Posted in: Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: Jerry O'Connell, Stand by Me, star trek, The Talk, wil wheaton

Star Trek U: Wil Wheaton on Childhood Abuse; O'Connell Offers Apology

Published Fri, 15 Apr 2022 20:34:10 -0500

These days, when you hear the names Wil Wheaton and Jerry O'Connell you can't help but think of the "Star Trek" franchise. With Wheaton, it was his time on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Wesley Crusher that still reverberates with fans even as he serves as the host of the Paramount+'s "Star Trek" series aftershow The Ready Room. With O'Connell, you have the voice behind Commander Jack Ransom on Star Trek: Lower Decks as well as the husband of Rebecca Romijn, set to play First Officer Una Chin-Riley on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds beginning this May. But if you're a fan of the Rob Reiner's 1986 film Stand by Me then you know their bond goes way back to when they were both boys. Which is what made the exchange between the two that much more heartbreaking when Wheaton and The Talk co-host O'Connell met up on the daytime talk show.

Wheaton has spoken openly in the past about the abuse he endured from his parents as a child, suffering "a combination of an incredible emotional abuse from my father and a lot of manipulation, using me, from my mother." That included going into acting as a child (Wheaton was 14 when he starred alongside O'Connell, River Phoenix & Corey Feldman in the Stephen King adaptation of "The Body). "I didn't want to be an actor when I was a kid. My parents forced me to do it. My mother coached me to go into her agency and tell the children's agent, 'I want to do what mommy does,'" he revealed. Not aware of what Wheaton had gone through during his childhood and the time they were filming together, O'Connell took some time during the show to offer Wheaton an apology.

"I heard before you talk about some of the struggles you were going through during 'Stand by Me,' and you know, while I was 11 at the time, that's an excuse; I do want to apologize for not being there more for you when you were younger," O'Connell said to his co-star. "But I want to say, to the bigger picture, you never know what someone is going through when you're with them. I don't feel guilt, but I just want to say I'm sorry I wasn't there for you more." But Wheaton made sure to remind O'Connell that his only being 11-years-old really did matter. "I deeply appreciate that," Wheaton began his response. "You were 11. How could you have possibly known? Also, everyone in the audience who is a trauma survivor knows this: We're real, real, real good at covering up what we're going through." And while Wheaton is proud of the work that four of them left on the screen, the actor admits that rewatching the film transport him back to those dark days. "When I watch 'Stand by Me' now, I cannot ignore the unbelievable sadness in my eyes," he explained. "And I cannot ignore the reality that it was that sadness, that isolation, that I think gave me what Gordie needed to come to life."

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