James Marsters is already part of some of the most beloved speculative fiction television franchises in history for having played Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and Captain John Hart in Doctor Who spinoff Torchwood. However, he almost joined the biggest science fiction television franchise of them all, Star Trek, but his own love of the series sabotaged him in the end.
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Speaking to SyFy Wire, Marsters revealed that he’s a huge fan of Star Trek and used to attend conventions as a teenager dressed as Mr. Spock. When asked about his favorite Star Trek moment, Marsters revealed it is the time he completely blew an audition while acting opposite to Patrick Stewart.
“My favorite moment was looking at Picard’s face when I was acting opposite him in the audition for the last Star Trek movie before they rebooted it because they wrote a role for me as his clone and I just had to read the part and it was basically mine,” Marsters reveals, referring to the role of Shinzon in Star Trek: Nemesis. “And I was horrible. I was god awful in the audition because I was fanboying out so hard to be in the room with Jean-Luc Picard.”
It’s a moment that most fans can relate to and he remembers Stewart doing whatever he could to help out.
“I could see his face and he’s like pulling for me,” Marsters recalls. “He’s trying to get me to act with him, and I could see in his eyes like, ‘Wow, this is just not working at all. This kid is terrible.’”
Marsters ultimately lost the role and Shinzon was instead played by Tom Hardy. It’s a moment that has stuck with Marsters ever since.
“I never saw him again,” Marsters says. “I’ve seen the other cast members and I’ve always wanted to tell them, ‘Tell Patrick that I was not at my best at that moment.’”
Marsters may have lost his chance to join the Star Trek universe, but he’ll become part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe by playing a member of The Pride in Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu later in 2017.
In Star Trek: Nemesis, Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) diverts the starship Enterprise from its scheduled trip to Cmdr. Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Counselor Troi’s (Marina Sirtis) wedding to negotiate a peace treaty with the Romulans. Picard is shocked when Shinzon (Tom Hardy), the new Praetor of the Romulans, admits to being a clone of him. When the crew members discover a break-in on their computer, they are forced into a life-or-death battle to stop Shinzon’s Warbird before it can destroy the Earth.
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Image Courtesy of DreamWorks
