One of the most endearing characters of Star Trek: The Next Generation was Brent Spiner’s Data. The android’s journey from being curious about humanity and emotions to almost becoming one while working together with the USS Enterprise crew was one of the most satisfying arcs for a character.
Though Data was largely emotionless, he became a canvas on which many other variations could be put on and Brent Spiner did a phenomenal job at it. A director reportedly once told him that playing an emotionless character for many seasons would be tedious. Still, Spiner seemed to envision Data being more than an android.
Brent Spiner Was Not Deterred By A Director’s Comments About Playing Data
The science fiction genre has been a vessel through which profound questions about humanity and its journey are explored and answered. The genre lends itself to many philosophical questions and can also be used as political commentary. For Star Trek: The Next Generation, these questions were often asked through Data.
Played by Brent Spiner, Data was an android aboard Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s USS Enterprise. The character was known for his curiosity about the human experience and was often seen questioning emotional decisions made by humanity. Data also acted as a vessel through which many alien variations could be portrayed.
However, the surface-level, emotionless depiction of the android reportedly irked one director on the show. Spiner recalled the director telling him that it woud be tedious to play Data for seven seasons. The actor told The Center Seat (via Screen Rant),
We had a director somewhere around the third episode who said to me, ‘If this goes seven years you’re going to want to blow your brains out. How can you play this non-emotional character for seven years?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I don’t see it that way. I don’t think that it’s limited. I think it’s an unlimited character.’ Fortunately, I sort of turned out to be right on that.
The actor also appreciated the makers of the show for throwing multiple challenges his way, which helped him explore many characters.
Patrick Stewart Believed Brent Spiner Deserved An Emmy For Star Trek: The Next Generation
While Brent Spiner’s Data was usually emotionless or deadpan in his delivery, leading to some endearing as well as harrowing moments, the actor also played multiple roles within Star Trek: The Next Generation. The actor played Data’s evil twin Lore, his creator Dr. Noonien Soong, and more.
Due to his versatility and performance in one particular episode, ‘The Offspring’, his co-star Patrick Stewart wrote in his memoir (via Slash Film) that Spiner should have been awarded the Emmy. He said,
Brent Spiner’s performance is staggeringly good — he found new depths to his character’s Pinocchio-like predicament of being a human invention who wishes to become human. It’s a major injustice to me that Brent has never won an Emmy for playing Data, not to mention the androids Lore and B-4 and the bizarre Soong family of mad scientists.
However, the show’s tenure at the Emmys was mostly limited to the technical department, with only the final season receiving a nomination for Outstanding Drama Series.
Star Trek: The Next Generation is available to stream on Paramount+.
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