Robert Picardo states the nature of his acting career at Malta Comics Expo 2014
Robert Picardo told the audience at Malta Comics Expo 2014 that he was trapped into acting by the class clown, Billy Barker, in the 9th grade. They did a play called Box and Cox, and it was really successful.
“We were good complements to each other,” says Picardo.
In their senior year, they did the same show but as a musical called Cox and Box.
Acting on stage, in the movies and on television are parallel art forms. Emotion is important on stage, and thought is important on screen.
“It’s nice to do everything,” says Picardo, who had two leads on Broadway before he was 25.
Voyager’s Doctor
The key to the role of the Doctor was to understand his crankiness and curmudgeonliness. The Doctor’s thought process was along the lines of “Why would you leave the most expensive piece of medical equipment running?”
“The doctor was very self-involved,” says Picardo.
The Doctor had to be played differently from Data because they were so much alike, and Picardo could play the Doctor differently than any other Starfleet Officer. The Doctor could be afraid and disdainful. Part of the joke of the Doctor was that technology doesn’t do what it is supposed to. It is quirky.
Picardo suggested that the Doctor be an opera fan. The incongruity of a program that didn’t really have a hold of its feelings would be involved with such moving music would be the joke. Picardo did 85 percent of his own singing. He did use a voice double in “Virtuoso.”
Wagon’s East
Picardo worked with John Candy on Candy’s last film Wagon’s East. The last day that Candy was alive, they filmed the movie’s opening scene. If he hadn’t shot that scene, there wouldn’t have been a film. When they finished shooting that day, Picardo says that Candy was really exhausted. Candy called Picardo, sounding “wistful,” and expressed his appreciation for being able to work with Picardo.
“It seems like we were meant to finish the movie,” says Picardo. “It was a tribute to him to get it done.”
The Howling
“I’ve always been a fan of horror movies,” says Picardo. “I remember really creeping this casting director out.”
Picardo would joke with Joe Dante between scenes, which led to being cast as the Cowboy in Inner Space. What was great about Dante was that “he let the actor be creative.”
Picardo is working on a web series at Geek and Sundry called “Morganville.”
Read Robert Picardo: star power squared at Malta Comics Expo
“We were good complements to each other,” says Picardo.
In their senior year, they did the same show but as a musical called Cox and Box.
Acting on stage, in the movies and on television are parallel art forms. Emotion is important on stage, and thought is important on screen.
“It’s nice to do everything,” says Picardo, who had two leads on Broadway before he was 25.
Voyager’s Doctor
The key to the role of the Doctor was to understand his crankiness and curmudgeonliness. The Doctor’s thought process was along the lines of “Why would you leave the most expensive piece of medical equipment running?”
“The doctor was very self-involved,” says Picardo.
The Doctor had to be played differently from Data because they were so much alike, and Picardo could play the Doctor differently than any other Starfleet Officer. The Doctor could be afraid and disdainful. Part of the joke of the Doctor was that technology doesn’t do what it is supposed to. It is quirky.
Picardo suggested that the Doctor be an opera fan. The incongruity of a program that didn’t really have a hold of its feelings would be involved with such moving music would be the joke. Picardo did 85 percent of his own singing. He did use a voice double in “Virtuoso.”
Wagon’s East
Picardo worked with John Candy on Candy’s last film Wagon’s East. The last day that Candy was alive, they filmed the movie’s opening scene. If he hadn’t shot that scene, there wouldn’t have been a film. When they finished shooting that day, Picardo says that Candy was really exhausted. Candy called Picardo, sounding “wistful,” and expressed his appreciation for being able to work with Picardo.
“It seems like we were meant to finish the movie,” says Picardo. “It was a tribute to him to get it done.”
The Howling
“I’ve always been a fan of horror movies,” says Picardo. “I remember really creeping this casting director out.”
Picardo would joke with Joe Dante between scenes, which led to being cast as the Cowboy in Inner Space. What was great about Dante was that “he let the actor be creative.”
Picardo is working on a web series at Geek and Sundry called “Morganville.”
Read Robert Picardo: star power squared at Malta Comics Expo