Anna Daniels
Despite persistent rumors that Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s creative team forced Wheaton off the show because fans didn’t like his precocious character, it’s become quite clear that the decision to leave TNG was Wheaton’s own. Wheaton himself has been quite candid about that fact over the years, admitting as much to Entertainment Weekly as early as 1996. EW reported that the actor claimed he was frustrated with the character’s limitations, and was genuinely afraid he’d spend the rest of his career recalling his glory days on Star Trek.
Given the general track record of Star Trek alums’ post-Trek career trajectories (Sir Patrick Stewart being the rare exception), it’s hard to argue with that. And given Wheaton’s age (he was just 18 when he left the series), one could hardly blame him for wanting to find out what else show business had in store for him. Though the actor has been earning raves in recent years (particularly for a recurring role as his evil self on The Big Bang Theory), it’s safe to say Wheaton’s post-Trek career didn’t pan out quite the way he’d hoped.
Still, Wheaton has kept himself gainfully employed on he fringes of Hollywood over the years, and we can only assume his high profile work on The Big Bang Theory has opened a few more doors to him. Though he doubts it’ll happen, Wheaton would love for the future to include an appearance as Wesley Crusher opposite Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard in the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Picard. “I think it is very unlikely they will ask me to participate in it,” Wheaton deadpanned in a recent interview. “I mean, I think it is just extraordinarily unlikely that will happen. If they did, I would say ‘yes,’ of course” (via CinemaBlend).
Written by: Looper
