Tony Todd has been a staple in the sci fi/horror genres since the late 80s.  His portrayals of deep voiced villains and iconic characters have been the stuff of many a nightmare, along with inspiring and riveting performances on several popular TV series as well.  To name a few projects in Mr. Todd’s resume;  Candyman, Wishmaster, Night of the Living Dead, Platoon, The Crow, The Rock, Final Destination 2-3, an AMAZING version of Dr. Jeckyll/Mr. Hyde  along with an impressive list of tv series including The X-Files, Hercules, Xena, Babylon, Angel, Andromeda, Smallville, Star Treks: The Next Generation, Deep Space 9, Voyager and now Star Trek: Axanar as Admiral Ramirez.
Tony was on set during the first day of principal photography for the Prelude To Axanar, the 20 minute film that will pave the way for the full Axanar feature.  He donned his Admiral’s coat to give a speech in character, addressing the Federation about the threat of the Klingon Empire.  We don’t want to give too much away, but the chatter from the crew about the performance was pretty impressive.
“Tony Todd stopped the show. Literally. Several times. I would call cut, look back over the set and see all these slack mouths and bug eyes. It was incredible,” said Director Christian Gossett.  “His investment in his work was awe inspiring. I cannot wait to work with him again, because he taught me so much in the few hours we had on set.”
Writer/Executive Producer (and Garth of Izar himself) Alec Peters said: “Tony is an intense actor who takes his craft very seriously. And that is why he is simply brilliant at whatever he does. It was the greatest honor working with him, and I look forward to the full Axanar feature where Garth and the Admiral meet on the grounds of Starfleet headquarters.”Â
“Tony is an imposing man at first sight, but he’s such a warm and friendly person when you speak to him. His ability to pull you into a moment is not only a trademark of his acting, but also his general personality, and this ability to captivate clearly comes through on screen. He’s a true gentleman, an amazing actor, and Axanar couldn’t be more excited for his stellar contributions,” Axanar Director of Marketing Terry McIntosh commented after watching Mr. Todd’s scenes.
We’ve even had an archivist crew working behind the scenes, gathering interviews and photos so we can share some of the during production experience with fans.   Bill Watters (one of the behind-the-scenes-Archivists) said of his experience: “Tony was a powerful presence, rapidly shifting from friendly banter to powerful emotions. Watching his interactions with Chris as they explored the approaches they wanted to take with his scenes was just captivating. When cut was finally called, everyone on set could finally breathe again all sharing the same reaction, ‘…wow’.”
We will TRY and get a teaser clip approved to share with kickstarter backers soon!  Prelude to Axanar will be released at San Diego Comic Con in July, with the level donors getting it a few days earlier. It will then be released to the general public after it’s initial presentation.
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Tony is an amazing man. I’m in am in awe of him. His presence in any role is magnificent.
I’ve been a Star Trek fan since the early 70’s, when I was just a little boy, and the show first went into syndication. I was too young to see the original airings on NBC, being born in 1967 myself. But I do remember watching the reruns in syndication with my father, who always had a healthy love of good science fiction on TV, as well as in books. My house had bookshelves full of science and science fiction novels from all the greats – Bradbury, Arthur C. Clarke, Philip K. Dick, Frank Herbert, and Larry Niven. As I grew up, I became more and more of a fan of science fiction television and movies – Space: 1999, Star Trek, and then Star Wars. After Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica became the next big thing on TV, along with Buck Rogers in the 24th Century, and others…
Star Trek has always been a mainstay of science fiction entertainment in my life – I’ve seen all the movies in the theaters, and I own every series on VHS, then on DVD, and now on Blu Ray. Although I enjoyed the first JJ Abrams venture into the Trek universe, I’m not a big fan of the reboot films, other than the positive effect that they’ve had on re-energizing the fan base to be hungry for more, quality Trek productions. Star Trek: Axanar is going to fill that void between the last officially-sanctioned Star Trek – Enterprise – and “JJ Trek.” I am positive that this is the kind of Trek story that the fans have been yearning for, and I’m positive that the reception is going to be as astounding as anything imaginable. The buzz that Prelude to Axanar has generated is nothing short of phenomenal.
I can’t express properly in words how much I am looking forward to this production. The quality of the production team, the casting, and the marketing of this new product is nothing short of spectacular, and I am quite positive that this team of producers and actors will bring us the highest quality fan production ever.
I am just bursting with anticipation for this story of Garth of Izar to finally see the light of day! To all the wonderfully talented and incredibly motivated people involved in this production, Alec Peters, especially, (among many others, too numerous to acknowledge here) I say ‘Thank you for your amazing work and dedication to bring this to all of us Star Trek fans!’
Live long, and prosper! Qapla!
Brian McKinny
Lakeview, Arkansas