“I Don’t Like My Performance At All:” Wil Wheaton Gets Candid About One Of Wesley Crusher’s Most Famous Star Trek: The Next Generation Episodes

Wil Wheaton gets very candid about his performance as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5's episode. "The First Duty." Wheaton left TNG as a series regular in season 4, but he returned to portray Wesley, who was involved in a cover-up of the death of a fellow Starfleet Academy cadet. "The First Duty" is a fan-favorite Star Trek: The Next Generation episode for its depiction of Starfleet Academy, and it influenced Star Trek from years to come, including the creation of Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Appearing as a guest on The 7th Rule podcast hosted by Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk, Wil Wheaton honestly broke down his own performance as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The First Duty." Wheaton explained his hardships when the episode was filmed and how his personal life mirrored the problems Wesley Crusher was experiencing at Starfleet Academy. Read Wil's quote and watch the podcast video below:

I actually don’t like my performance at all. I feel like I am wearing my performance like it’s someone else’s suit. I catch myself acting all over the place in this episode, and I see myself playing like the same chord the entire time…

And when you said [“The First Duty”] was done in 1992, I was either 20 or 21 years old… and I was in a real bad place in my life then. It was real, real hard. I was kind of in a place similar to where Wesley was. You know, we have this episode coming up where Wesley’s like, “Dude, Starfleet Academy’s extremely not for me. Being in Starfleet is all kinds of not what I want to do. I thought it was, but it’s not.” And I was in that place as an actor.

I was really, really feeling like I don’t know if this is what I want to do. And when I was there on set in 1992, oh, the incredible amount of sadness and deep, deep, deep regret I was experiencing that I wasn’t there every day, and it wasn’t my regular job. To me, going back there almost felt like an admission of failure that the career I had hoped to have when I stopped being a regular just hadn’t worked.

 

Why Wil Wheaton Didn't Like His Performance In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The First Duty"

Wil Also Had Problems With The Episode's Director

Along with Wil Wheaton's forthright explanation of why he didn't like his performance as Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The First Duty," Wil also notes he had issues with the way he was directed. "The First Duty" was helmed by Paul Lynch, who Wheaton says Brent Spiner liked to tell a story about, in that the director liked to yell, "Energy, energy, energy, energy, and, and, and, and, action!" before each take. It was a style of directing that Wheaton didn't mesh with, although Wil praises Paul Lynch as a person.

After Wil Wheaton left Star Trek: The Next Generation, his attempt to transition back to feature films stalled out, and thus, he felt returning as a guest star on TNG was "an admission of failure." Although Wheaton was also happy to be back among his TNG family, whom he felt closer to than his real-life family. Wil's assessment of his performance in "The First Duty" is eye-opening, considering the episode is widely considered one of his finest as Wesley Crusher, who made a grievous mistake but ultimately owned up to it and faced the consequences.

Our Take On Wil Wheaton Disliking His Performance In Star Trek: The Next Generation's "The First Duty"

Wil Might Be Too Hard On Himself

"The First Duty" is arguably the most memorable and popular episode centering on Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, so it's surprising to hear Wil Wheaton's assessment of his own performance. It's also enlightening to hear Wil be so honest about his acting, and the circumstances of his personal life that bled into how he played Wesley. Knowing how Wheaton felt while filming "The First Duty" adds an extra fascinating nuance to rewatching the episode.

Wil Wheaton endured decades of mistreatment for playing Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he made a triumphant comeback as Wesley, first in cameo at the end of Star Trek: Picard season 2, before he voiced Wesley in full bloom as a Traveler in Star Trek: Prodigy season 2. Wil has also embraced his role as an 'elder statesmen' to the casts of the new Star Trek series. Wheaton joining The 7th Rule to look back on playing Wesley, and never pulling punches with his raw honesty, is icing on the cake.