How John Billingsley teased Dominic Keating on Star Trek: Enterprise

John Billingsley played Dr. Phlox, the Denobulan Chief Medical Officer, on board the Enterprise in Star Trek: Enterprise.

For his part as the previously unheard of alien, Billingsley had to wear a rubber head that started early in the morning in the makeup chair. It was hot, and the contact lenses made it difficult to see so he relished the time when he wasn’t needed as much on the screen.

Dominic Keating, on the other hand, played Lt. Malcom Reed, the chief security officer of the Enterprise, and he was around a lot more on the set, which he ordinairly didn’t mind…unless he had to wear the space suit. According to The Shuttlepod Show, the helmet weighed seventeen pounds and was a true pain to wear. And Billingsley didn’t hesitate to point out to Keating when he was able to leave and Keating had to stay behind enduring his grueling time in a suit that wasn’t really designed for space.

John Billingsley was the first guest on Dominic Keating and Connor Trinneer’s new show, The Shuttlepod Show

Billingsley said he was the character actor that came in, said his lines, and then had six days off. And he was only too happy to share a song, set to the tune of Harry Belfonte’s “Day-O, the Banana Boat song,”  he made up to tease Keating, particularly when he was in the space suit, when he was on his way out the door for the rest of the episode, after only having had to film a brief scene. [Check out the details of the song starting at 20:57 in the video.]

"“Day off. Day off. It’s six days off, and the checks still come. Character actor in the sun, Six days off, and the checks still come.”"

That’s just another thing to love about Billingsley. He has a wonderful sense of humor that he brought to the character of Dr. Phlox. No other doctor on Star Trek was quite like he was. Just another reason why we miss him.