The game show "Jeopardy" may have bungled its chance to have LeVar Burton take over as host, but at least we'll get to see him again as Geordi La Forge in "Star Trek: Picard" season 3. It's been over 20 years since Burton last appeared in live-action as Geordi, with the 2002 film "Star Trek: Nemesis" having served as the previous swan song for him and the "Star Trek: The Next Generation" crew. That leaves a lot of undocumented time and backstory to fill in for Geordi, who appeared as the captain of his own ship in the "Star Trek: Voyager" episode "Timeless" (filmed before "Nemesis," but set after it in the "Trek" timeline).
We know from pre-release interviews and trailers that Geordi is a family man now, having finally found a healthy relationship and raised two daughters. One of them is a helm officer aboard the USS Titan in "Picard" season 3, and the other is an ensign played by Burton's real-life daughter, Mica Burton.
Still, that doesn't account for everything Geordi himself has been up to for the last two decades. /Film's Vanessa Armstrong recently caught up with Burton and was able to pick his brain about how he personally plugged the gap between "Nemesis" and "Picard" season 3. When asked about Geordi's backstory, Burton said:
"When I play a character, I always begin with who I am and discover those things that we have in common. And I think over time, I've been able to infuse more and more of LeVar into Geordi, and there's been a lot of Geordi that has bled into LeVar. I won't say that they completely blended, but I'm really familiar with this guy, Geordi La Forge. And the arc that [showrunner Terry Matalas] pitched me was one that was absolutely satisfying."
'A Pretty Rare Gift'
In the last scene of "All Good Things" — the two-part series finale of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," which aired in 1994 — Geordi La Forge and other USS Enterprise officers sit at their regular poker table, discussing an alternate future that Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) has seen where they "all changed and drifted apart." Fast forward almost 30 years, and Geordi has already undergone significant onscreen changes in that he's no longer wearing his trademark VISOR. By now, he's long since traded it in for ocular implants, which allows us to see more of LeVar Burton, also known for hosting "Reading Rainbow" and playing Kunta Kinte in the original "Roots" TV miniseries.
While he won't be wearing the old VISOR again, Burton described the opportunity to slip back into the rest of Geordi's wardrobe as a "gift," saying:
"You have to remember, we didn't think this was ever going to take place. This is like, 'Wow.' It's been a couple of decades since we've donned these costumes and played these characters again. And the opportunity to do that with the additional 20 years of growth and development and the richness that we have mined in our personal lives, to be able to bring that to this experience, to these characters in this season of 'Picard' is a pretty rare gift."
Burton also teased some potential conflict between Geordi and his fellow "Star Trek: Next Generation" veterans, saying they "obviously have a lot of love and respect for each other, but they live different lives now." He concluded by saying, "I think that part of what Geordi's character brings is that reminder that we have a lot of history, but my priorities have changed."
"Star Trek: Picard" season 3 premieres on Paramount+ on February 16, 2023.
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The post LeVar Burton Calls Geordi La Forge's Arc in Star Trek: Picard 'Completely Satisfying' [Exclusive] appeared first on /Film.
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