Star Trek Actor Complains Of Being Treated Like Fan-Favorite Voyager Character
Star Trek has built a cast of hundreds over the decades, but that doesn't mean every actor gets their due.
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Star Trek first aired on NBC all the way back in 1966 and since then, it has accumulated literally hundreds of characters, dozens of unique ships, and innumerable alien species mostly defined by budget-friendly nose prosthetics. With decades cramped full of lore, continuity, and trivia, it is not surprising that a few actors would feel like they never really got their due on-screen. Star Trek: Enterprise star Anthony Montgomery recently revealed some of his frustrations during a panel at the recent 56-Year Mission Las Vegas conference. Specifically, Montgomery felt that his character of Travis Mayweather got the “Harry Kim” treatment, referring to the fan-favorite Star Trek: Voyager character mostly noted for his lack of character development and rank promotions.
Anthony Montgomery starred as Ensign Travis Mayweather, the de facto helmsman of the titular ship on Star Trek: Enterprise for all four seasons of the UPN show. He was joined on the panel by John Billingsley (who portrayed Dr. Phlox), Connor Trinneer (who played Charles “Trip” Tucker), and Dominic Keating (who starred as Malcolm Reed). Amusingly enough, the panel was moderated by Harry Kim himself; Garrett Wang starred in Star Trek: Voyager for the entirety of the show, portraying the operations officer and eternal ensign. Wang had asked the panel what some of their less favorite moments from the production were, and Anthony Montgomery’s main beef is that he basically did not get a lot to do on the show. Here is specifically what he had to say about his Star Trek character:
If have to be honest, I didn’t like the fact that I didn’t have much to do. Because I’m actually pretty damn talented, if I do say so myself. Because I worked hard at it. That’s not me looking for kudos. But I work hard at my craft. And I just felt like I was underutilized… How about when I got on the show and they said, “We hope they don’t Harry Kim you.” And I didn’t know what that was… Because they started telling me what was going on. They weren’t using me. And I didn’t even know what that was. Harry Kim, and they said, “Well, he was a part, but he didn’t really do much. And I was like, “Oh wow.” I didn’t realize Garrett’s character was a verb. They Harry Kimmed me.
There is likely some potential tension when one actor tells another that his worst experience was being treated like the other, but it appears that Garrett Wang took it in good stride. Wang went on to sympathize with Anthony Montgomery’s Star Trek experiences. Despite both actors being part of the main cast in their respective series, neither one was ever promoted during the course of their adventures. Both Travis Mayweather and Harry Kim also tended to be relegated to the background in many episodes, with few story arcs being based around them. As such, it is understandable that Anthony Montgomery (and Garrett Wang) would be a little disappointed with their legacies in the universe of Star Trek.
As a franchise, Star Trek is currently in a period of expansion. There are more Star Trek shows airing concurrently than ever before, with Discovery, Picard, Prodigy, Lower Decks, and Strange New Worlds all receiving critical praise. Given the recent trend for the current shows to bring back characters from previous series, it would not be at all surprising for either Harry Kim or Travis Mayweather to pop up in some kind of way. After all, if we can get an appearance from a cosmically empowered Wesley Crusher in 2022, we probably can get a cameo from just about anyone. At the very least, it sounds like all the actors involved have a fondness for their roles in Star Trek, even if they perhaps did not ever get their full due.
