Nicole deBoer as Ezri Dax, Part Four

I would love to see Ms. deBoer land a whole lot more roles, and preferably some really meaty ones.  I don't have a theatrical background, and so maybe I'm speaking naively here.  However, I think she's a rather underrated and understated actress, which is why I enjoy watching her TV roles so much.

Granted, not all of her roles were eye-catching.  For instance, I saw a few minutes of her in Brain Candy, but that didn't truly catch my attention–possibly because it was a fairly minor role.  Her acting in the gripping thriller Cube was good, but not a stand-out performance.  However, when given the right kinds of roles, she truly shines.

That's why I think the Ezri Dax role was well-suited for her.  Let's compare Ezri with her predecessor, Jadzia.  Jadzia was supposed to be a well-established and experienced scientist and Starfleet officer.  That's certainly a juicy role to play; however, Ezri presented a new set of challenges.  Ezri was an ingenue and a relative newcomer to life on DS9.  She was also in the unenviable position of having a Trill symbiont thrust upon her (and into her cranium!), thus flooding her with several lifetimes of memories for which she was unprepared.  Some of those memories were decidedly unpleasant, too.

Then there was the stress of strained relationships on the station, especially with Worf.  Yow.

Nicole deBoer handled this quite well, which is why I thought she was a joy to watch.  Despite its reputation for cheesy acting, the Star Trek universe has known some mighty fine thespians—the likes of Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner, Avery Brooks and more.  However, I think that Ms. deBoer deserves a lot more attention that what she gets, and so I'd love to see more of her acting chops.

What really sells me on her are the little expressions that she gives, as shown in these images.  I'll say more about that on the next page.

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