By Chris Snellgrove
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Top-of-the-line episodes of Star Trek: The Subsequent Era is “The Most Toys,” wherein Information will get kidnapped by a collector obsessive about proudly owning the rarest gadgets within the galaxy. That collector is performed by Saul Rubinek, who arguably offers among the finest visitor performances within the entirety of this beloved franchise. Nonetheless, it’s a efficiency rooted in tragedy as a result of Rubinek solely obtained the position as a result of the actor initially performing his half almost died!
In “The Most Toys,” Rubinek performs Kivas Fajo, an amoral collector who kidnaps Information, making the superior android his most prized possession. When the episode got here out, nonetheless, many followers had been confused by the looks of Star Trek’s newest villain. That’s as a result of David Rappaport was initially forged on this position, and Paramount had already distributed promotional pictures of him as a really different-looking Fajo.
The Toys Are Again In City
Why, although, did Star Trek: The Subsequent Era have to exchange Rappaport within the first place? “The Most Toys” director Timothy Bond is quoted in Captain’s Log: The Unauthorized Full Trek Voyages that “(T)right here was a narrative going round that that they had discovered him in his automobile with a tube operating from the exhaust.” This created a serious legal responsibility for the community, and the stress of filming might need contributed to a possible act of self-harm, so the director ended up changing Rappaport with Saul Rubinek.
Sadly, David Rappaport continued to sink additional and additional into melancholy after he was ejected from the position. Solely two months later, he was discovered lifeless in a Los Angeles park from what was apparently a self-inflicted gunshot wound. It was a tragic finish to a troubled life, making a everlasting stain on among the finest episodes of Star Trek: The Subsequent Era.
Hailing Frequencies Open
Fortuitously, Timothy Bond was in a position to rapidly discover a substitute for Rappaport, and he was in a position to refilm all scenes that includes the deceased actor’s character with equal pace. How, although, was he in a position to recast the necessary position of Kivas Fajo so rapidly? Because it seems, every thing began with a cellphone name from an previous pal!
At simply the best time, Bond acquired a cellphone name from Saul Rubinek, an previous schoolmate who was passing by means of city to movie Bonfires of the Vanitiesa film that will later flop. As luck would have it, the actor was an enormous fan of Star Trek: The Subsequent Eraand he requested Bond if he may have the ability to swing by and go to the units. Figuring out that he needed to recast the essential position of Kivas Fajo, Bond responded with a query of his personal: “How a lot do you wish to see these units?”
A Fanboy’s Dream Come True
The director formally provided the position to Rubinek, and the actor fortunately accepted the chance to change into a part of the present he beloved a lot. If he hadn’t been a fanboy, he might need in any other case declined the supply. As Bond (quoted in Captain’s Logs: The Unauthorized Full Trek Voyages) famous, “He by no means does visitor spots on tv, however I persuaded him to do it.”
The recasting labored effectively for numerous causes, together with the truth that Rubinek is far taller than David Rappaport. This helped him look extra bodily intimidating onscreen, which is all the time an necessary high quality for a villain. That high quality is so necessary that Bond got here up with a loopy concept again when Rappaport had the half: to shrink all of the Kivas Fajo units down so that they had four-foot ceilings, primarily forcing everybody who visited the quick actor’s character to bow down earlier than him!
Firing Rappaport meant that the producers didn’t should do something so drastic, and Bond stays eternally grateful that they hadn’t already made any adjustments to the units. Rubinek went on to do a tremendous job as Kivas Fajo, one which successfully straddled the road between menacing and charming. Nonetheless, what most followers don’t know is that we might not have gotten Rubinket (the best visitor star in Star Trek: The Subsequent Era historical past) if not for the tragic psychological sickness and eventual dying of David Rappaport, a gifted performer who was in the end unable to beat his private demons.