Paramount Colm Meaney and Michael Dorn (as Worf)
Colm Meaney, the man who breathed life into the “Star Trek” character Miles Edward O’Brien has been in the news lately. The prolific actor, who appeared on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Deep Space Nine” as the grumpy but lovable Chief O’Brien, is always working. Whether it’s in film or television, Meaney is usually helping give some story life.
Colm Meaney on ‘It’s Always Sunny’
In fact, if one were to look at his IMDb profile, they’d see that Meaney is busier than ever, as he appeared on “It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia” in 2021 and will be featured in Starz’s new series “The Serpent Queen” and a new film called “Confession,” where he plays a priest. The Irish actor also has numerous projects in pre- and post-production.
O’Brien is the Greatest
Meaney was also on the minds of “Star Trek” fans recently, when “Lower Decks” proclaimed that Chief O’Brien was the most important person in the history of the Federation. This included a golden statue of O’Brien and lessons built into the curricula of school children all over the galaxy. This was covered in the Season 1 episode “Temporal Edict.”
“Lower Decks” creator and showrunner Mike McMahan told StarTrek.com that he thought the praise for O’Brien was due and necessary.
“Chief O’Brien is the original Lower Decker, moving from an enlisted crewman all the way to professor of engineering at Starfleet Academy,” said McMahan in the interview. “We experienced his full life in Starfleet: his marriage and relationship with Keiko, being a dad and moving up in rank and location, the dynamic between enlisted crew and officers through his friendships with Bashir and Sisko, and the trauma he experienced being a veteran of the Federation-Cardassian War.
“One could argue Miles O’Brien is the most fully realized character in Star Trek, and we ask, no, demand he be given a statue,” said McMahan.
Meaney told Collider that he agreed with the praise for O’Brien, saying, “finally, they got it right.”
O’Brien as a Klingon
While promoting “Confession,” Meaney sat down with Steven MacKenzie of Big Issue. They discussed several subjects, including his time aboard DS9 and working with his fellow TNG alum Michael Dorn.
“We had a very funny incident on ‘Deep Space Nine,’” Meaney told MacKenzie during the interview. “An episode came along, where Avery Brooks and I were to be medically transformed into Klingons to go on a mission. Michael read this and was thrilled absolutely thrilled, ‘Oh, they’re going to make you a Klingon — great!’ He was relishing this.”
“The first day into makeup, I’m sitting there. F—, it’s awful,” Meaney said in the interview. “They put this piece on my forehead, and I’m like, ‘I can’t close my eyes, I can’t close my eyes!’”
“Everything they put on I complained about,” said Meaney. “By the third day, Michael was saying, ‘Get him out of that makeup and never put him in it again, I can’t stand listening to him!’ It was the funniest thing. He was such a great character.”
Meaney and ‘The Wind and The Willows’
Meaney (or perhaps just his voice) will appear in the film “Banking on Mr. Toad,” which is scheduled for pre-production this year, according to IMDb. “Banking on Mr. Toad” will chronicle the story of the author of “The Wind and the Willows,” Kenneth Grahame. According to Variety, the film will mix live-action with CGI animation and will also star “Game of Thrones” actress Lena Headley. “Downton Abbey” star Joanne Froggatt will also headline the film.
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