After twenty years, I finally got to say this.

A lot of incredible and wonderful things happened at the Calgary Expo this weekend, and when I'm not as exhausted I'll write about all of them.

Until then, though, here is one of them that I really hope you'll spend 5 minutes watching:

 

If you can't see the video, you can watch it right here at YouTube.

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137 thoughts on “After twenty years, I finally got to say this.”

  3. You know … I’m not one of your long-time, love everything you did, back in the day fans. In fact, to some extent – I’m more of a casual observer rather than a true die-hard fan of Star Trek.
    However, I really must say that things like this and the whole new-era of your career has made me become a fan of yours.
    It was nice to (sort of) meet you in Calgary (as much as getting a photo can be said to be “meeting”), I really enjoy your BLOG and the thoughts therein. Your appearances on Big Bang and The Guild are a lot of fun.
    It’s really nice to see a genuine moment like this one at Star Trek EXPOsed.

  7. That was incredibly sweet, so glad you finally got a chance to say it.
    Also, I was overtook by the sweetness of Frakes kissing your head.

  9. A huge personal insight on your relationship with the TNG cast. Thank you for sharing and being so open about it. I’m bummed I couldn’t attend.

  10. OK, I’ve listened to Levar about 8 times now, and I *still* cannot hear what he’s saying that was so funny. -_-
    Otherwise, so sweet!

  12. I’m not usually one to comment on blogs, though I have been reading your blog, Wil, since I was an awkward 17 year-old (I am now a less-awkward 25 year-old), and am a huge fan of TNG, so this video made my heart so happy for you and brought tears to my eyes. Completely awesome.

  15. Oh Wil, you made me cry! That was entirely heartwarming, and I’m so glad that you got the chance to say that out loud when with the cast. It also reconfirms for me that I MUST see you live next time you are in my area.

  16. Was a great moment that evening, but you aught to have included the preceding debate in which you Pooooooowned Aaron Douglass (sorry Chief, it’s true).

  17. There are all kinds of families and some of us are lucky to be part of more than one. You are fortunate, Wil, to be able to say you are part of the TNG family. Just like all of us you went through some growing pains – but the love is still there when you go home again.

  18. ~Wil
    What you finally got to say took balls. I’m glad you have made peace with your Wesley. That said- I cannot believe how well everyone from TNG has aged!

  23. I know this isn’t entirely true, but…
    “I never had any fellow actors later on, like the ones I had when I was eighteen…Jesus….does anyone?”
    I just watched the entire panel through YouTube and it was the first time since the 1988 Winter Olympics that I wished I were in Calgary at a particular point in time — and I’ve talked to you at two different Emerald City ComicCons.
    I miss the series more because of you and the rest of the cast than because of the stories — and there were quite a few unforgettable stories.

  27. You apologized for being a kid. Having made the same mistakes of being a kid as we all do, you took the responsibility and owned it. In doing so you show you were less of a kid than we mistook you for and I wish more adults would act as grown up as that.

  29. Awesome to hear these words from you and to see that your former castmembers love you as much as we do. Well done, Will. Bravo!
    @Brandon: my thoughts exactly! 😉

  33. I got to see your earlier panel that day, and you guys are great on stage. Thank you for sharing yourself with all of us strangers.

  35. I love what you said about leaving the show. I was upset that you did leave. You were a “friend” that left me while I was a geeky teen. You were a part of me that go to be on the Enterprise and I was envious of Wesley. I think your words at the Con were completely perfect and thank you for them.
    And thank you to the rest of the cast who still look with so much love. Thank you for sharing that moment for those who could not be there.
    Wish you could be at the con in Cherry Hill this weekend and …. GO FLYERS!!!

  36. Seeing you with the entire TNG family back on stage was almost beyond words.
    I was also very excited that you realized who I was. LOL
    It was fantastic to see you in Calgary; I hope you will be invited back to the Expo.
    @clinton_o

  37. Great video! I couldn’t get tickets for the panel on Saturday night, but I was able to get your autograph on Friday. I also saw you at the Calgary airport on Monday morning. You were incredibly gracious when I went up to talk to you. I just wanted to say thank you for being so nice – meeting you totally made my weekend!!

  38. I love this. This is great. And no kidding, from the very first little bit of the video the 2 girls behind the guy from Battlestar (one in blue uniform with glasses, the other in red uniform, with glasses. I KNOW THEM 😀 That was so cool to see in this video. Wil you rock and this video rocks cuz I know people in it! LOL 😀

  39. Wil,
    That was a thoroughly wonderful moment, and the best part was seeing Patrick, Jonathan, Mirina, and Gates all show their genuine love and admiration for you as both an actor and a person.
    Also, I saw what you did there after (finally?) getting a kiss from Mirina. 🙂

  40. TNG Exposed was such a great experience! I got goosebumps at least four times! This was one of them, it really did make me a bigger fan of you and the rest of the cast more than I was.

  41. Dear Wil. You, the cast of TNG, and the show itself will always have a special place in my heart. Watching you reflect on that time made me think of my dad who died 10 years ago. We always watched the show together, as well as had many good times scouring comic book stores and toy stores for TNG toys, action figures, and other Trekkie memorabilia. Thank you for sharing.

  42. Ok, so at the risk of being the super-annoying fangirl (feel free to stop reading):
    I was 4 when TNG premiered. I remember watching it. It’s one of my first memories, ridiculously enough. Well that and wheelbarrow rides.
    I would watch episodes when I could, but they were on after my evening tv time was up (unless my mother was in a particularly kind mood) until my 6th birthday, which happened towards the end of Season 2. I was a weird kid. I’m still a weird grownup. I’m lucky enough as an adult to have found friends that are just as goofy as me, and my family may not get me, but they love me.
    But when I was 6, I had my family…and Star Trek. And that ridiculous dream of being in StarFleet (and God help someone who told me I couldn’t).
    This is literally the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. It took a long time for me to be not mad at you. When you left Star Trek, I felt betrayed. Like the boy that was cool enough to be doing the things that I could only splash about in the bathtub pretending to do when I was 4…didn’t want to do them. Eventually, I got to the point when I was about 20, and had been a total b*tch for the past 5 years and realized it, that I was like, “Dude. He was 18.” And then I read “Just a Geek.” Which pretty much sealed the fact that you get to be on my “hero” list, no matter how fucking ‘grownup’ I get.
    I am totally babbling, but…if I love you as a fan all of these years (in a totally respectful of your space non stalking way…not that you’ll believe that after this post)…how strange would it be for people who knew you and loved you in real life to not even more readily accept you and want you back in their life.
    You are, as ever, a human. Which makes you nifty.
    Anyway…
    *insert detached snarky comment so that I don’t sound like a crazy person* Crap…too late.

  43. Aw, so sweet! I said the other day that teenagers shouldn’t have access to Facebook so the dumb things they say/do aren’t plastered on a public forum. I’m sorry the decision you made at 19 was bigger than some of the decisions we had to make as kids, and that it haunted you for so long. You are a good person, wil.

  44. I’ve never actually seen TNG (at first I never got around to it, but now I’m explicitly waiting for the remastered Blu-rays). Which apparently is no barrier to this video giving me the warm fuzzies. Yes, ALL of them.

  45. I loved that so much! It makes me wish I was there! Your story is such a great one.,
    Which is why I’ve loved your blog. I tried to explain it to my husband
    But unfortunately he’s only 5% nerd and worries someone will hear he
    Watched a clip about a TNG convention; it’s a mixed marriage.

  47. So glad you got to experience this, Wil. What a lovely homecoming. *teary-eyed salute*
    And hats off to Levar for proving once again that he has a most expansive vocabulary. *laughs*

  48. Wil, that was great! It brought a tear to my eye! Ive heard you talk with love and respect about your former castmates before, but this was the best of them all. It is great that they still accept you as one of the crew. Apologizing for the mistakes of our youth is hard, but you did it, and your peers accepted it like pros. What a lucky man you are to have such amazing friends!

  49. Thanks so much for posting this. It’s so neat to see the genuine love between you and the rest of the cast. Thanks for being who you are.

  50. That was a very touching moment with that being said Man you’re freaken AWESOME!!! It’s because of you I feel comfortable being geeky. Okay! Just had to say that carry on!

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