The entertainment industry is filled withactors who excel in playing very diverse roles. Some of them have even embodied two very different characters in the same movie or series, such as a good twin/bad twin situation, ora character’s ancestor, or their alternate version in another universe. It takes a special kind of talent to deliver such diverging performances in a credible and believable manner.
In asci-fi franchiseas popular asStar Trek, with its plethora of series, films, and games, recasting someone in various human and alien roles isn’t all that hard, giventhe artistic make-upand special effects that can render anyone unrecognizable. While some of the performers have donned different looksacross the films and shows, others have taken their talent further by doing it not just in the same series, but sometimes in the span of one episode.
From Nana Vistor, to Jeffrey Combs, to Vaughn Armstrong, here are the versatile actors who played between two and 12 different characters in the Star Trek universe.
25Nana Visitor: Two
“She’s such a handy actress with fight scenes.”
- Stunt Coordinator Dennis Madalone (Star Trek Magazine, issue 127)
Nana Visitorwas so convincing in her role as the Bajoran Major (and eventually Colonel) Kira Nerys onDS9, that she won the OFTA Television Award for Best Actress in a Syndicated Series, as well as a Universe Reader’s Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Genre TV Series. More recently, she also voiced her character onLower Decks. This Nerys was compassionate, selfless, capable, courageous, and very much against the Cardassians. The Intendant Nerys that Visitor portrayed in the Mirror Universe, however, was a different story; she was a promiscuous, narcissistic, power-hungry, black leather-clad femme fatale who was a prominent member of the Klingon-Cardassian alliance. “A spoiled brat with an ego gone awry,” as the actress puts it in the reference book Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion.
24Jonathan Frakes: Two
Producer, director, and actorJonathan Frakesis mostly known for playing the honorable, self-assured, and charming William T. Riker onTNG,DS9,Voyager,Enterprise,Lower Decks, andPicard, as well as the moviesGenerations,First Contact,Nemesis, andInsurrection. But he also portrayed his bitter and less confident doppelgänger inTNGandDS9, an accidental clone who was created in a transporter malfunction, and was stranded alone on planet Nervala before joining Starfleet, and then the Maquis rebels.
Fun fact: Frakes also voiced William Riker on 2 episodes in the adult animated seriesFamily Guy.
Related:10 Star Trek: The Next Generation Characters Who Deserved Better
23Robert Knepper: Two
Robert Knepper, whose best-known role is the sadistic T-Bag onPrison Break, is credited with two roles on the shows: onTNGas Wyatt Miller, Deanna Troi’s (Marina Sirtis) gentle but reluctant betrothed; and onVoyageras Gaul, a selfish, double-crossing Vaadwaur who spent years in stasis.
22Paul Winfield: Two
Paul Edward Winfield, who appeared in over 120 movies and shows, namelyTerminator,Dennis the Menace, andMars Attacks!), played Captain Clark Terrell inStar Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, who, because his mind was invaded by controlling slugs, chose to shoot himself instead of Admiral Kirk (William Shatner). Winfield was also cast onTNGas the Tamarian Captain Darmok, who had wise metaphoric exchanges with Captain Picard (Sir Patrick Stewart).
21Tony Todd: Three
You might rememberTony Toddfrom the horror franchiseCandyman, but he also embodied severalStar Trekcharacters: the Klingon Worf’s impetuous brother Kurn, on bothTNGandDS9; an older, wiser version of Jake Sisko, the Captain’s teenage son onDS9; and Karon, an Alpha-Hirogen hunter onVoyager.
20Majel Barrett Rodenberry: At Least Four
Dubbed The First Lady of Star Trek because she was married to creator Gene Roddenberry,Majel Barrett Rodenberrywas the only one to have been featured one way or another in all the earlier TV shows. Besides voicing the main Federation computers, her three main roles are Number One inThe Original Seriespilot, Nurse/Dr. Christine Chapel inTOS, and the Betazoid ambassador Lwaxana Troi on bothTNGandDS9. Troi was particularly memorable for her extravagant sense of fashion, and unhinged, controlling attitude, mixed with empathy and kindness.
19Armin Shimerman: Four
Audiences only started viewing the alien Ferengi in a more favorable light sinceDS9, because the latter provided more information on their customs and planet, and presented interesting, complex characters, such as Quark, played byArmin Shimerman. The station’s greedy but witty bar owner Quark had already made a brief appearance onVoyager, but Shimerman’s first roles in the franchise were onTNG, as two other Ferengis: Letek and DaiMon Bractor. He also played the irascible Human sci-fi writer Herbert Rossoff inDS9’s acclaimed episode Far Beyond the Stars, set in the 1950s.
18Diana Muldaur: Four
Diana Muldaur’s most famous role is the headstrong, blunt, and dependable Chief of Medical Dr. Katherine Pulaski onTNG. But before that, she played three characters onTOS: the skeptical Starfleet astrobiologist Ann Mulhall; Dr. Miranda Jones, a blind telepath with a sensor web (the device that inspired Geordi La Forge’s visor) who studied on Vulcan; and Thalassa, a kind 500,000-year-old Arretan, whose consciousness borrowed Ann’s body.
17Casey Biggs: Four
Casey Biggs’ most recognizable role isDS9’s Legate Damar, the Cardassian officer under Gul Dukat who eventually became Leader of the Cardassian Liberation Front, and teamed up with Kira the Dominion. Biggs also played Dr. Wykoff in Sisko’s vision, a holosuite guest, and an Illyrian Captain onEnterprise.
16Carolyn Seymour: Four
British actressCarolyn Seymourplayed the suspicious Romulan Sub-Commander Taris onTNG; Mirasta Yale, a Malcorian astronomer desperate for alien contact, who chose to leave her planet aboard the Enterprise; the Romulan Commander Torth; andVoyager’s holodeckperiod drama characterMrs. Templeton.
