20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Trek: Nemesis
17. Director Stuart Baird Clashed With The Cast
It's been frequently reported that many cast members ended up clashing with director Stuart Baird, who wasn't particularly familiar with Star Trek before shooting started, yet producer Rick Berman felt he would bring a fresh energy to the flagging franchise.
LeVar Burton and Marina Sirtis have since spoken disparagingly of Baird, Burton claiming that Baird often referred to him as "Laverne" on set, and Sirtis calling him an "idiot." There were also reports that Baird was clueless enough about Trek that he thought Geordi was an alien. Yikes.
Though Jonathan Frakes was more diplomatic, he did speak about how he would've directed the film differently, namely shifting the focus away from Shinzon and more towards the TNG cast.
On the film's Blu-ray commentary, it's abundantly clear that Baird wasn't exactly happy with how the movie came out either, namely the enormous creative restrictions placed upon him throughout the process. Such is the nature of working on a gargantuan movie IP.