Growing Up Trek Panel Chats with The Kids of Leonard Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry [StarTrekNY 2016]

Leonard Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry’s Kids Discuss Growing Up With Star Trek. Star Trek has been a part of everyone’s lives, and the same goes for the children of actor Leonard Nimoy and franchise creator Gene Roddenberry. Moderator Mark A. Altman sat down with Roddenberry’s son Rod and Nimoy’s kids Adam and Julie about how Star Trek affected their lives. The conversation at the Growing Up Trek panel at the Star Trek: Mission New York became an affair as audiences heard the cherished stories that helped shape two of the franchise’s biggest stars.

During the panel at the Main Stage, Adam and Julie Nimoy along with Rod Roddenberry chat about growing up with their parents and how hard it was for them. Nimoy’s children talked about how much of Leonard was spent with them while also being busy with Star Trek. Adam spoke about how his father ended up teaching acting classes prior to getting the life-changing role in order to support his family. Adam and Julie said that their lives changed after their father became a big TV star. With his upcoming documentary For The Love of Spock, Adam touched on how much his father meant to him and the fans. “We are all in it together. It’s a wonderful tribute to him.” Adam also mentioned about learning from his father on directing, which helped him later in life as a director and getting to work of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Julie went on to chat about how Star Trek wasn’t just a show, but it also dealt with real world issues. She discussed the importance of Star Trek, saying, “It was ahead of its time.” Despite not being familiar with the entire franchise, Julie said that she did get to watch some of the shows and the films. “It’s gonna be with us forever and it’s never gonna go away,” Julie said about the connectivity of the series.

Rod Roddenberry spoke about his father’s legacy with Star Trek, saying that he didn’t have the same background like Nimoy’s children, but he did feel the same impact of the franchise as they did. Rod ends up mentioning that Gene didn’t go to a lot of conventions but people knew him by name. Being a Star Wars fan, Rod said that he did grow up to appreciate Star Trek for paving the way into the future. Which is why his podcast Mission Logs gave him the opportunity to break down each episode of the series. Rod added that Star Trek always left a message behind it with every installment. He also spoke on his mother’s dying affection for his father and how people adored her for continuing on her husband’s work.

With the two big names working together, the kids also talked about their feuds that they would have on set. Adam spoke on how serious things got behind the scenes with William Shatner, Nimoy, and Roddenberry regarding the direction of the show. Adam knew that the show was hard to make and it takes a lot of work, but the cast and director end up making it work and still is considered a masterpiece.

During the Q&A portion, Adam told a fan about the best experience in creating the documentary was getting to talk with the new Star Trek cast. He emphasized on how much the cast was always talking about his father and how much he meant to them. Even after his passing, Adam said that they still felt his presence during filming. Even Julie thought that continuing on working with these films always kept her close to her father. The Nimoy kids touched base on their father’s work outside of Star Trek, when he directed a few films and made appearances in shows like The Big Bang Theory and Fringe. Julie said that working on those roles were what made her father really happy. Rod mentioned that he got to work with his mother on Earth: Final Conflict where they argued on what should be done for the film, but maintained a solid relationship. Despite the friction, Rod says he still misses her tremendously. The last topic that the kids talked about was Leonard’s involvement in his weekly show In Search Now… and how much it meant to their father.

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