Derek Tyler Attico Interview: Star Trek Actor On The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko

Captain Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) became one with the Prophets at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, but he returns to recount his own life story in The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko by Derek Tyler Attico.

A science fiction essayist, and photographer, Derek Tyler Attico is a winner of the Excellence in Playwriting Award from the Dramatist Guild of America and a two-time winner of the Star Trek Strange New Worlds short story contest. Attico’s work, “The Dreamer and the Dream,” based upon the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine classic “Far Beyond the Stars” led to Titan Books choosing him to pen Captain Sisko’s autobiography.

Screen Rant interviewed Derek Tyler Attico about the challenges of writing in Sisko’s (and Avery Brooks’) distinctive voice, meeting Sisko’s TV son, Cirroc Lofton, fleshing out Ben Sisko’s family and past, and what makes Sisko special among other Star Trek captains.

Author Derek Tyler Attico Discusses Writing The Autobiography Of Benjamin Sisko

Screen Rant: Before we get into The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko, I want to ask you: back in May, you appeared on The Sisko Day and you talked to Cirroc Lofton and Ryan T. Husk. Cirroc Lofton, of course, played Jake Sisko on Deep Space Nine. They’re actually both really good friends of mine. That was a really fun interview. I just rewatched it. What was that like for you, talking about the book about Sisko to Sisko’s TV son, who he actually loves like a son in real life?

Derek Tyler Attico: Right. Right. Exactly. Exactly. Mr. Brooks loves Cirroc. Loves him like a son. I’ll be really honest with you. Before the interview, it was starting to trip me out a little bit. My girlfriend was like, “Oh, this is weird, because you’re gonna be having an interview with Jake Sisko.” And then I was like, you know what? I can’t think about that. I’m just going to do an interview and talk about this project and this book. I mean, how much can you really put out of your head, you know,? I tried to put out of my head, and just sit there and talk with them. I don’t know if it came across in the interview, but we had a really, really good conversation. I didn’t know them, and they don’t know me, of course. And I think that, by the end of the conversation, we started to really gel, and some energy was going on. And I was just so pleased with that because I’ve been watching Jake Sisko seven years. Well, more than seven years now. 30 years, right?

You hope that you meet this individual and that they’re cool with you, and you’re cool with them, and you don’t say anything stupid.I don’t want to say anything stupid, you know what I’m saying? And we had a really, really great time. I don’t know if it was recorded, or maybe it was right after, I was telling him I just really want to do the book, and him, and not only him, but everyone on the cast and crew justice. Because it’s a great show. But a lot of people put a lot of hard work into it. And if the autobiography isn’t on a certain level, it’s not going to, in any way, reflect on the beautiful stories and work of Deep Space Nine, but I think it will leave a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. It’s like, “Oh, man, this was not good.” After 30 years of waiting. I told him, I said, I’m gonna do my best to do [it] justice. I was in writing at the time when we were having that conversation.

Wow. Well, we’re not gonna spoil the book, but I thought it was fantastic. It is a true autobiography of Ben Sisko written in his voice. And you truly captured his voice. I heard Avery in my head as I read it, and that’s honestly the best compliment I could pay you. How did you channel Avery while writing?

Derek Tyler Attico: Like I talked a little bit about it on The 7th Rule, it’s not easy channeling Mr. Avery Brooks. Because originally, I went to like earlier things he’d done, A Man Called Hawk and Spenser for Hire, to try and get a feel of a younger Sisko. But Avery Brooks is such a great actor, that everything he brings in Star Trek, everything he brings in Spenser, everything he brings in Hawk, is totally different. So I couldn’t go to other works he’s done and use that, and I’ve been able to do that sometimes with other actors like Sir Patrick Stewart. I can sometimes pull from different places from when he was younger and stuff when I write. Or even Sir Patrick Stewart in interviews, his cadence is close to what he’s doing for Picard.

But the cadence for Sisko is very different than the cadence for Mr. Brooks. Mr. Avery Brooks is very much more relaxed when he speaks. Sisko was relaxed, but he still has this thing that he does. It’s almost like a uniformity and he’s like this every man, but it’s just not as relaxed as Sisko. The best we got was “In the Pale Moonlight,” where it’s just like a 45-minute monologue. And I could hear at certain points, Avery Brooks was slipping into the Sisko dialogue, you could just hear little things. So I’ve watched that episode a lot.

I’d watch that episode anyway.

Derek Tyler Attico: Right, anyway, right. That was a thing. I’d just find myself watching Deep Space Nine. I’m like, “No, that’s not the mission, Derek.” But I watched it maybe like four times back to back in the same day, and then I was like, all right, you know what, I’m done. Turn it off. And I never watched another Deep Space Nine episode until the book was finished. I would look at little clips here and there on YouTube for certain things. But I never watch another Deep Space Nine episode. Because once I had it, I was like, “You got it, and just go.”

You ingeniously wove in Sisko’s whole DS9 mythology. You had Jake, you had the Prophets, who have to be there. And even Benny Russell is addressed, and the way you did it was so clever. Tell me how you worked it all in, and like the challenges of that. He has a dense mythology. Just this one character has all that stuff going on.

Derek Tyler Attico: When Titan Books and George Sandisen approached me and said that they were looking at me for this project, primarily because of the 2016 short story I wrote, The Dreamer and the Dream for Strange New Worlds’ 50th anniversary, they read that really liked it, and they approached me for this. I knew that there were going to be hurdles, but there’s just so many hurdles in this book. He’s a father, he’s a widower, he is himself a son. His family is such a close-knit unit. He has siblings that aren’t really discussed. They are in canon, but they’re not discussed, really, or seen on-screen. All of these things became incredible challenges. And then it was okay, well, what do I want to put into this book? What do I want to say about his past? And a lot of it, I just do what I do. I try and strip things down. and not think about what fans want or anything like that.

But I looked at, honestly, Gene Roddenberry’s initial vision for Star Trek. And I went back to that. With CBS, you have to give them an outline first. So Titan and CBS wanted, of course, an outline first. And so I took a few days once I got the project, and I just thought. I would stand in the shower for like an hour. My girlfriend’s like, “Why are you in the shower for an hour” Because I’m thinking, thinking. (laughs) That was my place. I’m being really honest, that was my zen place, man. And I would just think.

I realized that this was an opportunity to not just talk about Ben, but the writers of Deep Space Nine gave me such fertile soil and material to work with, that I could make a commentary about the 24th century, I can make a commentary about New Orleans. And in doing that, it would reflect back on Ben and his family, going back to what Gene Roddenberry started because Gene Roddenberry says, World War III has to happen. And then after that is when we start to come together, and then the Vulcans show up. So I was like, You know what, let’s start from there.

And then, once I had that, I was like, Well, you know what, I didn’t really want to just talk about Ben and his father. I pushed it back. Because I knew my grandparents were very influential in my life. And I was like, why not? I want to take this opportunity to show a lineage, a Sisko lineage. And so, I created his his grandfather and grandmother. And once I did that, I put all that in the outline. [It] took me a while to write the outline and get it the way I wanted it. I think it was about a 10-15 page outline, something like that. And that got sent off to CBS. And they approved it right away, which was really cool. They didn’t really have any comments about it. They approved it, and then it was off to the races,

The one thing though, is that once I did that outline, I knew that I was going to be locked into whatever I decided. So I tried to think of things that would create a… Ben Sisko, in my opinion, is the most formed captain and one of the most formed characters in Star Trek. So I had to deliver that in the book as well. And our formative years are between 6 to 10. A lot of things happen that create the adults that we are. That’s happened in my life. So I just did a lot with his childhood. And I spent a lot of time with his family and his childhood so that the reader could see this is where it all came from. This is the foundation of who this man is. And I think it worked.

So much of the book was about Ben’s childhood, his upbringing in New Orleans, his siblings who like you said, we never saw on the show, I completely forgot even had siblings. I know a lot about Deep Space Nine, and I forgot about this completely. So that was really satisfying. And New Orleans, that whole the whole family lineage. And then, as he’s going through life, going through Starfleet, the Academy, you sprinkled in some amazing cameos, which we won’t spoil. He’s like Forrest Gump, he crossed paths with some amazing people.

Derek Tyler Attico: (laughs) Jazz has a part to play in his life. So it has a part to play in the book in several places. Some of those cameos come back to things that I’ve always wanted to do. And there’s a chapter that you probably know what I’m talking about. It’s just a character that I’ve always wanted to write. And that character had like a one-off in a Star Trek season. And I was like, oh, man, I really liked that character. And I did my research and, and that character is still around, I can do something with that. And so I put that character in, and I put it in a way and a place that I think makes sense, not just because of something I wanted to do. But if it makes sense for Ben, and he moves his life forward, you know. I think you know who.

As you fleshed out Sisko’s life story, did anyone he knew emerge in a new light for you as you’re kind of discovering them? Any of his loved ones or even his enemies, as you’re writing, you realized, “Oh, get them now, in a way I didn’t quite understand before.”

Derek Tyler Attico: That’s a great question, John. His father to begin with. We got to see his father in a different light. Just because the autobiography didn’t only become about Ben. But in writing his family, I had to figure out certain things, and a lot of it I got from Joseph Sisko and just understanding, why is Joseph the way he is when we see him? I have to explain that. If I have Joseph the same way he is in the show, if I have him that same way in the book, then Joseph starts to become a caricature. He’s not a whole person, you know. So you have to take Joseph Sisko and explain how he got there as well. Not only his son. And so, in doing that, I started to understand him, and then everything started to fall back on where they live and all that. So, definitely Joseph.

Who else was I thinking? Oh Curzon, for sure. I got Curzon in a whole new light. Writing Curzon was very interesting. Writing Curzon was very interesting. There’s a couple of scenes where [Ben] is talking to Curzon, and I was like, how is this going to go? Because, they have a very interesting relationship as we see, but then, how did that start? What was the origin of that? I’ve got to do that justice too. There were so many challenges and so many things that I realized, once I was immersed in the writing, that I couldn’t just pass over. I had to really stop and take those moments because I think, as readers, we want to see how those relationships started. So those two characters mainly really, really stood out for me, I think.

I’m glad you brought up Curzon because when you consider the kind of man, the kind of person, Ben is, and his mentor is Curzon. It’s like, you don’t see a lot of dirty old man mentors in Star Trek. It’s the weirdest juxtaposition, if you think about it.

Derek Tyler Attico: Right. Right. And I needed to explain that. And then, [Jadzia] Dax is so different from Curzon. We’ve seen some of that arc and how Karazhan felt about [Jadzia]. We’ve seen some of that arc. So I had to think about all of that, and then twine all of that. So in a lot of ways, this wasn’t just the Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko, but I’m touching on these individuals, and giving you insights into them. Hopefully, giving you insights into them that will explain things so when you see him on screen, “Oh yeah, that makes sense. Now, that’s why he’s like that. And I understand Dax a little bit better. Jadzia and Curzon a little bit better. Hopefully. So that was the goal.

And you mentioned it earlier. I was wondering, as I was reading the book, is he gonna address “In The Pale Moonlight?” And then I was like, “Oh, he did!” And you did in a clever way. I like how you did that, because it’s still a secret.

Derek Tyler Attico: It’s still a secret, right! It’s funny because it’s called The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko. But in my head, what it is, first and foremost, is a father talking to his son. And I don’t think that’s too much of a spoiler to say. It’s the father talking to his son. So I always kept that in mind. And Ben knows what he’s doing.

If he’s talking to Jake, there are things he will say and there are things he will not say, because he’s still who he is. He’s still a Starfleet captain. He’s still who he is. So, even if he’s confiding there are things he will say and not say. So then I came up with that idea. And that idea pleased a lot of people at Titan. They were like, “Oh, that’s clever. That’s clever.” So they liked that. Because it’s a nice nod to the fans and the readers. It’s like, yeah, I know you’re looking for that. I know. I know. (laughs)

Before I let you go, Star Trek has so many great captains. Everybody has their favorite. know you love Kirk. I also love Kirk, especially as he gets older. I understand Kurt more and more and relate to him. But Sisko stands apart and, in some ways, he stands above the others. So having documented his whole life story now, you’re an expert on him. What makes Sisko so special that we just love him so much? DS9 fans love him so much. He’s still The Emissary.

Derek Tyler Attico: I think what it is, even if we don’t realize it consciously, is that he’s the most balanced captain that we’ve ever seen. All these other captains are admirable, really great people. But they all have issues. They usually aren’t really good at relationships, and they’re always struggling with personal relationships. I mean, you can go through the whole list. Kirk, Picard, Archer, Burnham, Pike. They all have these issues with relationships. Burnham’s getting better at it, but she started in a horrible place. Right? Pike’s family is his crew. He’s not doing good relationships.

When we meet Ben Sisko, he’s already figured that out. He’s figured out that life/work balance. And what’s so devastating is that he’s figured it out, and he’s lost his wife. But once he overcomes that, and he hooks up with his crew, and meets his crew, and picks his crew for Deep Space Nine, they become another family. And we see over seven years a man that can lead and manage and not micromanage, and give his people the flexibility and room that they need. He’s a very balanced human being. And as I was thinking about that, and as I was writing that, I was like, I really have to do justice to this and show where that balance came from.

And if I do it right, if Sisko is here when we see him, then I need to, as a curve, come up to here by the end of the book. And I think I achieved that, where he doesn’t start whole, because no one does. None of us do. When we’re 8 to 10 years old, we’re trying to figure stuff out. We don’t know, and we make mistakes, and things happen. But over our lives, the people we encounter and the things that happened, we learned from them, hopefully. And that’s what I was trying to show with his life.

About The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko

The fascinating life of Starfleet’s celebrated captain, and Bajor’s Emissary of the Prophets, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Benjamin Sisko tells the story of his career in Starfleet, and his life as a father and Bajor’s Emissary to the Prophets. Chart his rise through the ranks, his pioneering work designing the Defiant class, his critical role as ambassador and leader during the Dominion War, and his sacred standing as a religious leader of his adopted home.