It's 10 o'clock in the morning and Wil Wheaton is lounging in an office on Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood. He's tucking into a breakfast croissant. He's tired. Hardly surprising, as this is the morning after the Los Angeles riots and Wil lives in Westwood, one of the areas where the looters did their worst. Her shakes his head, slurps a coffee and once more apologises for being tired.
 

The last time we met was in England a year ago, for the launch of his movie Toy Soldiers. Back then, he was spending his time hanging out with his buddy Sean Astin, and was pretty much hung up on his girlfriend - so much so that he had her flown over to Britain just to be with him.
 

"Yeah," he signs, thinking back to those times. "I don't see Sean much now because he got engaged and turned into an old man! And as for my girlfriend... I broke up with her right after we came back from the UK. The thing was that she had a big problem with girls coming up to me in the street and stuff, and she created scenes on more than one occasion. She never could understand that that was all part of what I do, and that I can't just ignore those girls.
 

"I'm seeing another girl now though - I've been seeing her for a month or so. She's not an actress but she works in the industry, so she understands the fan situation. Actually we don't talk about work at all. She's far more mature and understands that the fans come with the territory."
 

Another sign, although this time there's a bit of a laugh at the end of it. But Wil's ex isn't actually the only one that has problems concerning his chosen career. He's never been a movie-land natural. He's got this thing he always says: "I love my work, and I love acting, but there are times when I wish my job wasn't as high profile as it is. I don't like the fame."
 

He expands: "I don't like the schmoozing (people crawling round celebs) and I don't like the fake people. There's a movie out now called The Player which is a satire of the film industry and is so funny. It's so on the nose. It's full of fakes. I don't want to be like that - I don't want to be an actorrr.
 

"Actually, since Toy Soldiers I've been taking a sabbatical, in an effort to get away from the movie scene. I was getting too close to it. Getting caught up in the pretentiousness of it all. It's worked because it's just recently got to the point where I can actually go where I want and do what I want without people stopping me. Sure people will look at me as if they know me, but they don't point at me and say - 'Look! Wesley Crusher!"
 

Look WHO? Oh! Wesley Crusher ! Wil is referring to the character he plays in the television series Star Trek - The Next Generation. Some say it's the role that put him on the Hollywood A List (and Wil agrees).
 

"Yeah, Star Trek is a major thing in the States, because it's been around for so long. The trekkies out here are crazy! And even if people aren't devotees, they all know about it. Like me when I joined the cast; I wasn't a fan or anything, but I knew what it was all about. So I was like, cool!"
 

But what sort of job is it where you go to work everyday and pretend to be a spaceman...?
 

"A lot of fun actually, because the sets were so interesting and... hehe... wearing a space suit was a lot of fun."
 

Hmm. Did you do any research into outer space before you took the part?
 

"Other than watching all the old Star Treks and familiarising myself with the techni babble so that I knew what Warp Factor Nine was, no."
 

Actually it must be a bit difficult to research. It's not like you can phone up a Klingon or anything to ask what like is really like in the unknown.
 

"Exactly," he smiles. "But working on a program about space really makes you think about all that stuff we don't know about! I personally can't believe that intelligent life is limited only to Earth or to our solar system. I mean there's space that we don't even know about - I'm sure there has to be some kind of life somewhere.
 

"Of course, looking at the way things are here right now I'm sure that whoever or whatever lives out there wouldn't be real thrilled about getting in touch with us! Who'd want to know us now in the state that we're in? Look at the way we've abused our environment!"
 

Quite. And while we're on the subject of earthly matters, now that you've ended your contract with Star Trek, what lies ahead work-wise?
 

He perks up. "I start a new film tomorrow actually! We haven't got a working title as yet, but it's about a group of kids who hang out together and one of them commits suicide. The thing is that none of the kids can work out why he did it, because he didn't seem depressed at all. This guy is an A student and seems really together, yet he goes and does that.
 

The movie is mainly about how the kids come to terms with the disaster... I think." He laughs. "Give me a call when the movie's out and I'll tell you for definite."
 

Try and stop us.