Written by Sashi Alexandra German on December 13, 1996
Star Trek: Deep Space 9 actor Max Grodenchik appeared for one day (December 7, 1996) at the
Valley Forge Creation Convention in Pennsylvania this past weekend. He was on stage Saturday
afternoon for about 40 minutes, coming to the stage in a black suit with a
maroon shirt and dark shoes. He was somewhat handsome looking with short black
hair. This was the first time I had ever seen Max at a convention and I found
him humorous and rather entertaining.
Looking like Rom
Max joked that people come up to him
and say he really does look like Rom in real life, he's right! His eyes and
nose and face are all very much like Rom's... the similarity is astonishing
(no, his ears aren't that big!).
Star Trek con in Ireland
When he was in Ireland doing a convention and public appearances just
before Thanksgiving, he was preparing to do a local TV show (in Northern
Ireland). He was signing contracts and was getting all nervous... but he said
he felt much more at home when he went out and saw many in the audience
wearing Star Trek uniforms.
Max without the make-up
Max said it was common for some time for cast members not to know what
he looked like in 'real life' without all the makeup. He said when he was all
made up people would ask him how he really appeared, he'd tell them, "I'm
6-foot-2 and look like Mel Gibson." When people finally saw what he looked
like they were shocked -- he looked just like Rom, "and that's not a
compliment."
Make-up
How long does it take to get the Ferengi make-up on? Max said the
whole routine used to take a full 3 hours, 15 minutes. When it was time to
film "Profit Motive" they were able to get it down to 2 1/2 hours. For the
"Moogie episode" they got it down to 2 hours but it looks like the whole thing
can actually just be done in an hour and a half. He explained that during
DS9's 1st season, he was given the wrong time to come to work one morning and
he suddenly had to race in to get to the set ready to film on time. It took
two make-up people but they got him done in 51 minutes. Max joked that the
next day they should have had three make-up people work on him and it would
take only 14 minutes... and if they got four make-up people to work on him it
would take -5 minutes! When he told the producers this, they weren't quite
willing to assigned all these make-up people to him just to reduce the time he
had to sit in the chair. They use steam to steam off his make-up. It took him
awhile to get used to the teeth... and can only speak like Rom when he's
wearing them because they force him to speak from the back of his throat. He
demonstrated this to us several time... talking in Rom's voice.. but only able
to do so by sticking his fingers in both sides of his mouth. The teeth were
created by a mold that was made from his mouth "like when a dentist fits you
for a crown."
Rom and Leeta
When asked about Rom's relationship with Leeta the Dabo girl, Max said
there is an upcoming episode where Voyager's Robert Picardo appears as the
Holographic Doctor's creator, Doctor Zimmerman. Apparently Zimmerman falls for
Leeta and Rom, with his large ears, overhears much of their conversation about
this. He said he hasn't read the script yet, "but I know I get her in the
end." He then took out a script page with Leeta's dialogue on it which he said
he keeps with him always, "Rom is cute... and very sexy."
First Star Trek Job
On how he started with Star Trek: in January 1990 he was called about trying out for TNG's "Captain's Holiday." He was to read for the part of the Ferengi, Sovac. At the time he knew two science fiction fans -- his roommate and his brother. He asked his roommate what a Ferengi was... and he gave his imitation of a Ferengi (hunching down and acting wild, are also greedy capitalists, etc.). Max said he just didn't believe his roommate so he called his brother and was told the same thing. He goes for the reading and does his impression for Rick Berman and others.. and he got the part. When he finished the tryout, he told Berman & his people how he got the impression of the Ferengi and one guy replied, "tell your brother and roommate we may have jobs for them!"
While filming "Captain's Holiday" Patrick Stewart came up to him and
said if he ever needed anything, to make sure to come to him and he would see
that it would be done. Max said Stewart really made him feel very welcome.
While filming part of the episode where Picard & Sovac are in a fight, Stewart
was trying to figure out his arm length to hitting Max in the face... assuming
that he was going to hit Max's RUBBER nose... but in fact there was very
little rubber involved at all, and Max was afraid Stewart was going to hit him
right in the nose! Later on he filmed (as a Ferengi) the TNG episode "Perfect
Mate."
Getting the part of Rom
In getting the part of Rom for Deep Space 9, Max described how he had
heard they were starting a new Star Trek series and the producers were calling
in all the actors who had played Ferengi in previous TNG episodes. He did a
reading and then didn't hear anything for three weeks. He was then called in
with only a few actors -- the final group. Afterward he sat outside in the lot
and sulked because he knew he had done a horrible reading. Five minutes later
Armin Shimerman came out and asked, "What's up?" and they both lamented that
they had read terribly for the part. But Armin said the good news was that the
part of Quark was now down to just the two of them. "How do you know that?"
Max asked him. "Because we were the only two short people there." They sat
there and talked for about 40 minutes, relating their experiences in filming
various Ferengi episodes and talking about Ferengi in general. They guessed
that if Nog was Quark's nephew, that meant there had to be a father for Nog.
Shimerman laughed to Max later that HE got Max the part of Nog's father and
that he owes him 10% of all his earnings...
Max appeared in the episode "Our Man Alone" where Rom tries to get an
education for his son, Nog. It leads to Rom standing up to Quark and he has
very much liked the way that relationship has developed over the last few
years.
Max and Aaron Eisenberg (Nog)
Max was asked by a child what his relationship was in real life with
Aaron Eisenberg who plays his son, Nog. He said Aaron can sometimes be
annoying, but they get along well (it should be noted here for those who do
not yet know, Eisenberg is a full-fledged adult in his 20's, not a child
actor). Max related the story of when they were filming "Little Green Men"
last season: He, Aaron and Armin are in a jeep trying to get away from the bad
guys. It was "a complicated tracking shot" and they kept having to do it again
and again. They soon started getting bored and Aaron came up with this song,
"We are three Ferengi in a jeep; Man we are in trouble deep; Man we got to get
to Deep Space 9; We got to get back to our own time."
Compliments on the Bajoran uniform
Max said many women have commented to him about his close-fitting
Bajoran uniform. He admits that when he watches the episodes he doesn't really
notice that... but that he once saw a butt shot of himself and thought he had
a nice butt!
Max and Singing
He was asked about Rom's version of "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" that he
sang on a Trek Cruise recently. Max proceeded to sing it all for us... but he
was singing so fast I was unable to copy down all the lyrics. It WAS very
funny! It was mostly about Quark leaving the bar and Rom taking over...
wouldn't it be loverly...
Embarassing Moments
When asked about goof-ups on the set, he related when he and Armin
work together they're usually pretty serious. When they were filming the
"moogie episode" (I forget the title) Max had the line "He's the FCA and
you're female." He had to deliver the line and then hit his mark, which he
could feel with his foot because of a small sandbag placed on the floor. So
he's filming the line... walks forward and trips over the bag while delivering
the line, "You're FCA and I'm female!" (lots of laughs).
His favorite cut scene
Has there been a favorite scene of his that has been filmed, but cut
before the final broadcast? Yes -- In "The House of Quark" there was a scene
where Quark calls Rom at the bar. The vid screen goes on and Rom says, "Hello
Brother." And Quark replies, "That's it? 'Hello Brother.' I've been gone three
days and that's all you say?" They have more of an exchange, Quark warning Rom
not to believe anything the Dabo girls tell him... when the vid connection
finishes, the camera watches Rom walk right over to the end of the bar, where
he sits down between two Dabo girls and says, "Now, where were we?"
The female ferengi Pel
Will we ever see the female Ferengi, Pel, again? Max replied that
there were a lot of different ideas on what to do on the show in general, but
that he wasn't really sure what could be done. He did know that the make-up
was very rough on the actress. There are thoughts of having Rom's mother
appear this season. But in the end, there are only 26 episode "and you can
only do so much."
Personality Comparison of Max and Rom
Is Rom like him... or is he like Rom? He answered the question like
this: He was away from home one time and he went into a a sandwich shop. He
likes to drink a lot of milk... so he had his sandwich... but there was no
milk for sale (only soda, coffee and tea). So Max asked the guy at the cash
register if he could have some of the milk behind the counter. No, says the
man because it's meant for coffee. Max says come on -- why can't you sell it
as a cup of milk? The guy replied he couldn't ring it up anyway because they
have no charge for milk because they don't sell it. Max said the guy could
charge him for the milk as soda or coffee-- but that he wanted the milk. The
guy said no, and Max replied, "Where the Profit?? We're perfect profit
partners!"
England Convention
Right before Thanksgiving he did back-to-back conventions in Ireland
and England. When he was in England, he was asked by a man in the back room,
"what is it like to be the super wus of the Universe?" Max laughed that he
assumed the man was talking about Rom and not him! When he was in Ireland, he
found out just how polarized the people are there. When he was in a cab was
trying to get to Londonberry. The driver said if you're Catholic you call it
Derry.... if you're Protestant you call it Londonberry. Max replied, "what if
you're Jewish?" The driver replied depends who you're married to? Are you
Jewish-Catholic or Jewish-Protestant? Max said that since he was dating a
Catholic, he guessed he was on his way to Derry (Rumor Central says Max is
dating Trek script coordinator Lolita Fatjo).
Personal
Max recently participated on a Cruise Trek trip to Bermuda. He was asked by a fan, "What was it like to be trapped on a ship with a bunch of Trekkies?" Max replied that the Bermuda cruise was an interesting one, but that the Alaskan cruise was nicer because no one knew who he was... but on the Bermuda cruise everyone recognized him. It was the strange experience in Belfast all over again... he was safely anonymous before he did the Kelly Show, and then *everyone* recognized him after that and it got real old after awhile. In Ireland he couldn't remember signing so many little pieces of paper -- even straw wrappers! Over all he likes colder climates anyway, one of the reasons he enjoyed the Alaskan cruise better.
He said he was rather familiar with this area of Pennsylvania -- his brother once lived in Bala Cynwyd and then moved to West Chester. Every Christmas he would take the train from New York to Philadelphia to Ardmore to Paoli to Exton and then be picked up and taken to the Downingtown Mall where everyone would return their gifts!
Worked in regional theater for a time in Baltimore. He almost worked
at the Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia but lost the part to someone
else, receiving a very nice letter from the director on how he was so close to
getting the part, and how sorry he was that he didn't have another part to
offer him.
Other Information
He was not invited to go to the UPN Star Trek 30th Anniversary
celebration.
A child asked him about the Defiant? Max said, "The Defiant was
destroyed. Oh, no, that's right... it wasn't. But I think it was originally
suppose to be."
Another child asked him about the sensitivity of his Ferengi ears.
"That's for Leeta to know," he joked. He said in this upcoming Zimmerman
episode, we find his ears are very sensitive as they pick up a conversation
between Leeta and Zimmerman... and it makes Rom very jealous.
(C) Copyright 1996 Sashi Alexandra German, Permission to duplicate electronically, for nonprofit posting on an electronic
fora or for other reading enjoyment, is especially granted, AS LONG AS THIS
COPYRIGHT NOTICE IS PRESERVED AND NO CHANGES ARE MADE TO THE MATERIAL. No
other reproduction in any form is authorized without prior permission from
this copyright holder (and that's not hard to get! All you do is ASK!).
{It has recently come to my attention that many of my reviews are being passed
along to others with increasing frequency via science fiction news mailing
lists, fan club publications, etc. I have *no* problem with this -- I post
these reviews for the enjoyment of others and the more people who read the
reviews the better. However, I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the
outlets I find who are using my reviews but are not passing along my name &
e-mail address credited with the material. I spend the time, money and effort
to attend conventions, take notes and pass along the reviews to the Internet
and elsewhere. The least various grateful parties could do is keep my name
attached as a credit. Thank you.}
(C) Copyright 1996 Sashi Alexandra German, Hits as of December 31, 1997