Star Trek: Starfleet Academy gave us one of the all-time best Trek villains in Paul Giamatti's Nus Braka. And, at Trek Talks 5, Giamatti confirmed he loves Deep Space Nine’s Gul Dukat. Giamatti said via TrekMovie.com:
“I love Gul Dukat, and I think the character is fantastic over the spread of what happens with him. And Marc Alaimo, that actor, is extraordinary… So it’s a really great melding of character and actor. And I think only in so far, you know, I think I probably have a lot of kind of classic Star Trek villains in my head, whether I was really consciously employing anything. But I do think the Gul Dukat thing … The guy likes the sound of his own voice, I think, and he likes to kind of talk, and he likes to hear himself talk, and he thinks everybody else is probably very interested in everything that comes out of his mouth."
Giamatti continued by saying:
"So he’s a little bit of a blowhard in that similar way, I think … Alex Kurtzman said to me, ‘You know what he does in that is he plays the bad guy as, essentially, thinking of himself as the main character.’ I’m the most important man in the room, in every room I walk into. So there was a bit of that going on. But any good villain, I think, is doing that I’m the most important guy on planet Earth, or whatever planet we’re talking about.”
Giamatti’s insight is fascinating, as there are intriguing comparisons between Dukat and Braka. Giamatti is correct that both guys are in love with their own voices. Any DS9 fan is used to Dukat’s bragging and arrogant tones to the point that other characters call him out on making everything about himself.
Likewise, Braka enjoys hamming it up, even deliberately beaming himself to sit in the captain’s chair and mocking Starfleet Academy's characters. They’re also alike in being brilliant chess players, always with their plans and often able to outwit their enemies with ease. They're the types of villains fans love to hate and while Braka isn't as purely murderous and evil as Dukat, he's just as twisted in many ways.
Yet there are some clear differences to set the two apart. Dukat thinks of himself as almost a hero, constantly justifying his numerous atrocities as part of a greater good. He even had the gall to tell Kira that the Cardassians’ brutal occupation of Bajor only strengthened the latter race. Nothing could convince Dukat he was in the wrong.
In contrast, Braka knows what he is, a criminal monster, and he relishes it. He’s not trying to craft some sort of legacy for himself; he just wants power and to make others suffer. He is driven by the belief that Starfleet wrecked his home and when he learns it was his own father who was responsible, he’s more broken at the end.
There are other differences: Dukat is played cold and calculating, while Braka is wild and over-the-top. It's unlikely the two would ever be friends or allies. Yet it’s clear why Giamatti based much of his role on Dukat, with the result being one of the best Trek villains ever.
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