| From the 16th Century to the 24th... |
| Written by Jill Sherwin |
| Thursday, 16 November 1995 09:14 |
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Armin Shimerman chooses roles that stress the human content.” This is ironic, since he is currently known as the alien barkeep on the hit syndicated television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. As “Quark,” a member of the business- minded (some say greedy and avaricious) race called the Ferengi, Shimerman struggles to reach beyond the comic relief to which his character seems bound within the context of the show. His vision of the character is a more tragic one than he is usually allowed to portray. “Everyone in the Star Trek universe is supposed to be treated equally, but there is still prejudice against the Ferengi.” He goes on to speak of the alienation of someone living away from his own people, adding that, “Quark is just trying to acquire respect from people he lives with and he tends to overdo it trying to be accepted.” Shimerman should know the Ferengi best, having appeared in an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation as the first Ferengi ever. His early appearance helped shape the look of the race. However, Shimerman looks critically on his first performance as a Ferengi, claiming partial responsibility for the comic presentation of the race. “They were supposed to be the great villains, The Next Generation’s version of the Klingonons.” Instead, they were regulated to humorous guest roles of various actors. Shimerman was disappointed in his presentation of a Ferengi and was convinced that the production team was too, until a surprise phone call inviting him to audition for the role of Quark convinced him otherwise. Star Trek Deep Space Nine was not the first show in which Shimerman appeared that had a large fan following. A recurring role as “Pascal” on CBS’s Beauty and the Beast gave him his first love for “their” shows. “I had to educate the others [on Deep Space Nine] about conventions. People have the wrong idea about conventions. It’s really like state fair. People bring their families. They hear guest speakers and shop. It’s a social gathering.” Shimerman donates his time and the money earned from his fan club to various charities.  Armin Shimerman From the Globe Theater he moved on to learn from the theater companies of New York, joining Raul Julia and the cast of The Three Penny Opera as an understudy. Due to an actor’s illness, he was allowed to take over the role of “Filch,” with the added pressure of being the youngest performer in the Broadway production. Shimerman speaks proudly of his time in New York and the actors with whom he had the pleasure of working. A production of Saint Joan with Lynn Redgrave particularly stands out. Returning to the West Coast, he found guest roles on L.A Law, Civil Wars and Married… With Children, secured a recurring role on Brooklyn Bridge and appeared in several films, but always returned to his true love- the stage. “It’s that catharsis. It’s thrilling communicating with a group of people. You can’t have catharsis with a camera.” Shimerman admits that his greatest pleasure in acting is the discovery process. “Nothing is as good as rehearsal.” As well, he lauds the quality of writing in the theater. “The great thing about theater is the language. Language suffers in film and T.V..” Reminiscnent of his free-time status as a teacher of Shakespeare and Elizabeth Rhetoric, he stops to firmly note, “In Shakespeare’s time people went to hear a play, not see it. Theater does best when it deals with language and ideas.” So why television? Why Star Trek: Deep Space Nine? Shimerman applauds the quality of writing on Star Trek and regrets the misconceptions about the science fiction show. “Being in syndication keeps us from being taken seriously,” he says, and television peers consider them to be “children’s programming.” Shimerman fights that label. “We have great storytelling about the human condition, speaking about humanity through metaphor.” (Metaphors of the 24th century that is!) “Our writers are not Shaw and Stoppard, but they are trying to be.” High praise, indeed. Sometimes Shimerman has to fight for his interpretation of his character on the show. In a recent scene, this was written as a comedic bit, he and his fellow actor shoes to play it dramatically. The production team was not pleased. “I finally put my foot down,” Shimerman say, explaining that he felt it was wrong to play the scene just for a laugh. “Rarely is drama given to a comic actor,” he admits; “Behind every comedic actor is a dramatic actor trying to get out.” Yet where other actors might complain about never having their face visible to the audience, Shimerman accepts his anonymity, and cites the challenge of working more with eyes, voice and body language. “When you’re wearing a mask, you are not worried about what you look like.” He feels he is therefore more free to concentrate on communicating the character. In fact, the only difficulty Shimerman has with the Quark makeup ar the inherent physical limitations: with prosthetics covering his ears, he has to strain to hear others’ dialogue and/or cues. Yet he compliments the makeup artists he works with, citing improvements that have been made since. A little uncomfortable at the beginning of his first season as Quark, Shimerman recalls phoning former Beauty and the Beast castmate, Ron Perlman, to ask for advice on surviving the grueling three hour monrning makeup sessions. Perlman’s response? “Think of the money.” An appropriate comment to frugal Ferengi. Another lesson learned from the former Beast was Perlman’s soft deliverance of dialogue in that program. “the more quietly he spoke, the more you had to listen,” says Shirmerman. Praising the intimacy and power in such a method, this prompts Shimerman’s advice to all actors. “Listen to other actors. Then you’ll get more out of the nuances of their performances.” Exactly which nuances has Shimerman gotten out of three seasons in Quark’s shoes? A definite influence invading his own life. On a recent trip to San Francisco, Shimerman’s wife (actress Kitty Swink) wanted to sightsee. Where did he want to go? “to the mint, where they keep all that shiny money!” Hmm, was that Armin Shimerman speaking or Quark. Armin Shimerman can be seen weekly on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, airing locally on channel 13, Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. and repeats Sunday at 9:00 p.m. |
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