In homage to 'Star Trek's' recent 60th anniversary, a look at how Majel Barrett Roddenberry nearly played a version of Spock, was almost the voice of Alexa and ended up in deep space forever.
  • directive0@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    “The universe is a spheroid region, 705 meters in diameter.”

    I will forever carry that line in my head. Its awesome how some of the best performances in Star Trek came from actors trying their best not to emote or in any way stand out. Vulcans, computers, gas/energy cloud entities. They all stand out despite the actors being so limited in how much they could lean into the role.

    The TNG-VOY computer was a character, it had the odd atittude and in some cases even agency. It gave the ship a personality. I really respect Majel for all her on screen roles, but the computer voice for me stands out. I can understand why tech companies wanted to leverage that. I would feel a lot less violated when a computer talks to me if it sounded like the Enterprise computer.

  • SiliconAvatar@startrek.websiteEnglish
    1·
    2 months ago

    That was a good read, it’s nice to have both her acting peers’ as well as Rod Roddenberry’s perspectives on her. I’m not sure I’ve read more than the equivalent of her Wikipedia entry before. Polite secondhand info, that is.

    I’ve always enjoyed watching Majel whenever she’s on Trek. The first Number One, Nurse Chapel, Lwaxanna… and all the while, also the voice of the Enterprise. Geez, Gene may have been the mind behind the show, but she probably embodied it more than anybody outside of the main cast(s) 🤩