Phasing In the Future

During the three years since production wrapped on Star Trek: Enterprise, the cast have been seen in numerous different projects—and one face that keeps appearing is that of Dominic Keating, aka uptight Brit Malcolm Reed. He was even up for a reappearance in the Star Trek universe, as he explains to Ian Spelling…

"Enterprise was time well spent, without a doubt," Dominic Keating says, "How do I look back on it? Very fondly. Yes, that's the right term. And with great appreciation. I grew up as an actor on that show. I became a seasoned television and film actor, or whatever you want to call it, and it shows now. When I go off and do guest star roles and films, I know the meat and measure of a set, and I'm 'home' as it were. I know how to pace the day. I'm just more professional now. I'm less the eager pup needing direction… Not to say I won't take it. I know my place in the scheme of it all and I'm happy to fulfill that, to get on with it and take the free lunch."

Keating traversed the galaxy for four seasons on Star Trek: Enterprise as Lt. Malcolm Reed. After a highly rated premiere, the show struggled to maintain traction. Despite a third season injection of action courtesy the Xindi and MACOs, as well as a widely hailed fourth season that tapped into The Original Series for inspiration and storylines, UPN chose not to renew the series for a fifth year and it ended in 2005 after 98 episodes. "I was not an aficionado of the lore of Star Trek at all," Keating notes. "I watched some of the episodes growing up, but that was it. I did understand that some of the liberties that Brannon [Braga]and Rick [Berman] had taken in our first three seasons, which trod somewhat heavily on the past lore of Star Trek, were nice and neatly bowed up and sent off in a package in the fourth season by Manny Coto, so that it looked like they were actually intended. Clearly he had a grasp of the genre and the show itself was right at his fingertips.

"The one thing I noticed in season four, and no detriment to Brannon or Rick, was that we had a guy given the pole position, who was absolutely gagging for it," Keating adds. "The lifeblood that came into the fourth season was palpable, and you saw it and felt it, whereas Rick and Brannon had been writing Star Trek for 15 or 16 years. Give a guy a brand-new job, who's ready to do it, and he's going to be gung-ho—and that's what Manny Coto was. And it showed.

"It's a shame. I would have loved to do another year or two. If we'd kept going, it would have been last spring that we ended. We would have had a year out by now. Wouldn't that have been something? I would have paid off my house."

Considering the circumstances, Keating explains that he never felt cheated. He knew and accepted that he was not the show's star. "I think they did me pretty well," he says. "Most of these shows have a history of a triumvirate leading the charge, and we had Scott [Bakula], Connor [Trinneer], and Jolene [Blalock] in those three star positions. I really though I got a good ite of the apple the rest of the time. I liked my schedule, too. I enjoyed my days off. I would have liked maybe three episodes a year that were really just mine. I usually got one and then a lot of really good B-stories. But, otherwise, I have no regrets about any part of the storyline. Reed got to be quite the complex, multi-layered character."

Since the show ended, Keating has maintained friendships with several of his co-stars. He had spoken at length of Anthony Montgomery the day before this interview. Trinneer lives around the corner from him, but the two men have seen less of each other since Trinneer and his wife started a family. Keating recently caught Bakula's performance in a Los Angeles production of the play Quality of Life. "It's nice to stay in touch," he says. "We all got on well during the show and it was a good experience. I talk to John Billingsley a bit and we see each other at conventions. I don't see the girls, really. So we're pretty tight still."

Keating has remained busy post-ST:ENT. He's guest starred on Las Vegas, Heroes, and Prison Break, and has appeared in the films Hollywood Kills, Certifiably Jonathan, Species: The Awakening, and Beowulf, as well as the short film Plugged, written and directed by former Star Trek: Voyager star Tim Russ.

He played the Irish mobster Will in four episodes of Heroes, the mysterious Andrew Tyge in two installments of Prison Break, and Old Cain with Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich in Beowulf. "It's been pretty good, mate," Keating enthuses. "I have kept working, which is the main thing. I've done some high-profile work in among some filler. I had stints on Heroes and Prison Break over the summer, then Beowulf came out. I did a couple of low-budget movies, and I met a lovely girl on one of them who's now ensconced in my life. So, pretty good. The strike was a bit tricky, but I managed to go home to England and pick up a guest star on Holby City, the English equivalent of E.R. I did that in January. Now I'm back in Los Angeles and waiting to see what happens with pilot season."

Keating enjoyed his experience on Beowulf--to a certain extent. "That was quite fun," he says. "It was motion capture, so we wore these slightly ridiculous leotards. I didn't look too bad in mine, but the costume queens gave is stretchy bits around our bums, front bums, and armpits, so we could move in these things, because otherwise they're very thick. It's not like stretchy Lycra; it's quite hardcore because they've got to have lots of swatches to stick the silver balls on that the cameras pick up. Ray Winstone, who I've known for 25 years, had basic blue. Malkovich had a muted maroon. And the costume queens did Day-Glo palm trees on me! I had these fluorescent palm trees all over my ***.

"I met Angelina in the makeup room one day. We were getting our faces dotted and got chatting, and she couldn't stop looking down at my crotch. I finally pointed at my eyes with two fingers and said, 'I'm here love. I'm here'. I saw the film, and it came out pretty good. Unfortunately, my part got a bit cut, which was quite upsetting. I was very surprised: the storyline of Old Cain is so integral to the downfall of Beowulf, but hopefully that'll be put back in for the DVD.

"Heroes was fun. Milo Ventimiglia was very nice, and he was the Hero we worked with. There was a lovely English actress on it called Katie Carr, and the chap playing my mob boss, Holy McCallany, was really fun. We had a hoot. It was a shame we didn't get to do more. I watched the first six shows, just because we were in it, and actually I thought the[sic] of all the new storylines, the Irish one was the most interesting.

"Prison Break was fun as well. Down in Dallas it's hotter than Hell. That set in the courtyard of the prison is like an oven. It's nothing but corrugated iron, four walls and, with humidity, it was probably 108-110 degrees. But it was very nice. I did two episodes and I got to play some golf in the country clubs around and about with a couple of the executive producers. "

Finally, in a fascinating development, Keating nearly added another Star Trek project to his CV. He auditioned for a part in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek feature. "It was to play Jim Kirk's uncle in the Midwest, where Jim grows up, before deciding to be a spaceman," Keating reveals. "I only got to read one scene. I know I have it a good read. I didn't say anything at the time, but I'm sure, even if they'd liked me, they'd go, 'Well, who is this guy?' They'd say, 'Oh, he played a part in Star Trek…' And then it'd be, 'No.' So that's not going to happen. Would have been fun. /\

__________________________
If you're telekinetic and you know it raise my hand

Post #13971