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Print Location: Cleveland, Ohio– USA

Science Fiction

Phlox to lead alien invasion at Vulkon event

As the newest show in the "Star Trek" franchise, "Enterprise" quickly established its own unique Prime Directive: Make space sexy.

Crew members run around in skin-tight underwear and sensuously run gel on one another’s bodies in a decontamination procedure. But John Billingsley, who plays ship’s doctor Phlox, jokes that since he’s the only actor in "Star Trek" history to have a paunch, he doesn’t expect to see a script asking him to strip.  As a character actor, "I don’t fire guns or have romances. So I have no resentment whatsoever," he said. "It’ll be a cold day in hell when I’m running around in my skivvies."

Billingsley, 41, appears at Vulkon Cleveland, a science-fiction media convention at the Holiday Inn Strongsville today and tomorrow. He will speak and will sign autographs today only.

Ethan Phillips (Neelix on "Star Trek: Voyager), Jeffry Combs (Weyoun on "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and other stars also will appear at Vulkon.

Filming on "Enterprise’s" first season wrapped earlier this month, Billingsley said.  His Phlox character is an anthropologist and zoologist, who collects strange creatures and plants during his travels through the galaxy. A proponent of alternative medicine from all sorts of cultures, the alien Phlox is as likely to use huge leeches as he is to use medical gadgets to administer a cure.

"He’s a figure of mystery. I don’t know too much about him myself," Billingsley said. A recent episode did reveal that Phlox has three wives, which is perfectly normal for the Debobulan race. "Enterprise," staring Scott Bakula, airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on WUAB Channel 43.

Billingsley was a fan of the original 1960s "Star Trek" and "Star Trek: The Next Generation," staring Patrick Stewart. But he found "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s" elaborate story arcs and back-story too difficult.

"You needed a Ph.D. to follow the plot," he said.

He thinks that "Enterprise’s" creators were smart to make the show more accessible to nonfans by setting it before the days of Spock and Kirk, when humans were first venturing into space, and concentrating on stand-alone episodes. The approach will allow the show to find a broader audience, he said.  When "Enterprise" first started fist aired, the Phlox character came under criticism for being too similar to "Star Trek: Voyager’s" Neelix, a clownish alien who acted as "morale officer." Billingsley acknowledged that for the first few episodes, both he and writers overemphasized Phlox’s upbeat personality, but later reached a happy medium.  "I did not want him to be giddy. That is not really his signature," Billingsley said. He views Phlox as extremely intelligent and in control.  But at the end of the day, the actor just has to do the best he can.  "It’s not your job to write the scripts," he said. "It’s a strange business. You have to shrug and let it all go. Otherwise, you’d drive yourself crazy."

Billingsley also was considered for the part of the computer geek on "Alias" during last year’s pilot season. "Alias" kept him on hold for a month before releasing him, and he feared that it was too late to audition for other shows. "Enterprise" called him to audition the next day.

He was told only that Phlox had a slight alien accent, so Billingsley decided to punctuate his lines with little birdlike squawks. Once he was cast, "I still couldn’t get anyone to tell me, do I squawk or do I not squawk?" A director’s negative reaction on the first day of filming settled the matter: cut the squawks.

It only takes about two hours in a makeup chair to alter Billingsley’s appearance from human to alien. Since Phlox is a secondary character, Billingsley usually works about two days a week.

Billingsley spent 15 years teaching acting and running a theater in Seattle. He moved to Los Angeles in 1996 in hopes of finding a more financially secure lifestyle.  "This show does that. It’s mana from heaven," he said.  He’s even ready to embrace the whole Trek experience. When he’s reminded that fans will scrutinize his life for as long as he lives, he answered: "You own me, but you bought me a house too."