Robert Picardo

“What's wonderful about 'Star Trek' having been rebooted so successfully by the J. J. Abrams movie franchise is that - the corollary effect is that it creates a new generation of fans, and they're interested in all of it. They don't just sit around and wait for the next movie to come out; they'll go back and re-examine episodes.”

“I was part of the generation that was supposed to become doctors.”

“Why wouldn't I like to walk into a room full of people who are dying to hear everything I say?”

“When an actor gets a role, especially in series television where he really is the part, the audience never thinks of another actor playing that role. If they accept you in the role, then they can't separate the actor from the character.”

“I've always had a particular affinity for father-son dramas.”

“'Star Trek' tends to take itself a little too seriously. They were either very dramatic shows, or if we did a humorous show, it was always a little like, 'Oh, we're doing humor on 'Star Trek,'' especially on the original series.”

“I didn't realize it at first, but the Doctor is in the same spirit as those natural 'outsider' characters 'Star Trek' series have, like Spock and Data.”

“If you're looking at my other major science fiction roles - the Doctor on 'Star Trek' and certainly Woolsey on 'Stargate' - I often play characters that might be good theorists and good thinkers, but you wouldn't call either of them very macho characters.”

“I love to play humorous moments in dramatic shows. That's always the most fun: to keep the logic of the character in a show that's basically action-adventure and then play the comedy moments.”

“As an actor, you're never supposed to complain about being too busy because it can go the other way real fast.”

“Yuri's Night is a world celebration for everyone who's interested in a human presence in space - without concern for politics, the Cold War, countries that do and don't have space programs.”

“So many articles said, ''China Beach' is uncancellable,' but when they dragged it on, I started to have doubts.”

“Most of my major roles have been to play characters that the audience does not initially like or warm up to and then they grow to like in spite of that.”

“Science fiction fans are great, but they just aren't the same as groupies.”

“I'm not really shy.”

“My agent loves me.”

“We had great comic mileage in the 'SG-1' episode 'The Swarm,' where Woolsey is running away faster than anybody else.”

“It's nice to have a signature role.”

“For two consecutive Broadway seasons, I had probably the best juvenile roles there were for an actor. Then I moved to California to recreate my role in the film version of 'Tribute.' I started working in film and television after that, and 38 years blew by!”

“I went to the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia, where I had a teacher really named Edward Shakespeare. He was a very influential figure in my childhood - I acted in high school a few times, but Mr. Shakespeare got me to lead in 'The Crucible.' I played John Proctor.”