by Matt Sernaker, Editor-In-Chief

The talented members of the Star Trek family are headed back to the Midwest later this month for more adventures at Creation Entertainment’s ST-CHI: TREK TO CHICAGO event! ComicsOnline is pleased to continue our special features with the cast and crew of the various incarnations of Trek, and to kick off our coverage of the event, we were joined by Tim Russ, best known as Lt. Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager.

Russ kindly joined ComicsOnline for an exclusive interview that covered his experience on Voyager (including directing one of my favorite episodes), his unique history with the Trek television shows and movies, his return for Star Trek: Picard, and a special musical performance planned for the November event.

The following interview has been edited for clarity:

ComicsOnline: Tim, thanks for taking the time to join us over the weekend. I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with so many of your peers over the last few years, but we started our ST-Chi features with Jeri Ryan last year, so we’re keeping the tradition going of kicking off our annual coverage with the Star Trek: Voyager family. It’s a great way to start the Chicago event, and I’m absolutely thrilled that we can spend some time with you today.

Tim Russ: That’s very cool, and glad we’re here.

CO: You have the unique experience of having spent some time in the world of Star Trek before joining the crew of the U.S.S. Voyager. What was the casting process like for you?

TR: Well, it kind of was a long process because I had worked for the franchise and other roles on the other shows prior to Voyager, so I sort of had history with them coming into this. I read for other series like Next Generation and Deep Space Nine before, and worked on their Star Trek Generations feature. So I had a history with them of reading projects and working on projects with them prior to Voyager, and that spanned about seven years roughly. So when Voyager came by, I was just lucky enough that, you know, that there was a role that I was right for, which ended up being Tuvok. I’m very lucky to take on that character.

CO: With regards to Tuvok, was there an “aha moment” where it really just clicked as far as how you wanted to personify this character?

TR: In terms of finding that character? No. It was easy enough for me to be able to nail that character because I was already familiar with how the character had been portrayed, so that’s everything from Leonard Nimoy’s Spock to other Vulcans, so I had an idea and a concept of what that character was gonna be like right off the bat, and it was not difficult to achieve. I just had to make sure that at the end of the day, the producers were happy with it and then after that that the fans would believe that the character is from that species, cause they are already familiar with them, so it was not difficult for me to get to get hold of that character. You know it came easy because, as an actor, you train for roles where you have to show emotion, and that is much harder to do because, you know, human beings can recognize other human beings and and how they how they portray emotion and they can read it. And so if you don’t do it correctly, you know they’re not gonna believe you. So doing a character like this that does not show an emotion, that’s a hell of a lot easier. Everything is just subdued. So for me, it was very easy.

CO: As I was diving into your career, I was reminded of one of my favorite episodes which you got to direct, and that was “Living Witness.” I remember the first time I watched it, and even going back, it holds up beautifully. Are there any particular stories or moments from getting to direct that you could share from a production perspective?

TR: If you wanted to direct, you had to ask the producers and let them know that you’re interested and they would say okay well you’ve got to intern for about 2 to 3 years in order to get that slot. That’s what I did, and the others that went on to direct did as well. The thing about that episode, first of all, that was an amazing episode. I really was lucky to draw that episode because you don’t have a choice, they just give you a show and I was so lucky to have drawn that episode. I really loved it because I’m also a fan of history and so that concept was great. I was fortunate enough to have to work with my castmates who had to show up and play the evil versions of themselves and that’s what was so very interesting about that particular episode. We got a chance to see that the dark side of our characters which we didn’t have that opportunity anywhere else in the entire run of the show and they just all showed up. I didn’t speak to any of them prior to shooting. I didn’t have an email, phone call, nothing to discuss how they would play the evil versions of themselves. They just showed up and did it. There was a little bit of tweak and make-up and costume and things like that and then they just delivered each one their own version of that darker side of themselves and it was just brilliant. It was really wonderful. And in fact, you know from my first day, I think of directing all the way through that seven day period, the executive producers never came down to the set to observe what I was doing. They just let me do my thing on set. It was great.

CO: That’s wonderful that you got to have so much trust in directing it, and I loved how everyone leaned in in that episode in particular. But just going back to rewatch it, it really is incredible and it stands apart from some of the others in the series.

TR: Yeah, I totally agree. I totally agree. It’s a very special episode, and it is, to my mind, a stand out episode with a great story. Just lucky to have pulled it.

CO: There’s another one I wanted to ask you about in particular. There’s a two-parter that was one of my personal favorites and a fan-favorite as well, and that’s “Year of Hell.” I was curious, did that script stand out during the filming/creation process? 

TR: Yeah, it was certainly different. I think I had to play my character blind for a scene or two. That was something I’ve never done before, so that was interesting. The two-parters were pretty big and chunky. We did “Future’s End” 1 & 2, which was also a big one. The flashback episodes were big. Every once in a while, they would come up with these stories that are just crazy. Really big, really full of all kinds of things that we hadn’t done prior. So yeah, that (Year of Hell) was not an episode that I was that heavy in, but I had a few moments here and there. So I wasn’t as involved in it as a few of the others that I always get asked about (laughs) but yeah. I agree that it was pretty cool and pretty big.

CO: Well, the fact that we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek:Voyager this year is wonderful and I’m thrilled that there has been a resurgence for these characters. Between your return, Jeri being able to play with Star Trek: Picard, the prominence of the characters and Star Trek: Prodigy, and even now Voyager is getting a miniseries in the comics (from IDW Publishing) to tell a story right after the return at the Alpha quadrant, there’s a lot to love. For you personally, what does it mean to continue to celebrate these characters for decades?

TR: You know, it is the legacy of the franchise. Before I got on the show, the whole thing had already taken off. I was aware of just how popular that show was, in that it is a cult classic and still going. It’s remarkable because I still go to some of the conventions here and there along with my other castmates and still see the enthusiasm that fans have for something that’s been off the air for a while. They’re still watching it. Their kids are watching it now, and it just keeps going. It has legs, and it stands up, and it holds up over time. It’s not dated, and it’s extraordinary. It’s not a doctor show, a lawyer show, or a cop show. It is science fiction. We can explore all kinds of themes, all kinds of moral dilemmas, all kinds of difficult decisions and engagements with other characters and species, which sort of mirrors the way (Gene) Roddenberry had planned, the way in which we have to deal with other countries, other nationalities, and other cultures. We have to engage with them. We have to work with them in some cases, and that’s what Trek is about. People always ask me to compare Star Wars and Star Trek. Star Trek is about stories. These are stories that involve important lessons, things we can learn about ourselves, and that’s what the mission was from Roddenberry to begin with. It catches on to a lot of people, portraying this future that could possibly be.

CO: I wanted to also touch on your return to the character for Star Trek: Picard. Not only did you get to return and work with Jeri Ryan and Terry Matalas again for an amazing performance, but you got to play both Tuvok and a changeling version as well. How was it stepping back into that character and working with these two so many years later?

TR: Oh well, stepping back in character is like riding a bike. It’s not that difficult at all to remember, because I’d also done two projects even before then: a voiceover for Tuvok’s character in a Voyager game, and a podcast I did recently. I did all of this before coming on Picard, so coming back into that character was not a problem at all. It was just interesting that they didn’t tell me what was gonna happen with the character. We shot the episode and I thought, well, I guess that’s it… Maybe he doesn’t survive, or maybe something’s wrong with him. I don’t know what goes on with it, but then later, they told me, okay, we’re gonna bring it back for another episode, and that’s when I realized that he’s still alive. He’s still good to go, and you know he’s his rank is captain and all this good stuff, and they put a cap on it. It was great, so I didn’t know they kept that very much hidden from the very first episode, from shooting it and letting me know what was gonna go on and what was gonna happen. They didn’t tell me about the long game.

CO: Your return was absolutely one of the highlights for that entire season and having the Voyager love be present. It was also so impactful to have Tuvok contribute to Seven’s journey and her new role as the Captain of the Enterprise, which was just such a wonderful surprise to all of us as they wrapped the season.

TR: Yeah, absolutely. It was very poignant and it was, you know, it was right on time as far as our interaction and the cap to our journey. They definitely wrapped it up. The shows wouldn’t exist and the stories wouldn’t exist without the writers. The writers make the whole thing happen. So I always say, my hats off to them in coming up with the stories. It’s amazing.

CO: I completely agree, and we hope that you all get to continue the journey with Star Trek: Legacy, should that ever come to fruition. That being said, I know that you’ve got your music performance coming up at ST-Chi. What can you share as far as your musical style that you’re gonna be showing off at this event?

TR: Well, I have been playing music for about 50 years. I started when I was 16, so I’ve been doing a lot longer than acting, and over those 50 years, I played a number of different types of music. This is sort of the evolution of my musical career, my musical work over those years. It sort of culminated in a combination of blues and classic rock. Very tasty material, and it’s mostly B-side covers. That’s what I kind of focus on; these obscure songs and arrangements here and there. I’ll find them. It’s like mining for diamonds. I gotta move a whole lot of earth, and you find that one gemstone, one song that speaks to me, one song that’s decent. I really feel that the lyrics are important. I have a vocal-driven band. I do lead every once in a while, but mostly it’s a vocal-driven show, and that’s what I do. Most of them are just obscure covers, and I rearrange the way that I want to do them, and you know this has been a very long process of playing everything from hard rock to R&B to folk music to Top 40. I’ve done all of that stuff over the decades, and it’s coming together into the mix. It’s just fun and very cool.

Special thanks to Tim Russ and Creation Entertainment for arranging this interview.

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