Feature: Enterprise Anthony Montgomery
 Ant on Deck
He thinks of himself as
"the happy helmsman" on Enterprise. Anthony Montgomery warps in to chat
about playing the fresh-faced Ensign Travis Mayweather…
On the newest Star Trek incarnation Enterprise, Ensign Travis
Mayweather is responsible for steering the fleet's most famous starship on a
course for adventure.
A "Space boomer," Mayweather was born and brought up on the
Horizon, a J-class freighter captained by his father. Not surprisingly, the
young ensign has logged more hours in Space than most Starship captains, but
the experience has not jaded him. Mayweather cannot wait to see what lies ahead
for him and the rest of the crew as they continue to explore Deep Space. His
excitement about serving aboard the Enterprise is matched only by that of the
actor playing him, Anthony Montgomery.
"When we began filming [the pilot] Broken
Bow, I was so in awe of the fact that I'm now helmsman of the
Enterprise," enthuses the actor, "and that feeling still hasn't worn
off. I mean, I didn't grow up a Trekkie but I know a thing or two about Star
Trek. Of all the shows, I'm probably the biggest fan of the classic one and
its crew, which includes Mr Sulu. When I was cast as Travis I thought,
‘Hey, I'm the new Mr Sulu!' However, it could be argued that I'm the
‘first' Sulu in that our show is set before the original Star Trek.
"I've never piloted an airplane before, let alone a starship," he
laughs. "As an actor, though, you get to be all these different people and
that's the beauty of this job. The first time I sat at Travis's station, I said
to myself, ‘OK, you're flying a spaceship now,' and a big smile crossed my
face. It's like, ‘how cool is this?' and the thing is I'm just starting to
get to know this character. Travis is like me in that he wants to see the
world, or in his case the universe. Our writers have noticed my natural zeal
and curiosity for adventure and are trying to imbue my character with some of
that.
"I grew up in Indiana. I don't know how much you know about the
mid-west, but it's pretty flat. Don't get me wrong. It's a great place but deep
down in my heart I knew there had to be more to life. Since I left there I've
seen a lot of other things that life has to offer. In my mind Travis joined
Starfleet and is thrilled to be on the Enterprise for the same reason.
"There's a scene in the [tenth] episode Fortunate
Son where he says, ‘I was born halfway between Draylax and Vega
Colony, and there came a time when I knew I didn't want to spend the rest of my
life on a freighter travelling between the two.' Travis has an urge to discover
what else is out there and so far the two of us are having a blast doing just
that..."
by Steven Eramo
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