Rene Auberjonois

(on the movie M*A*S*H) Rene Auberjonois: The studio wasn't really paying much attention to the film and it turned out quite different from the original screenplay by Ring Lardner and very much removed from the book. Before it was released there was a screening for the critics in New York and when Pauline Kael, the most important critic in the country at the time, was asked what should be done with the movie, she said 'Are you nuts? Release it!' It became a huge hit.

(about his childhood in Rockland County, New York) Rene: We were there from when I was eight to sixteen years old - the longest period of my childhood that we were ever settled, and for me the happiest. It was about thirty miles outside of New York City and there was no real town to speak of. I attended the local public school in a little red brick building and also went to junior high and high school there for a couple of years

On acting in King Lear Rene Auberjonois: I played Lear when I was very young and of course I couldn't possibly achieve it, but it was a tremendous challenge and it taught me a tremendous amount.

(On the Odo and Quark relationship) Rene Auberjonois: But that relationship was so embedded in the audience's understanding and psyche that it took on a weight that far surpassed how much time we actually spent with each other. So I think the writers knew that Quark-Odo was likely to be a running theme

(On his character Odo) Rene Auberjonois: He was a very unformed being. Just as Pinocchio was wooden, Odo was a mass of liquid, really, and he was trying to get some kind of shape to his life and to who he was and he wanted to answer the questions he had about what his role was meant to be in that particular universe.

(On the Enterprise episode Oasis in comparisson to the DS9 episode Shadowplay) Rene Auberjonis: It was the same sort of story. That was not really a putdown, but when you've done that many years of writing stories, there will be recurring themes.

(Speaking of his role as Odo on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine ) Rene Auberjonois: I have had my share of successes and my share of flops. But nothing has ever been like this. Deep Space Nine is completely beyond anything that I have ever experienced.

Reporter: Do you and William Shatner share sci-fi-convention war stories? Rene Auberjonois: [Chuckles] To a degree. I've got to tell you, one of the great joys is Shatner. I just adore the man. If you had asked me five years ago - his reputation as a diva had preceded him and not to his best advantage. But then I started to meet him at conventions and I was completely charmed by him. One of the wonderful things about Bill is how interested he is in other people.

Rene Auberjonois: My wife, Judith, is the best person in the world.