Jonathan Frakes doesn’t name names. But something happened on the set of Star Trek: Picard that pushed one of Hollywood’s most easygoing directors to publicly confront a cast or crew member in front of everyone.
Frakes revealed the incident during a recent appearance on Michael Rosenbaum’s Inside of You podcast, describing a pattern of behavior that finally crossed a line.
“I’ve seen people behave badly to other people,” Frakes told Rosenbaum. The behavior involved mistreatment of PAs and members of the costume department, the lowest rungs on any production’s hierarchy and the people least equipped to defend themselves.
What makes the story remarkable is Frakes’ reputation. He describes himself as deeply non-confrontational by nature, someone who gives actors and crew “as wide a berth as possible.” So when he finally spoke up, the room felt it.
“We don’t behave that way on this show,” Frakes said publicly in a meeting. His own reaction to his words revealed how out of character the moment was. “Everybody went whoa,” he recalled, adding that his non-antagonistic reputation made the statement land harder than any raised voice could have.
Frakes felt a familial ownership over the Picard set that he doesn’t extend to every production he directs. These were his people. His castmates from 35 years of working together. PAs being mistreated by someone senior enough to intimidate them crossed a personal line.
What followed the confrontation made it worse. The same person approached Frakes immediately after, acting as though nothing happened. “And then come up and then lodge brother me. Hey, brother, good to see you today.” Frakes was unimpressed. “I thought, no. I don’t want to call you on it cuz I got to spend the next 12 hours with you.”
He chose the production over the confrontation. The person is never named.
The Picard cast and crew for Season 3 represented a pleasant reunion after nearly 20 years apart. Frakes described the experience as “kind of the season 8 of Next Generation that we’d never really gotten to do,” with showrunner Terry Matalas working individually with each cast member beforehand to understand where their characters had landed emotionally.
That kind of careful, respectful production culture makes the unnamed incident stand out even more. Someone on that set didn’t get the memo.
The identity of the person remains one of Star Trek fandom’s more intriguing open questions. Frakes had every opportunity to name them and deliberately chose not to. The protection itself speaks volumes about his professionalism, and leaves plenty of room for speculation.
What do you think about Frakes’ handling of the situation?
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I'm extremely curious as to which Trek actor was that much of an insufferable prick. Considering they're all leftists, the possibilities are wide open.
That was the day that Alex Kurtzman visited the set and drilled a hole into the dividing wall in the men's room. Frakes had to shut that down.