AceShowbiz - Robert Duncan McNeill recalls his initial dislike for his character, Lieutenant Tom Paris, in the early seasons of Star Trek: Voyager. McNeill played Tom Paris in all seven seasons of the show, which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2025. Lieutenant Tom Paris was the hotshot helmsman of the USS Voyager, but he had a unique origin. When Star Trek: Voyager began, Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew) had Paris released from prison to find the Maquis. Paris became the USS Voyager's pilot, but he was brash, arrogant, and rough around the edges in Voyager's first few seasons.

Appearing on The Transporter Room podcast with Chris Garis, Allyson Leach-Heid, and Linda Paiges, Robert Duncan McNeill frankly recalls how much he disliked the way Tom Paris was written at the beginning of Star Trek: Voyager. However, McNeill also points out that Tom "doing really jerky things" made his character's gradual evolution more satisfying. As McNeill explains, "I didn’t like him. I didn’t like him the first season. They kept writing these things, and it wasn’t just dialogue. I don’t think they found his voice yet early on. But it was also action, what he did, the things they wrote that he did. It was like, ‘Ugh, you’re taking one step forward, two steps back.’ You’re doing some really jerky things. I don’t like this guy, why would the audience like this guy if he’s doing what he’s doing?"

McNeill was relieved when the writers eventually dropped Tom Paris' early characterization. He believes that the initial concept of Tom Paris was inspired by characters like Han Solo or Julian Bashir, but with a darker tone. McNeill notes that Tom Paris was "like a guy who’d been around the block, he kind of had a chip on his shoulder, he was rude to people, he was self-absorbed and selfish, and didn’t have a good relationship with women. Didn’t talk about women nicely. Ugh, I didn’t like him." However, the fact that Tom Paris evolved over time made his character's development more satisfying. McNeill thinks that if Tom Paris hadn't been such a hard-to-like character early on, the satisfaction of where he ended up would not have been as good.

Part of the reason for Lieutenant Tom Paris' early characterization as a jerk was that Tom was initially based on Nicholas Locarno, whom Robert Duncan McNeill previously played in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Locarno had a criminal past at Starfleet Academy that Star Trek: Voyager's producers felt made him "irredeemable" and led to the creation of Tom Paris. Lieutenant Tom Paris was created with many similarities to Nicholas Locarno, including the actor who played him. As Star Trek: Voyager continued to explore the character of Tom Paris, McNeill was able to bring depth and nuance to the role, making Tom Paris a beloved and complex character in the Star Trek universe.