Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was never a job to Armin Shimerman

Armin Shimerman spent seven years wearing prosthetics and awkward teeth to portray a Ferengi on Star Trek; Deep Space Nine. Every day meant long hours in the costume, and you would think that the actor wrould say never again, that he couldn't wait to get out of the makeup. There have even been actors who said they were so miserable in Star Trek makeup they never wanted to play that role again. For instance, Jeffrey Dean Morgan even said that his appearance as a Xindi on Star Trek: Enterprise almost made him quit acting.

But Shimerman told Star Trek Magazine in 2013 that working on Deep Space Nine was always "a delight." The actor had long been a Star Trek fan, though he refers to himself as a "Star Trek fanatic" so he'd always wanted to be part of the franchise. That would be any Trekkie's dream job.

"Deep Space Nine was never a job to me. It was always a delight. I was always a Star Trek
fanatic. I wanted to be part of the franchise, and it was always important to me that I was
part of the franchise. At times, if you spoke with me when we were making the show, I may have made it seem a little bit more like a job, because I had lines to memorize, and makeup to put on, and episode after episode after episode to complete. Even then, I was always thinking about how much fun it was.”"

- Armin Shimerman

Even though Shimerman played a character that was all about money, he managed to infuse Quark with heart. And every now and then it peeked through. Add to that the comedic affect his role brought, and it's no wonder Deep Space Nine fans enjoyed him so much and were more than happy to hear him reappear on an episode of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Deep Space Nine wasn't just a job to Shimerman, and it wasn't just a television series to us so the two go hand in hand. Quark was the greedy little schemer we all knew would get his comeuppance in the end. Still, we loved watching his machinations and never really thought of him as a villain. He was a part of the show that made it worth watching.