Science & Tech Quote by Joe Flanigan

There is a careful humility baked into Flanigan's admission: he’s not arriving as a lifelong nerd-evangelist, he’s arriving as a working actor who got converted on the job. That matters because science fiction fandom can smell a pose in seconds. By opening with “I wasn’t a big science fiction aficionado,” he lowers the temperature of gatekeeping and signals respect for an audience that’s often been treated as niche or juvenile. The name-checks do the rest. 2001 and Blade Runner aren’t casual picks; they’re canonical, high-prestige touchstones that frame his taste as discerning rather than dismissive. He’s saying: I didn’t grow up in your clubhouse, but I recognize the architecture.

The subtext is about legitimacy and labor. “Since I started this series” hints at the behind-the-scenes rigor of genre television: dense mythologies, technobabble that has to land emotionally, production demands that reward precision. His “gained more respect” is less about special effects awe than craft appreciation - the genre’s ability to smuggle big questions (identity, empire, ethics) into popular entertainment without announcing itself as homework.

Contextually, it reads like a PR line that’s also strangely honest: an actor tethered to a franchise reassuring fans he’s invested, while giving himself room to be a latecomer. The quiet punchline is that sci-fi doesn’t just need believers; it reliably manufactures them once you’re inside the machine.