Was seriously just a name. They didn't tell you what to do. They didn't tell you how they wanted the character to be nothing. You went in to audition for this character name and that was it. When I started, before I came onto the set, I went to Gene Roddenberry and said: hey, what do you want from this guy? Who is he? And being as smart as he is, he said: don't listen to what you've heard or read or seen in the past, nothing. Just make the character your own. And that's what I did.
Of course, I have Gene Roddenberry to thank for the creation of Barclay.
Roddenberry had created quite a complex and at times mysterious character. Guarded, cautious, careful in showing his feelings in expressing his ideas about many things - I found that very interesting.
Gene Roddenberry was a genius.