Scott Bakula reveals you have to be tough to be in Star Trek

It's not easy being an actor. With the constant auditions, the judgy casting directors, and the constant spotlight; it can be downright awful. Yet, when you find a gig that hits and makes you into a star, it can certainly be nice. Still, in order to get to that level you have to land the leading role on a major franchise.

Or several, in the case of Scott Bakula. Bakula was the main man behind Quantum Leap, before eventually landing another leading role on Star Trek: Enterprise. During his run on the show, he would have to deal with a series of issues that other shows didn't.

Constant low promotion from the network, franchise fatigue, a lack of merchandise, and of course fans who didn't like that this new Star Trek show was somewhat different from what they were getting before. In fact, it was the last part that seemed to be the biggest obstacle for Bakula.

While speaking with The Guardian, Bakula spoke about how being a bit different from a Star Trek series was a rough go, and how tough you need to be on a show like Enterprise;

"There were a lot of challenges with it. We had a theme song that was different and some people hated that. I had a dog and some people hated that. People are very possessive about their their experiences within sci-fi and they like a certain captain or they like a certain Doctor Who. ‘I don’t like that Doctor Who, the next person I don’t like, I’m not gonna watch it,’ whatever. You have to be willing to tough some of that stuff out but overall that was another great experience and continues to this day."

He's not wrong, either. When looking at how fans have caused endless backlash it seems against franchises like Doctor Who, Star Wars, and others, it's fair to say you have to be tough to enter a franchise. Not that you should have to be, as it's just make-believe, but yet some will take it that seriously.

One has to understand that when heading into such a project. You will deal with people who are angry and rude. Who doesn't value you the way you want them to? Bakula, maybe better than most, understands that. A beloved sci-fi actor, Bakula still deals with fans who aren't happy with his iteration of the franchise. It's been over 20 years and fans still haven't gotten over it.

So when Bakula speaks of needing a degree of toughness, he isn't wrong.