Wheaton in “Star Trek: The Next Generation”
Actor Wil Wheaton, known for his longtime role as the genius of child Wesley Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, welcomed Pride Month this weekend with special thanks to his queer fans.
Wheaton, 48, took to Facebook to publicly acknowledge the number of Star Trek fans who had a crush on the actor – or his character – while the series aired.
“Over the years I have met several men who have told me that their childhood crush on Wesley Crusher was a big part of them going out and living their lives with joy, love and pride,” Wheaton wrote. . “I can’t even begin to tell you how much this means to me. I love it so much that me and part of my job were there for the people (when I didn’t even know it was happening) who needed a safe place.
“Good pride,” he concluded, “you lovely and perfect humans. Me and Wesley Crusher, see you soon, and we absolutely adore you. “
As the post went viral, Wheaton’s wife Anne Wheaton also took to Twitter.
Over the years, men have told me they have a crush on Wesley Crusher and immediately apologized to me. Do not apologize ! We both love that her character helped you understand who you are. And I love that Wil wrote an FB article about it.
Good pride folks. ? pic.twitter.com/rUGM3evVwy
– Anne Wheaton (@AnneWheaton) June 5, 2021
“Over the years,” she wrote, “men have told me they have a crush on Wesley Crusher and immediately apologized to me! Do not apologize ! We both love that her character helped you understand who you are. Good pride, folks.
Wheaton’s on-screen Star Trek mother, actress Gates McFadden, has also expressed support.
proud of my spaceson for writing this! I love you for poster space daughter-in-law
– Gates McFadden (@gates_mcfadden) June 6, 2021
“Proud of my spaceson for writing this!” McFadden tweeted. “I love you for posting the daughter-in-law from space.”
Wesley Crusher had a bad habit of being boring in his episodes of Trek… although, frankly, that didn’t stop us from falling for the character as teenagers ourselves. We have a feeling that Wheaton’s prideful wishes will make watching the Wesley-centric episodes of the series a little more enjoyable.
