In 1993, the Star Trek franchise took one step further by creating and releasing an underrated, iconic show titled Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which ran for a total of 7 seasons.
The show featured some iconic characters, and the detailing on the costumes of several species was truly iconic. In an interview, it was revealed that the complete rundown of everything that happened in the show was already pre-planned by the writers down to the last detail!
Star Trek’s Ferengi actor thanked the writers
Although originally introduced in the 1987 show Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Ferengi is a fictional species that had some importance in the 1987 show but a lot more in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
They once again had a small role to play in the subsequent show Star Trek: Voyager. However, their screentime and pivotal role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine remain unmatched to this day.
In an interview with ScienceFiction, Armin Shimerman, who portrayed the role of a Ferengi in the franchise, sat down for a chat to talk about his character. During his talks, Shimerman mentioned that he and his co-stars did not have any input on how the Ferengi were portrayed as a species.
Not a whit. Not an iota. Not a crumb. The writers did it all. The only thing that I can say that we influenced is: whatever our relationships were in dailies [raw footage sometimes used as rehearsal or re-shoot points] –
He continued,
The writers were smart enough and sensitive enough to see those rapports that we were creating on camera, and they could establish facts and situations to further enhance those relationships that we were exhibiting.
Despite the writers having it all figured out, there were some instances when Armin Shimerman felt like changing the narrative around to something different.
Since he portrayed the role of Quark (a Ferengi) in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, the actor revealed that there was a point during season 2 when he absolutely hated playing the character.
Armin Shimerman hated this one part in Star Trek
The first episode of the second season of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was titled ‘Homecoming’ and it featured Armin Shimerman in his reprising role of Quark. However, according to the actor, he behaved very ‘ugly’ in that episode.
On The Delta Flyers podcast, the iconic actor talked about season 2 episode 1 of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and how his portrayal of Quark was somewhat ruined by the complicated writing of that episode.
Although the episode starts with one of the moral beliefs of the Ferengi, Quark ends up doing something contradictory (according to the script), which Shimerman revealed that he didn’t really like.
I hated this scene … First of all, it has nothing to do with the themes of the episode. It’s antithetical to the way Quark starts out in the episode, of declaring peace, of being somewhat of a Rick from Casablanca.
He continued,
All that sort of was there, and I loved going with that. This is just me being ugly. … It hurts me, as Armin, to portray Quark that way. That’s an old stereotype that I think has worn out by now.
Despite whatever Shimerman thought about his character sometimes, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine remained a stellar show, which thousands of people are rediscovering even to this day.
With 7 seasons to its name, the show currently stands at a rating of 8.1/10 on IMDb and a whopping 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is available to stream on Paramount+.
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