Ask Wil Wheaton Anything (Part Deux)

A little over three years ago Slashdot interviewed Wil Wheaton, at the time best known for his role as Wesley Crusher on ST:TNG. Since then his blog WWDN has allowed him a creative outlet that has made the world sit up and take notice. Wil is now a regular participant in ACME Comedy Theatre, has published two books ( Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek ), has done voicework for video games such as GTA: San Andreas, cartoons such as Teen Titans, and speaks regularly at conventions such as Gnomedex and Linucon. Wil enjoyed the first Slash interview so much it appeared in Just a Geek, and we're glad to have him back for a second go-round. Feel free to fire away, one question per comment please. We'll post his responses once we get them back.

ST:TNG, Your charecter exit

[PktLoss (647983)]

Sorry for the Star Trek question, but it is something that I have wondered for quite a while. With your character in ST:TNG, he(/you) left the ship with 'the traveler' to do great and wondrous things. I always wondered when you were going to come back and save the ship from some otherwise horrible fate, it of course, never happened. At the time, did you see that exit for your character as an easy way to write you out of the script for good, or as a combination of plot advancement for your character, while still allowing you to work on other projects?

Re:ST:TNG, Your charecter exit

[ArsSineArtificio (150115)]

Apropos of nothing, I always thought that a much cooler thing to do with the Wesley Crusher character would have been this: Have him be so embittered by the whole Starfleet Academy thing that he and a group of fellow disgusted cadets stole a Starfleet ship and became pirates or mercenaries. Wesley Gone Evil would have been great - and probably would have been a lot more fun for Mr. Wheaton to play.

Re:ST:TNG, Your charecter exit

[dr_dank (472072)]

Wesley Gone Evil would have been great - and probably would have been a lot more fun for Mr. Wheaton to play.

Better yet, send him to Spring Break destinations with a ton of beads and call it Wesley Gone Wild.

Re:ST:TNG, Your charecter exit

[ArcticCelt (660351)]

Wesley Gone Evil would have been great

Add to this the rebel Riker's twin and the Data evil brother and we have a great beginning for an all evil crew.

//I know, they are both dead or something like that.

Dread Pirate Wesley

[mykepredko (40154)]

Let's see, he could be shanghaid by a rogue pirate who teaches him the trade while telling each night, "Have a good sleep, for more likely than not I'll kill you in the morning" and then retires, leaving Wesley the ship and crew.

Wesley could then return to Starfleet headquarters, looking for his true love (an upperclassmen he met during his brief time at the acadamy) only to discover that she has become betrothed to an evil planetary governor who, unbeknownst to her, has ambitions to take over neighboring star systems and start interstellar war.

After being left for dead after being tortured using an octopus like extra-terrestrial creature that attaches its tentacles to major nerve bundles by the governor's minions. The purpose of the torture was to gain the vital "warp energy" that Wesley has learned to harness so the governor's assassins, can more through space like ghosts. Wesley rebuilds his strength and storms the governor's stronghold only to find out that the governor is his long believed dead father.

In the climactic battle, Wesley defeats, but does not kill his father. Wesley's true love does kill Wesley's father in a pique at being used to draw Wesley in. In his dying breath, Wesley's father renounces his evil and Wesley gives him the full starfleet funeral that he deserves.

Wesley realizes that he has evolved beyond common man and despite his feelings for the girl resumes his wandering of the universe, looking for wrongs to right and balances to be restored.

Hey, it's better than anything Rick Berman has produced in the last 10 years.

myke

Thoughts on the future of Enterprise

[Skyshadow (508)]

Okay, let me start out by saying I'd understand if you don't keep up with the new Trek shows, and if that's the case you should chalk my question up to being those of a truly pathetic geek and possibly make "magic xylophone" [simpsoncrazy.com] jokes about it.

That said, if you do still follow Trek I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on the progress of "Enterprise" given your status as someone framiliar with the entertainment industry (esp. as it relates to this particular line of shows).

I have been so impressed by the last two seasons (except the Nazi arc at the start of this season) that I'd go so far as to group them with some of the best episodes of season 3 TNG. The characters are finally starting to fill out, the plots have gotten away from the standard "it's the Borg again!" horseshit and they've even had relatively decent dialog.

I get the impression, however, that it's not going to be enough to save the series based on the timeslot it's been relegated to. While my TiVO stays in Fridays even though I don't, I can't believe that even Trek fans regularly stay home Friday nights in sufficiant numbers to save the show, not to mention all the people who stopped watching in season 1 or 2 and won't end up flipping past sometime to give it a second chance now.

Is "Enterprise" as doomed as I think it is?

Re:Thoughts on the future of Enterprise

[by Anonymous Coward]

I can't believe that even Trek fans regularly stay home Friday nights in sufficiant numbers to save the show

Too easy.

acting?

[by Anonymous Coward]

In "Just a Geek" you pretty much ended the book by saying that acting (tv/movie, not ACME) is no longer a priority. Are you still looking for a Big Part or have you given up on that altogether?

Personal preference question

[nizo (81281)]

Do you use pepper spray, tear gas, or mace on people you meet on the street who call you Wesley Crusher?

Re:Personal preference question

[CleverNickName (129189)]

Do you use pepper spray, tear gas, or mace on people you meet on the street who call you Wesley Crusher?

Oh I'll take this one right now:

Yes.

Re:Personal preference question

[_Sprocket_ (42527)]

Dude. This doesn't work like a real "Ask Slashdot" if you're coming in here and answering the questions . Get the hell back on your side of the fence and wait for the selected questions to hit your inbox - and for gawd's sake... try to act surprised.

Sheesh.

You'd think we were doing the William Shatner interview again. And no - you can't ask yourself questions.

;)

Re:Personal preference question

[CleverNickName (129189)]

haha, how about this one; why don't you post in your /. journal anymore?

For a brief time, I toyed with the idea of putting all my computer-related thoughts here, my political thoughts at dailykos, and my los angles-related thoughts at blogging.la, but then I decided that it was stupid to do all that, when I could just put them all on my blog.

I still post to blogging.la from time to time, but other than that, I pretty much stay in my own yard at WWdN.

Oh, and I do *all* my goofing off at totalfark, and occasionally UltraFark.

Re:Personal preference question

[Neophytus (642863)]

*resists urge to mod -1 for showing off about access to secret societies* :-)

Now that you are a fully grown man

[by Anonymous Coward]

Are you disappointed that you did not turn out to be that hunk that Q turned you into as an adult, then changed you back by your request?

Re:Now that you are a fully grown man

[UWC (664779)]

Having just finished reading the previous /. interview and some of the ensuing comments, I ran across the same question, worded surprisingly similarly, and, more importantly, answered [slashdot.org] by señor CleverNickName [slashdot.org] himself.

Changing Attitudes

[Weeb (69841)]

I never had any of the disdain that seems to paint your detractors, Wil, yet I also never found myself admiring you until I began to read your blog.

What has your newfound share of fans and admirers taught you? Was it always your intention to, via the internet, change people's minds about who you are and what you've been trying to accomplish?

Women et. al

[DarkHelmet (120004)]

I know this is one of those things that was asked to Gabe and Tycho of Penny Arcade, but as Ashley Judd's first on-screen kiss, do you have any advice on finding women? ;)

On that matter, what do you think priorities should be in looking for that sig. other?

Looking back...

[SeaDour (704727)]

Looking back from where you are today, Mr. Wheaton, what would you consider your greatest achievement that you take the most pride in? Your work as an actor? Your widely-acclaimed blog? Or maybe your published memoirs?

And, on a related note, are you anywhere close to where you expected you'd be by now?

Actor to Actor

[ak_hepcat (468765)]

Wil,

You talk alot on your blog about your experiences, not only in your personal life, but also your professional life.

Now with two books under your belt, has anyone ever pitched the idea of writing a 'Acting in Hollywood for Dummies'?

Basically what to expect in the process of agenting, casting calls, marketing yourself, how to deal with rejection, overcoming fears, etc.

I think with your writing style, this would be a fun book to read, and accessible to non-actors who would be interested in what the 'real' Hollywood life was about.

What about the flip side?

[Short Circuit (52384)]

In your response to a comment titled "Usenet," from the previous interview, you make it quite clear that people hating you for being Wesley pisses you off. Do you have anything in particular to say to the people who like you for being Wesley?

Child Actors

[Keebler71 (520908)]

Would you let your own children enter the tv/film industry? Why or why not?

the question on everyones mind.

[Liquid Tip (672473)]

Will you ever put a leech on your nuts in another movie?

Blog Comments

[Kaypro (35263)]

I know from reading your blog that you've had to deal with some sticky issues reagarding people leaving comments to your posts. My question is: In your opinion, what do you feel would be a better way of having people comment on a story without having the moderation power of a Slashdot type site at your disposal? Or is this even feasible given the way most blog type scripts are designed.

What pays the bills?

[Weaselmancer (533834)]

It's a serious question. What keeps the roof over your head?

A lot of my favorite actors (you're included in there) will work for a little bit and then disappear for a great length of time.

A good example is Bruce Campbell. You see him in a small film like Bubba Ho-Tep or a quickie walk-on like in Spider Man, and then he disappears from the face of the earth. And I always wonder, what pays the grocery bill meanwhile?

How do you manage it? And please feel free to ignore this if it's too personal.

Moderation totals

[Mr Guy (547690)]

Do you think you'd get modded +5 nearly as much if you weren't Wil Wheaton?

celebrity poker

[Magius_AR (198796)]

Hey Wil,

I'm a longtime reader of WWDN and I know you're big into poker.
Is there any chance of you making an appearance on Celebrity Poker on Bravo?
It'd kick ass to see you on there in action ;)

What do you think of Stargate?

[Silverlancer (786390)]

What do you think of Stargate (SG-1/Atlantis)?

A true geek?

[Innova (1669)]

You claim to be a geek/nerd, but yet you have a 6 digit slashdot userid (129189). How do you explain this discrepency?

Re:A true geek?

[Skyshadow (508)]

Pft, where do *you* get off questioning someone's cred based on user ID, newbie?

Re:A true geek?

[pez (54)]

Yeah, what he said! Only with one order of magnitude more significance!

Who remembers Chips & Dips? And the glorious Meept? And goatse (the first time)? Aaah.... those were the days....

Creating Your Own Geek Culture

[trilks (794531)]

Do you find it interesting/annoying/strange/etc. participating in the geek culture (i.e. being a geek), while at the same time being such a recognisible influence or member of that same culture? For example, say you go to a ST convention. What does it feel like to sort of admire or follow such a phenomenon, but at the same time you are thinking "Yea, I remember when Pat Stewart and I did that scene." I guess it just seems that you might have a different experience than most of us /.ers, in that we are more observers than contributors.

Hope that makes sense. Cheers for responding to the /. community!

I dig your Mom.

[Danborg (62420)]

I think the whole world wants to know..... any Oedipus action with Gates McFadden? (C'mon Will, surely you at least thought about it.)

Politics and Hollywood - from WW's perspective?

[Zondar (32904)]

Wil,

We in the non-Hollywood scene see a fair number of outspoken individuals on one side of the political spectrum, a few on the other, and it *always* gets press anytime anyone on either side speaks out about any political issue.

Having seen it from the inside, how pervasive is politics in the workplace in the projects you've been involved in? Is it something that comes up every once in a while, like the rest of us, during office discussions... or is it something more "tangible", where you basically know where everyone around you stands - and you'd better hope you either stand the same way or don't say much?

Have you ever felt pressure from someone with regard to politics? Have you ever felt that your political viewpoint would affect your chances of working on a project?

Thanks!

Geek code

[RangerRick98 (817838)]

When you were compiling your geek code, did you get a kick out of the fact that you could put a $ after "t"?

Clever Nick Name

[thelenm (213782)]

How did you come up with such a clever nickname?

Simple question... don't be PC

[ellem (147712)]

Seven of Nine
or
Uhura

Re:Simple question... don't be PC

[Dr Caleb (121505)]

Dude! You forgot T'Pol aka '36 of D'.

Your future?

[identity0 (77976)]

It occurs to me that you're not much older than I am, and probobly younger than most people on Slashdot. Do you ever find yourself wondering, "What will I do with the rest of my life"? Do you have a plan for your life, or are you just making it up as you go along?

Does having had a career and achived fame(at least among us geeks) at a young age give you a different outlook on life than the rest of us young folk, who are just getting out of school and looking to start a career? And any advice to us geeks seeking a family and job would be appreciated : )

Oh, and on a lighter note - you may be a famous actor and author, Wil Wheaton - but I still have a lower Slashdot ID than you! Take that! : )

How to be a "real" actor/writer/speaker/artist?

[Silas (35023)]

Hi Wil. I know you're not about dwelling in the past when it comes to your acting career, but I did want to say that I think "Young Harry Houdini [imdb.com]" is an oft-overlooked film that you should be very proud of. Okay, so maybe I was only like 10 when I saw it, but as an amateur magician it really had an effect on me, and I thank you for your role in it.

A related question then: What advice can you give (beyond saying "be born with raw talent") to folks like yourself who see themselves as creative types with an interest in acting, writing, speaking - the public arts, if you will - but who also don't want to tread the over-worn path of mainstream media and every other Hollywood actor-wannabe? You seem to have done an exceptional job being a part of the underculture - sci-fi TV, self-publishing, blogging, small theater, etc., so it would seem you have some insight into how to participate in these arts without becoming corrupted by the process of getting involved.

Thanks!
Silas

Dealing with Internet hatred

[Jay Maynard (54798)]

When I read Just a Geek, I was struck by the similarity between the reaction to your 25 August 2001 WWdN post (A Look Inside My Mind) and the reaction to the Slashdot and Fark stories about my TRON costume. The 26 August 2001 post (My Velouria) was something I could have written, at least in tone if not in details, if I were half the writer you are.

What would you tell the anonymous, average geek who has Internet fame suddenly dropped on him? How would you help him get through the flood of negativity and get to the point where he can ignore the naysayers and just have fun?

Diplomacy question

[by Anonymous Coward]

Can US foriegn policy be reconciled with the prime directive?

what kind of hard core non treckie fans do you get

[QuantumRiff (120817)]

Do you get drunk white trash from stand by me? Cause thats scarier than a treckie any day.. or what about latin american freedom fighters stalking you? Toy soldiers was my favoritte movie growing up? Honestly, I'm guessing that you probably have a huge number of people on the street come up and ask if you were Wesley Crusher, but do people come up and recognize you from other movies?

Bigshot Actor to Bigshot Author

[Asriel86 (547129)]

In the book I reverently refer to now as JAG, you speak of getting off your "Hey, I'm an actor! Get me a scone!" high-horse and being... JAG. Now that your books have hit a noteable success, have you had any close encounters with turning into Mr. "Hey, I'm an author! Get me a crumpet!"?

Are your friends, fans, and family helping you keep a level head?

Is there a Lars Ulrich of TV and Movies?

[Linuxathome (242573)]

There isn't as vocal of an opponent to movie and TV show filetrading as Lars Ulrich of Metallica was during the Napster heydays (music filetrading). What's the general attitude among actors and other peons of the industry towards filetrading? Are they worried about their jobs as the MPAA wants us all to believe (filetrader and non-filetrader alike)?

Hollywood

[onyxruby (118189)]

You've done work for the EFF and digital rights. What if anything has Hollywood done to let you know the "error" of your ways?

Self-Doubt

[WCityMike (579094)]

Wil, I suppose my question for you is: although I recognize that most all of us are prone to it, why does self-doubt seem to still be an especially strong theme in your psyche, at least as I perceive it through your writing?

You seem to doubt yourself a lot, yet you have (at least IMO) strong talents in writing, acting, and comedy, and, most importantly, an extremely loving wife and an amazing relationship with your stepchildren.

As depicted in Dancing Barefoot and Just a Geek, you seem to have already come far in your battle against your inner doubt, yet it seems (again, just through my perception of your writing) that very often minor defeats set you back a considerable ways.

I suppose to those of us who go through life without some of the incredible good fortune you've had (and I speak not of your acting past, but of your loving family and your recognized writing and comedic talents), it is hard to understand why your inner demons appear to still be so strong.

Not sure I should ask this...

[Psychotext (262644)]

...but my wife say's you're sexy. How much to take her off my hands? :)

Fame and accessibility to the public

[H_Fisher (808597)]

While many celebrities try to isolate themselves from the public as much as possible, except for talk show visits and the like, you've taken the route of being much more responsive to your fans and the world at large - openly posting to sites like Slashdot and Fark, blogging, and all the while being very open and honest about your opinions.

That said, (a) Do you ever regret doing so? and (b) Do you think it's fear of unstable people, overwork, or a holier-than-thou attitude toward the proles (or a combination of the three) that keeps other celebs from being as visible, open, and honest?

I say this because I'm amazed at the down-to-Earth nature of those like yourself, J. K. Rowling [jkrowling.com], and others who aren't afraid to speak out for what they think and feel. With technology, one may wonder why others might not do so.

Like your blog, btw. Good to see you back on /.!

Something Awful

[spike hay (534165)]

In the Somethingawful.com vs. Fark.com Photoshop contest a while back, why did you rule in favor of Fark, despite the fact that Farkers displayed extremely poor aptitude at Photoshop and made wide use of annoying cliches like Admiral Ackbar?

What kind of movie would you make?

[chadjg (615827)]

Let's say that you come into posession of a large ( $100,000,000) stack of money and you have a burning desire to make a movie that you know your fellow geeks would enjoy; what would it be?

What is missing in most movies today, if anything? Is it possible to make a geeky movie that has a chance of commercial success? Are we stuck importing Japanese anime?