Jonathan Frakes calls Armin Shimerman "a special actor"

The Ferengi weren't known to be a friendly race on Star Trek. They were all about the money...or latinum, rather, and would not hesitate to steal it or con someone out of it. Originally created to be villians for Star Trek: The Next Generation, they didn't come across as major enemies of the Federation, and so Star Trek took them in a different direction, one that worked out quite well for Armin Shimerman who spent seven seasons on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine playing Quark, the owner of Quark's Bar.

Quark was as greedy as they came and would throw his own brother under a bus in a heartbeat. But he did have a softer side. He just didn't show it very often, but it was something that didn't go unnoticed to other Star Trek actors like Jonathan Frakes. Frakes, who directed a number of episodes of Deep Space Nine, recently appeared on TrekMovie’sAll Access Star Trek podcast along with Shimerman, Kitty Swink (Shimeran's wife), and television writer/producer Juan Carlos Coto, brother of late Enterprise  writer/producer Manny Coto. The four were there to talk about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the upcoming Purple Stride Walk taking place on April 27th. And Frakes heaped praise on Shimerman for the latter's perfomance on Deep Space Nine.

"“The tightrope you walked—all levity aside—to represent what [Gene] Roddenberry thought of as this despicable capitalist pig with huge ears. And yet the humorous, smart, charming, cleve—all the qualities that Quark had and still be an essentially a villain, and do it through rubber. It takes a special actor, which you are.”"

- Jonathan Frakes

Shimerman did make Quark, who wasn't supposed to be likeable let alone loveable, into a character that fans rooted for. We didn't want him to be arrested or taken away from the promenade. His humor and cunning charm helped to make the space station the place to be. And yes, he was always getting on Odo's (Rene Auberjonois) nerves, but deep down inside, even Odo grudgingly liked the Ferengi.

So everything Frakes said about Shimerman is more than true. He took a character that could have been one of the worst characters every and imbued him with just enough finesse and panache that everyone...well, mostly everyone, loved him.