Tim Russ Displays On 30 Years Of Star Trek: Voyager And Tuvok’s Legacy

Star Trek: Voyager celebrates its thirtieth anniversary in 2025, and Tim Russ has continued to play his iconic Vulcan hero, Tuvok. Russ portrayed Lieutenant Commander Tuvok for seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager.

Within the final two years, Russ returned as Tuvok in two totally different Star Trek eras: as Captain Tuvok (and his evil Changeling doppelganger) in Star Trek: Picard season 3’s twenty fifth century, and because the youthful Ensign Tuvok within the twenty third century within the narrative dramatic podcast, Star Trek: Khan.

Along with his three a long time as Tuvok, Tim Russ is now essentially the most senior actor to painting a Vulcan in Star Trek. When Leonard Nimoy handed away in 2015, Russ’ Tuvok turned Star Trek‘s longest-serving Vulcan. Russ attributes Tuvok’s longevity to Star Trek: Voyager‘s generations of followers, who inform Tim when he meets them at Star Trek conventions that “their lives had been modified due to watching my character on this present, this collection of tales and my efficiency.”

My character was this form of calming impact on them, that was a beacon for them, one thing for them to latch onto, to observe, to information them, to stop them from spiraling emotionally. Each time I hear this, it is actually exceptional to me.

Tim Russ will subsequent meet Star Trek followers at Creation Leisure’s ST: CHI – Trek to Chicago conference on November 22-23. Along with panels, autographs periods, and photograph ops (together with a duo together with his Star Trek: Voyager co-star Jeri Ryan), Russ will carry out reside together with his band, Tim Russ Crew, on Saturday night time, November twenty second. Star Trek: Prodigy‘s Bonnie Gordon can even carry out with Tim Russ Crew.

ScreenRant’s John Orquiola spoke with Tim Russ about Star Trek: Voyager’s enduring recognition and his comebacks as Tuvok in Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek: Khan. Tim additionally discusses his different comeback in Paramount+’s iCarly revival, and the potential of returning in Spaceballs 2.

Tim Russ Reveals How He Reprised The Youthful Ensign Tuvok In Star Trek: Khan

ScreenRant: Star Trek: Khan was sensational. The voice appearing was large throughout. The entire manufacturing was simply top-notch. To me, the cool factor about that’s you went again and performed the youthful Tuvok, who we first met in Star Trek: Voyager “Flashback,” a long time earlier than the Tuvok you performed on Voyager. How did you get within the younger Tuvok’s mindset to play the youthful model of your character?

Tim Russ: In that story, moreover simply pitching him a distinct means. I simply adjusted the tempo of his speech a little bit bit to make him sound a little bit bit youthful. He is additionally not as fast to simply accept what the archeologist [Dr. Rosalind Lear] desires to do. He’s nonetheless desirous about what Khan did, and he isn’t as sympathetic as she is, so far as her desirous to dig up the whole lot about him and being fascinated with the historical past of why he did what he did. And he isn’t as sympathetic or as captivated with going together with this investigation.

And I feel that is a part of him being youthful and never older and extra skilled, and having lived, and having skilled much more interactions with human beings to know why she would need to do this type of factor with someone who had such a horrible historical past, in his thoughts, as to what had occurred.

ScreenRant: There’s a twist on the finish about who Dr Lear is. I figured it out like three episodes into the present, the place I feel I knew the place this was going. And I used to be very glad when Tuvok was like, “Yeah, I figured it out a very long time in the past.”

Tim Russ: (laughs) Sure, sure, precisely.

Tim Russ Did not Know Captain Tuvok Survived Being Changed By A Changeling In Star Trek: Picard Season 3

ScreenRant: A few years in the past, you performed Captain Tuvok, after which additionally the evil Changeling model pretending to be Tuvok on Star Trek Picard. It was superb to see you again. You had a really emotional scene with Jeri Ryan on the finish, making Seven of 9 Captain. What was it prefer to put the ears again on, in that case, and truly placing on the uniform, and doing the dance with Jeri yet one more time?

Tim Russ: Effectively, it is like using a motorbike. I imply, I’ve carried out that character so usually that the time in between does not actually make that a lot of a distinction in any respect. Bodily, placing the ears again on was totally different as a result of they’re utilizing a distinct materials. They use silicone as a substitute of rubber. And I feel the molds had been totally different. And clearly, a complete lot was totally different from a bodily standpoint. However so far as with the ability to do the character, it was very straightforward simply to fall again into it. And, after all, it is written the way in which it needs to be written, and so it’s extremely straightforward to seize the handles and perform these scenes in that character.

ScreenRant: It was an excellent scene. Really, each scenes had been nice. The evil Changeling Tuvok was amazingly menacing, particularly whenever you notice that you simply weren’t really Tuvok. Simply the way in which you performed the sinister menace of the Changeling was actually so properly carried out.

Tim Russ: Yeah, it was an exquisite shock. They didn’t inform me, once I was engaged on the primary episode, that I used to be really nonetheless alive. They did not inform me that I had survived and that I’d be coming again to do the second episode. They did not need to say something. It is all about [being] prime secret lately whenever you’re engaged on a venture.

So that they did not let me know that till after we had filmed the primary episode, then they contacted me and gave me dates for the second. And so they did not give me the script till, perhaps, I do not know, two or three days earlier than capturing for the second episode. As a result of, once more, they did not need that on the market. They did not need me to say something. I could not say something for 3 or 4 months after I shot it. I could not inform anyone something about that. And for apparent causes, since you need the followers to be shocked to see that I am nonetheless alive and, actually, giving Seven a promotion. You may’t give that form of stuff away.

They’re very protecting concerning the tales. They’re very protecting, and never simply them as different initiatives I labored on are simply ridiculously secretive. However yeah, it was cool. It was proper close to the tip of the season for Picard season 3. That was proper close to the tip. I wasn’t anticipating to get any calls to work on the present, as a result of I figured, ‘Effectively, they’re nearly carried out. They are not gonna be placing me on or calling me to be in it as a cameo.’ However actually, they did twice.

Tim Russ Discusses The Chance Of Tuvok Showing In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

Display Rant: Robert Picardo is in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. Is there any likelihood you would be part of him on that present? It is the thirty second century, about 800 years after Voyager. However that is Star Trek, so there are one million methods you would seem.

Tim Russ: 800 years. That is pushing it. Except I used to be on there in some form of flashback or a hologram. One thing that must be to display some extent for the Academy.

In that case, perhaps it has one thing to do with The Physician, or perhaps it was one thing the place they’re in a lesson that they are educating. That would simply be carried out, as a result of they might be utilizing holodecks for all of that stuff, for simulations. So far as the simulation goes, that would work, that would simply work. They might be cooking up one thing like that proper now. Who is aware of. However it might be superior. That’d be the one means I may get on there.

What Tim Russ Would Have Stated To Himself 30 Years In the past When He Joined Star Trek: Voyager

ScreenRant: It is nonetheless 2025, and Star Trek Voyager remains to be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary. Congratulations, by the way in which, that is simply an incredible feat for this present and its enduring recognition. In the event you may time-travel 30 years, what would Tim Russ in 2025 say to Tim Russ in 1995?

Tim Russ: I’d say, ‘Look out.’ This franchise you are getting on, this prepare you are about to leap on, is simply going to be rolling, and there is not going to be any getting off of it. That is what I’d say. Put together for Star Trek to be a part of your life nearly indefinitely.

It is such a distinct venture, as a result of I’ve carried out cop exhibits, and I’ve carried out different collection initiatives, and I’ve carried out comedies, and all types of different stuff. Nothing endures like this franchise. No person has whole cruise ships full of three,500 followers, man. It truly is exceptional how highly effective and the way enthusiastic the fan base is for [Star Trek]. And that is what I’d have advised myself again then: ‘Look out, as a result of right here it comes. You do not know what you are stepping into. That is gonna be round for a really, very very long time.

Tim Russ Says Older Followers Passing Star Trek: Voyager On To The Subsequent Technology Is Why The Present Stays Standard

ScreenRant: I’d say that at present, Star Trek: Voyager is extra fashionable, extra influential, and extra beloved than it was when it was new. What do you suppose it’s that is resonating about your present, that a complete new technology has fallen in love with it? It simply retains going and going and creating new followers who fall in love with these characters.

Tim Russ: Effectively, a part of the factor is that the followers that watched it are all now getting their youngsters to observe it. If I am at a conference assembly followers, a number of them are brand-new followers. They’ve simply began watching it, or their partner has turned them on to it, or their boyfriend, or their pal has turned them on to it. And so, what is going on is that you simply’re accumulating even newer followers at present. And the present has legs. It is a science fiction present, so it will possibly’t be dated. It takes place sooner or later, so it will possibly go for a very long time earlier than getting stale as a result of it takes place sooner or later, and the ideas are nonetheless Star Trek as has at all times been outlined. The ideas are common. The storylines are common by way of what they’re educating.

You recognize, I am consistently requested the distinction between Star Wars and Star Trek. And I am like, Star Trek is about tales, man. It is concerning the characters and the tough choices that they must make. God is aware of, we had no less than one or two on our present that I nonetheless get individuals asking me about. So it is that legacy that somebody who’s 16 or 17 at present can hook into and faucet into. Trek is concerning the future and the hope of a brand new future. And fairly truthfully, proper now on the earth and on this nation, particularly, issues are a little bit darkish. There are a number of social points and upheavals and conflicts, and hat’s the form of factor that Star Trek has at all times addressed. These are the sorts of issues that when followers are watching the present, it is a look right into a future that is extra constructive than the current.

That has at all times been the doctrine of Trek. This is what a attainable future may very well be, and that’s going to faucet into anybody in any time in historical past, or the current, or probably the long run. So it’s extremely, crucial. And like I stated, most of it’s simply the those that know the present handing the baton to another person, and swiftly, they’re watching it. I am getting that loads lately.

Tim Russ Is Additionally A Musician With His Band, Tim Russ Crew

ScreenRant: I need to discuss your music. I noticed you carry out at STLV in 2024 with The Motion Figures. You probably did the Eagle Eye Cherry music “Save Tonight,” which is definitely certainly one of my favorites. I liked that efficiency. It was so nice. Your band, Tim Russ Crew, is performing Saturday night time at Trek to Chicago for Creation Leisure. Inform me about Tim Russ Crew.

Tim Russ: Effectively, I began taking part in music once I was 16, so it has been 50 years of taking part in. I’ve a really, very lengthy observe report of taking part in several types of music from the time that I began. I began with exhausting rock, after which after that, it was R&B with the massive seven-piece bands and horn sections. Then it was people rock, acoustic guitar, espresso home form of stuff. And after that, it was Prime 40. I used to make a residing once I first moved to LA, taking part in in a membership 4 or 5 nights per week, after which after that, ultimately some unique materials. Labored with a report firm, Crescendo Information, and from that time, I put collectively my very own band, and began taking part in extra.

What I do now’s extra, I am gonna say, blues, blues rock, traditional rock form of stuff, roots music, and it is obscure, usually, a few of my materials. Largely it is obscure, B-side covers. And I rearranged them, and I hand chosen them for the band. Now, among the songs, individuals acknowledge a couple of of them, however not most of them. And in order that’s the place it’s now. I’ve loved taking part in reside since I used to be 16, and I am nonetheless doing it now, and I hope to do it for some time.

I’ve recorded a couple of CDs. They’re obtainable for digital add. That I do not get pleasure from as a lot, recording within the studio. I have never been within the studio shortly. I identical to taking part in reside. I actually get pleasure from that connection between you and the viewers, a reside viewers, and likewise the connection between you and the band, your bandmates. Whether or not it is The Motion Figures or The Roddenberries, or whether or not it is my very own band, does not matter. So long as I am on stage taking part in reside, that’s the whole lot. It’s such an uplift for me to have the ability to do one thing like that, and I by no means need to give it up.

ScreenRant: Bonnie Gordon is becoming a member of you for Trek to Chicago.

Tim Russ: Sure. Bonnie Gordon goes to be with me on Saturday night time, performing with me. She’s acquired an incredible voice, actually superb voice. And the form of materials that we have now her singing is the form of stuff that is tailored for her. Due to her upbringing, the place she’s from, she has such an exquisite really feel for blues and form of Southern rock and issues like that. She’s so good at it. So we tailored the songs for her.

Tim Russ Additionally Returned In Paramount+’s iCarly Revival

ScreenRant: I used to babysit my niece and nephew after they had been younger, and our favourite factor collectively to observe was iCarly. For me, it was nice to see you again as Principal Franklin within the new iCarly, since you had been my hook into iCarly. I used to be like, ‘Oh my god, Tuvok is on this present!”

Tim Russ: (laughs) Yeah, they did deliver me again for the reboot of iCarly. That was very attention-grabbing as a result of once I got here again, I used to be not the principal on the college. I used to be a personal citizen, so the character was written otherwise once I got here again. There was a distinct really feel to the character. They performed with him a little bit bit in a few the episodes. He was totally different than he would have been as a principal, attempting to be the guidepost for the children, which was attention-grabbing. In order that was totally different, however it was good to have the ability to work with Miranda [Cosgrove] and the opposite forged. Coming again to revive the function was nice. It was an excellent alternative, and I liked with the ability to take part in that.

[iCarly] is likely one of the solely different exhibits that I’d get acknowledged for occasionally. Voyager, clearly, however the second proper behind it’s iCarly. I do get acknowledged for that present usually, as a result of a number of the children are actually older, and so they do acknowledge me. The present has been on in syndication since that point. In order that does occur occasionally. So far as all of the initiatives that I’ve labored on, that one will come up sometimes, as a result of it was over a interval of 5 years. It wasn’t only a visitor star function or no matter, however it’s the one different collection that anyone acknowledges me for that I’ve labored on.

ScreenRant: Talking of your characters probably making comebacks, the very last thing I needed to ask you about is Spaceballs. Are you combing the desert once more? Are you again in Spaceballs 2?

Tim Russ: I will not know that till they name, as a result of I feel they’ve simply began with manufacturing. If it is anyplace in that schedule, they’ll contact my agent/supervisor and ask for my availability. That is the very first thing they will ask, ‘Is he obtainable for this date or that date, or no matter,’ and that’ll be that. And so they’ll make a proposal, and everyone will signal the papers. and we’ll be off to the races.

However I feel they only began, so I have never heard something from them but. I do know there’s a number of buzz on the market about me having already labored on it, which is form of bizarre. There is a bunch of AI stuff on the market that is very weird. And you would inform no matter these photographs are, aren’t me. That is not how I look now, however individuals have put out hypothesis that I will be again.

Now here is the factor: I do know that Mel [Brooks] desires to deliver again everyone who was within the unique movie. So there’s an excellent likelihood, if I used to be a betting man in Vegas, on Sure or No, I’d put it on Sure. Nevertheless it stays to be seen and confirmed.

Launch Date

January 16, 1995

Community

UPN

Showrunner

Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor, Brannon Braga, Kenneth Biller

Administrators

David Livingston, Winrich Kolbe, Allan Kroeker, Michael Vejar

Writers

Rick Berman, Michael Piller, Jeri Taylor