Star Trek: Voyager
Summary
Star Trek : Voyager ’s Tim Russ excuse why Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) fromStar Trek : The Original Serieswas the cay to bring home the bacon his function as Tuvok . Although Vulcans are a popularStar Trekspecies , Spock and Tuvok are the only two Vulcan primary character to engagement in any franchise show . Nimoy originate Spock and many traits and custom of the logical alien race onTOS , butVoyagerended up being the first show sinceTOSto admit a Vulcan as part of its main mold , leaving Tuvok with vainglorious shoe to sate . Luckily , Tuvok became a compelling graphic symbol in his own rightand was impart to life beautifully by Tim Russ .
Although Russ was a regularStar Trekplayer , having appear in other labor beforeVoyager , he still needed to try out for the office of Tuvok before being purge . In an consultation forThe Fifty - Year Mission : The Next 25 Years : From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams : The Complete , Uncensored , and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trekby Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross , Russ discussed landing the part of Tuvok and how he prepared for the audition . Interestingly , Russ credit his knowledge ofTOSand Spockin particular in helping him land the office . Read Russ ' full quote below :
" I had the edge over most people reading for the part , because I experience that character . Tuvok is definitely base on Spock . Why does everybody like Spock ? Why was he genuinely — over Captain Kirk , even — the most popular character on that show ? It ’s because he was what we all want to be . We need to be perfect , we want to be able to overcome all the trial run we have to deal with . The character is so interesting to watch , because every place that come up you ’d desire to see what Spock would do , you wanted to see how he oppose — and you enjoyed watching him just completely confused and cross by human beings . You could forget that he was part human . So , come into the reading I was armed to the dentition with this persona . And casting is broadly speaking 80 pct personality and 20 percent endowment . I ’m not articulate I ’m able to do the things the elbow room Tuvok does , it ’s just that I do care to border on thing from an analytical or logical standpoint . If you are 100 pct Vulcan , manifestly there ’s no option between being human or Vulcan . Spock had to make a choice . Tuvok never had to make that pick . It ’s like an jock who trains to do the decathlon and an jock who ’s born to do the decathlon . The person who comes into this world destined by nature to do it , has the edge . "
Spock is often thought of as Star Trek ’s greatest Vulcan , but Voyager ’s Tuvok has had just as telling a life and career as Spock did .
Spock’s Key Difference From Tuvok Gave Him A Popular Advantage
Interestingly , Russ ' discussion of the similarities between Spock and Tuvok also murder upon the key difference between them : the full telescope of their heritage . Unlike Spock , Tuvok was completely Vulcan and therefore much less prostrate to emotional difficultiesor any dependable display of exposure . If Tuvok did become emotional , it was because some outside force was influencing him and drive him to act out of eccentric . Otherwise , Tuvok was wholly legitimate , with no human side of his personality to fall back on . This entail thatTuvok was the unintentional villain of someVoyagerepisodeswhen his rigidness came into conflict with his human crewmates .
In contrast , Spock was half - human , make the battle between the opposing side of his personality even more fascinating . Russ is correct that watching an unemotional character make decision is interesting , butwhat made Spock peculiarly compelling were his effort to balance his system of logic and emotionand how difficult it was sometimes for him to maintain the two . Tuvok ’s likewise emotionally ambitious moments were much rarer onStar Trek : Voyager , making him just a little hard to relate to . Spock ’s frequent red of control over his emotionshumanized him and , along with Nimoy initiate much of the Vulcan polish , ended up giving Spock a popular advantage over Tuvok as a character .
Star Trek : VoyagerandStar Trek : The Original Seriesare both available to pour on Paramount+ .
root : The Fifty - Year Mission : The Next 25 Years : From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams : The ended , Uncensored , and Unauthorized Oral story of Star Trekby Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross
