Robert Duncan McNeill, who played Tom Paris in Star Trek: Voyager, said that his character was almost cast in Star Trek: Picard. Star Trek: Voyager premiered in 1995 and ran for seven seasons on the United Paramount Network (UPN).

The USS Voyager becomes trapped 75 years distant from home in this show. On the USS Voyager, Paris is the main helmsman and assists with medical requirements. He eventually marries and has a kid with the half-Klingon chief engineer, B’Elanna Torres (Roxann Dawson).

Star Trek: Picard is a CBS All Access television series that premiered in 2020 and was renamed Paramount+ in March 2021. The story takes place between Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987) .

Star Trek: Nemesis (2002). It continues to follow Jean-Luc Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart) on his quest. Jeri Ryan reprised her role as Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager in the new series.

McNeill revealed on the Primitive Culture podcast that he was considering joining Ryan in repeating his Voyager role in Picard. Although the schedule has been an issue, he has spoken with the producers about both seasons.

Despite their requests for him to return as an actor or director, the moment was never perfect. He did say, though, that he would love to return to Paris, albeit the timing would have to work out. For the rest of his statement, see below:

In the first season of Star Trek, Picard almost cast Tom Paris from Voyager
In the first season of Star Trek, Picard almost cast Tom Paris from Voyager

“I spoke with [showrunner] Terry Matalas about the second season of Picard. And he and I have lately had a couple of chats in which we have reunited, which has been wonderful. And Terry had mentioned bringing me over as a director or bringing Tom Paris as an actor. It’s all about the timetable, though.

As a result, I’d love to play Picard. That first season was one of my favorites. And they wanted me to perform a Tom Paris episode of Picard in the first season as an actor… I couldn’t help since I wasn’t available.

It wasn’t a very long sequence of scenes. Patrick was in a few sequences. I believe it was only a viewscreen, or perhaps it was in his office. It wasn’t much. They tried to make it so it wouldn’t be too much so the timetable would work, but it didn’t work out.
In Picard season two, Terry brought it up as well. They’ve been trying to figure it out for a while now. I recently completed Turner & Hooch and am now immersed in Resident Alien, so it’s unlikely to happen… I’d be delighted.”

Since his brief cameo in Chuck in 2012, McNeill has been focused on his work from the director’s chair. At the start of Star Trek: Voyager, he directed four episodes. McNeill has directed episodes of Dawson’s Creek, Star Trek: Enterprise, Desperate Housewives, and Chuck, among other shows.

While McNeill has been out of the acting business for some time, experienced Star Trek fans would be thrilled to see him return to the franchise. It would be more exciting to have him reprise his role as Paris, but it would be fascinating to see him direct additional episodes of the show.

For the Paramount+ streaming service, the Star Trek series has been a huge appeal. It’s always thrilling to see performers return to a long-running program years after their leave, and McNeill has stated that he would want to do so. It’s apparent that it won’t happen anytime soon, with seasons two and three of Star Trek: Picard in the works and season two set to debut in 2022.

He did not, however, state that it would never happen. When both the producers and the celebrity share a common passion, it’s almost certain to happen at some point in the future. Paris will not be returning to the Paramount+ series in any capacity for the time being.
Written By: Adarsh Unni Krishnan  

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