Posted in: Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Robert Duncan McNeill, star trek, Star Trek Picard, star trek: voyager, Tom Paris

Star Trek: Picard Nearly Had A Second Voyager Alumni Joining Series

One of the most pleasant surprises of Star Trek: Picard is the sandbox the series has to work with the title character played by Patrick Stewart being able to work with new cast introduced in the series and old from his Next Generation days. One unexpected surprise came in the form of Voyager alumnae Jeri Ryan reprising her role as Seven of Nine aka Annika. Upon her reintroduction, we discovered since the U.S.S. Voyager returned to earth, she found the Federation isn't what she hoped it would be and she ended up down a dark path of vengeance in Picard season one. If showrunners had their way, we could have had another Voyager alum joining her in Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Lt. Tom Paris on the UPN series. The actor-director opened up to the Primitive Culture podcast (via TrekMovie) about what could have happened in Picard season one and what may yet happen for season two.

A Lost Star Trek Opportunity

"I did talk to [showurnner] Terry Matalas about Picard season two and he and I've had a few conversations recently, and we kind of reconnected which has been great," McNeill said. "Terry had talked about bringing me over there as a director or as an actor bringing Tom Paris. But it's really been about schedule. So I'd love to do Picard. I actually loved I loved that first season. And they asked me to do an episode of Picard [in] the first season as an actor to play Tom Paris… I wasn't available." On what was planned in the first season, the actor explained. "It wasn't a big sequence of scenes. It was a couple of scenes with Patrick. I think it was just like viewscreen or maybe it was in his office or something. It wasn't a lot. They were trying to work it out so it wasn't a lot so the schedule might work, but it didn't pan out."

As far as Picard season two goes, McNeill reveals he's still talking to Matalas about it, but in the meantime, he's been busy on Disney+'s Turner & Hooch and SyFy's Resident Alien. He admits he also admits if there's any way he can be creatively involved with any of the Star Trek series, it would be Discovery. And then there's that little matter of this weekend's Comic-Con@Home and his presence in the second season of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

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