Jake Sisko was one of Star Trek: Deep Space Ninethe biggest characters of its entire run, but ironically one of the biggest character installments didn’t see much actor Cirroc Lofton playing the role as usual. In exchange, The candy manTony Todd primarily played the ex Jake Sisko in the second episode of the fourth season, “The Visitor”, making it his second. star Trek role after playing Worf’s brother Kurn the next generation. It’s been nearly 30 years since “The Visitor” originally aired, Lofton reflected with Gossipify on how Todd portrayed Jake as an adult and how Avery Brooks, aka Deep Space NineBenjamin Sisko, improved the performance.
With Cirroc Lofton star Trekpodcast focused on the seventh rulewhich he co-hosts with Ryan Hush, ending his time by recapping Deep Space Nine and soon jump to the next generation (where they will be joined by Denise Crosby for all episodes with Tasha Yar in Season 1), I had the pleasure of speaking with the actor about this next phase of the podcast and other Trek-related topics, including his thoughts. in lower decks‘ DS9 tribute episode. When “The Visitor” came out, I was curious how Lofton would react when he learned that Tony Todd was playing the ex Jake Sisko, and if there was a collaborative process between the two actors. :
When they said Tony Todd, I was like, ‘Candyman?’ He was the most important thing on my mind, Candyman, and that’s why I knew him. And there was a level of intimidation or fear, I guess, just by meeting him because of the image I had of him as a person. He’s also a tall guy, really tall, like 6-foot-6, 6-foot-7, so I wasn’t that tall yet. I had not reached my full growth potential. So seeing how big they thought it was going to be was another, ‘Oh, you think I’m going to be that big?’ But collaboratively, all he did was say, “Listen, I’m Tony Todd, I’m going to play your old version and I’m going around the set looking at you, looking at you, so I don’t want you to think about anything else, I’m just looking to study you and how are you. And that was pretty much the end of the conversation, most of the collaboration, if you will. We had conversations, a makeup trailer, hairstyles and all that kind of stuff, but nothing to the point where we were like, ‘So, what do you think of Jake’s character?’ It wasn’t anything like that, it was just that he looked at me, he saw my gestures, he saw how I spoke.
For those who haven’t seen “The Visitor” or need a refresher, the episode features Benjamin Sisko being hit by a blast of energy from a malfunctioning warp drive. Initially believed to be dead, it is revealed that he was actually frozen in time, as Jake reunites with Benjamin several times over the decades. I won’t spoil the ending of the episode, but it does culminate in what is probably one of star Trek the franchise’s most emotionally powerful moments.
As Cirroc Lofton said, when he first learned that Tony Todd, then already a horror heavyweight, was playing Jake Sisko as an adult, he was intimidated by the older actor’s stature. But when it came to Todd figuring out how to play Jake in his old age, there were no deep conversations between him and Lofton. It was just seeing Todd watch Lofton on set, and that was clearly enough to get the job done. That said, while Lofton was pleased with the way Todd played his character more maturely, he also told me that Avery Brooks helped make this performance stand out. In his words:
One of the big things that hasn’t been talked about in terms of merit for that performance, even by Tony Todd himself, is that Avery Brooks was the bridge between him and me, right? So he’s going to play me like he normally does me, as his son, and then he’s also going to play Tony Todd with the same energy, which he did and that’s why he’s also selling. It’s not just about what Tony Todd does for the part of him, but also about Avery’s performance as Sisko, welcoming, embracing and treating Tony Todd like Jake. So there’s a duality of merit as to why this sells to the public, why it’s so easily believable.
“The Visitor” was the only time Tony Todd played the ex Jake Sisko, but with Kurn’s later cover for Deep Space Nine“Sons of Mogh”, played Alpha Hirogen in Traveler episode “Prey” (trivia, Traveler ended up helping Deep Space Nine big time) Todd’s most recent credits include 2021 The candy man (which got its seal of approval), Hellblazers, bitch ass Yes Masters of the Universe: Revelationand also voices Venom in the 2023 video game. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.
If you want to see “The Visitor” or all Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, make sure your Paramount+ subscription is in good standing. The streaming service has several on the way star Trek TV shows scheduled for next year, but for now you can browse our 2022 TV schedule to find out what lineup is left to debut this year.
Source: Cinemablend
