Before becoming known as Data on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” Brent Spiner briefly worked on a Star Wars radio production. However, he was fired before his performance reached listeners. He recalled the experience on “Dropping Names with Brent and Jonny,” which he hosts with fellow Star Trek actor Jonathan Frakes. Their guest, television showrunner Terry Matalas, asked whether Spiner had ever been fired from an acting job.
Spiner was reluctant to explain because he found the story embarrassing. His line was supposed to tell a captain that the Millennium Falcon had landed, but he struggled to pronounce the spaceship’s name. When he tried to repeat it during the conversation, he stumbled over the words again. He could not remember which character he played or which radio production had hired him, although he remembered Mark Hamill and Brock Peters being involved.
The original Star Wars film trilogy was adapted for radio, with the first two productions airing in 1981 and 1983. Spiner eventually returned to Star Wars in the 2010s, providing the voice of Gall Trayvis, a senator living in exile, in the animated series “Star Wars Rebels.”
