Catching up with my podcast queue the other day, I was slightly taken aback at the moment in episode 153 of Imaginary Worlds where Doug Jones mentioned that he's recently turned sixty years old and finds himself having to think a bit harder nowadays about whether a younger performer might be a better fit for a role's demands. I suppose the fact that he delivers most of his performances from under layers of latex and makeup has hidden hasn't helped.
His current role as Saru on Star Trek: Discovery, excellent as his performance is, probably isn't destined to turn him into a superstar1 given what a niche of a niche that show is followed by. I have a horrible feeling that a decade from now he'll be at least semi-retired and for a certain generation of Trekkies2 he'll be remembered alongside Mark Lenard and Jeffrey Coombs and as one of the fan-favourites of the franchise.
That's not a small thing, even if it's not the level of fame he deserves after a long career bringing other peoples' dreams - or nightmares - to life on-screen.
- To be fair, within his very particular niche he is something of a superstar. It's just that his niche is one of those where - almost by design? - thirty years after his death people will be amazed to find out that the same guy was under all that make-up in Pan's Labyrinth (in two different roles!) and in the Buffy episode Hush and in The Shape of Water and as Abe Sapien in the two good Hellboy films and in oh so many others. ↩
- Not sure whether that's still a term that they approve. (Probably not.) Pretty certain I'm past caring. It's not meant as an insult. ↩