scene where Kirk climbs out of the pod, runs away from the monster, and eventually meets Spock Prime in the cave? I got to watch that scene over and over, as they made the wind sound colder, then warmer, then colder and more fierce. I got to hear the roar of the monsters deepened, softened, made more terrifying, made louder, made softer. I got to hear the fire in Spock Prime's cave crackle more, then less, then more again, because the wind outside was now colder and more fierce, so it should probably be a warmer fire.It was one of the coolest things in the world to watch, not just on screen, but in the room, too. The way JJ interacted with the other creative people in the room as they mixed the sound, the music, the foley, and everything else that we tend to just take for granted when we're in the theatre watching a movie was just fascinating. I don't know if all directors are like this, but he didn't let a single second go by like it was any less important than another.
Star Trek drops on DVD/Blu-ray on Nov. 17.
In the clip below, listen carefully to the guy who says, "Sir, if you ignite the Red Matter now ... "
(Thanks to TrekMovie.com for the heads-up.)
By Crozia at 10:30 PM ON 11/04/09
I'm actually getting a kick out of watching Mr. Wheaton in his guest starring roles in such shows as The Big Bang Theory where he plays "himself" and the leader of the Axis of Anarchy in The Guild.
By tati at 10:54 PM ON 11/04/09
Don't forget him as Hardison's nemesis in Leverage--very funny stuff LOL
By Loegy at 12:35 AM ON 11/05/09
I see Wil and I immediately think 'There's someone who's made a HUGE MISTAKE!"
I'm sorry I can't help it. He never should have left STTNG to enrich his career.
By MrKaine at 1:52 AM ON 11/05/09
Whereas I see Wil Wheaton and I think "TRAAAAAIIN!"
By Paul at 5:44 AM ON 11/05/09
FWIW, Wil Wheaton left TNG *because of fans on the internet* - He got sick of people complaining about Wesley Crusher and gave in to the pressure. SO maybe he did make a mistake, but he had good reason to do so.
By Jonas72 at 6:36 AM ON 11/05/09
Hm, I didn't like Wesley much at first, but he kinda grew on me after a while. I think it had a lot to do with Wheaton maturing as an actor.
Anyway, what's this about Star Trek dropping on DVD/Blu-Ray Nov. 17? I bought the DVD yesterday. ;)
By hahnarama at 7:05 AM ON 11/05/09
Wil seems pretty happy with where he is at in his life. Beautiful, wife, two sons, published author, numerous TV guest spots and all around super geek.
By Alverant at 11:08 AM ON 11/05/09
I just hope people can separate any dislike of Wesley Crusher (justified or unjustified) from the actor who played him. He's done a lot of things since TNG and it's wrong to hate Wil for "Pestley".
@tati my only complaint about his role in Leverage was that things ended so it's unlikely he'll return. He did a great job and I wouldn't mind seeing him again. "Hardison! I heard you sucked. Guess I was right."
By WilWheatonSux at 1:29 PM ON 11/05/09
I went to PAX09 this September and had the pleasure of sitting next to Mr. Wheaton's table at a restaurant, on one of the evenings of the convention.
Him and the other keynote speakers for the event were gathered around their table, eating, drinking... whatever.
Wil Wheaton was the loudest and most obnoxious of them all... yelling and complaining about how much he "hates fans". Citing various instances when people came up to ask for his autograph and complaining about other things that people say.
He's not the kind of person that I want to support. He doesn't appreciate it. He was openly insulting the very people that make him the semi-celebrity that he is.
It was very disappointing.
By Some Farker at 8:00 PM ON 11/05/09
Hey, Paul...
There wasn't much of an Internet yet in 1994 when ST: TNG went off the air.
By nilus at 7:41 PM ON 11/06/09
Some Farker, you are correct that the internet of today wasn't around. But Newsgroups, BBS' and many smaller pseudo-networking services(Prodigy, Compuserve, AOL) were around.
By Shane Nokes at 1:49 AM ON 11/11/09
WilWheatonSux.
I've chatted with Wil on and off for years, and have seen him at MANY events. He's NEVER acted the way you've mentioned, not once.
I know many people who know him personally and none of them have ever noted such behavior. He loves his fans, and interacts with them on a near constant basis.
In fact my ex-wife made him a ship for his D&D games with his kids that he has actually used.
Before you just want to randomly bag on someone, don't do it in a public place where you can be easily contradicted.
Oh, and to quote Wil, "Don't be a Dick."
By Gregory at 4:58 PM ON 11/11/09
By Dan1045 at 1:04 PM ON 12/15/09
I never did dislike wheaton, I disliked the fact that he was used as the plot device so much to pull TNG's chestnuts out of the fire. He was a genius, brilliant, etc character, but come on...Nearly every episode he was in, he saved them. I found this a little beyond the pale since the civilization posited in TNG required so much education and EXPERIENCE! Just a little hard to believe a 16 year old could do it every time. I liked him as an actor but not how he was used by the franchise.
Dan
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Dan1045:
I never did dislike wheaton, I disliked the fact that he was used as the plot device so much to pull TNG's chestnut...More »