10 Star Trek Actors Who Became Directors
Deliver the line, shout CUT, and watch these Star Trek actors cross the final frontier.
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00:00Star Trek hasn't just turned out some fairly impressive acting talent over the years,
00:06it's also turned out some fairly impressive directing talent.
00:10Thanks to the production, several of the people who appeared in front of the camera
00:15moved to test their skills behind the camera across all of the different iterations.
00:20This list is going to take you through just 10 examples of those who have successfully made the change.
00:26I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture, and here are 10 Star Trek Actors Who Became Directors.
00:33Number 10, René Auberjonois.
00:36Though audiences would know him best as Odo, René Auberjonois also directed eight episodes of Deep Space Nine.
00:42The first episode, Prophet Motive, would prove to be a challenge for him.
00:46He remarked that it was like leading an army into battle, as there were relentless questions that needed answering.
00:51He quipped that this, and making decisions, were things he truly didn't enjoy doing.
00:55His catalogue would include some of the all-time great episodes like Waltz, but also Let He Who Is Without Sin.
01:01Unfortunately, this episode ranks among the lowest of the series.
01:04To be very fair, this was an episode that faced numerous behind-the-scenes issues.
01:09One such example was that Terry Farrell required a tent between shoots as she couldn't be in direct sunlight for too long.
01:15The production had forgotten to source one, so Auberjonois himself had to chase one down.
01:19Another issue was that the location scouted was covered by spiny tackbirds,
01:24a plant with thorns that easily pokes through skin, hardly a fun addition to a beach shoot.
01:29Despite the challenges, Auberjonois would direct episodes all the way into the seventh season, ending with strange bedfellows.
01:35Number 9, Patrick Stewart.
01:38Patrick Stewart's first go behind the camera was in the fifth season of The Next Generation.
01:42In theory, it's a relatively simple episode, with a starring turn from Brent Spiner
01:47and guest actor Michelle Scarabelli as Jenna DeSora.
01:50Though another Data-centric episode, A Fistful of Datas, may be the more iconic episode,
01:56it's this one that Stewart chose as his favourite overall.
01:59Stewart recalled being grateful that the episode was close to a bottle show, featuring scenes on the ship only.
02:05There were no shoot-'em-ups or scenes on Kronos, which made life much easier for the newbie director.
02:10He was also incredibly grateful that Spiner was the focus of the episode,
02:14as he felt the man was both strong enough to carry the episode easily,
02:17but was also very open to Stewart's direction.
02:20He would go on to direct other episodes, like Hero Worship and Phantasms,
02:24but the aforementioned Datas and the penultimate episode, Preemptive Strike, stand out the most.
02:30Imposters, the recent episode of Picard's third season,
02:33picks up beautifully from those final scenes of Preemptive Strike,
02:36giving the audience a payoff from Stewart's direction thirty years in the making.
02:41Number 8, Gates McFadden.
02:43Gates McFadden was the first female Trek actor to direct an episode of the franchise, namely Genesis.
02:49McFadden took a back seat when it came to acting –
02:51Dr. Crusher is sprayed in the face with acid early in the script –
02:54so that she could concentrate on making everything come together.
02:57And then an earthquake shut down production.
02:59The 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred right in the middle of filming,
03:04and saw 57 deaths, along with billions of dollars of damage.
03:08This was only another challenge for McFadden and her team to overcome.
03:12The production schedule, which saw this being filmed after the holidays that year,
03:15was ironically a blessing, at least from Michael Westmore's point of view.
03:19The episode is heavy on prosthetics, so Westmore's team were able to work through the
03:24time off – yeah, right – to hit their deadlines.
03:27The end result is one of the sillier Trek outings, but it's also iconic in its own right.
03:32Whether it was McFadden's skill as a director, or as a choreographer,
03:36and former Jim Henson puppeteer that served the episode best is anyone's guess.
03:40All we can be really sure of is that the spider barkly scared the absolute webbing out of all of us.
03:45Number 7 – Alexander Siddig
03:48Alexander Siddig directed two episodes of Deep Space Nine –
03:52the fifth season's Business As Usual,
03:55and then the sixth season's poorly-received Profit & Lace.
03:59For his first outing, Siddig was tasked with two big guest stars,
04:03Laurence Tierney and Steven Berkoff.
04:05On a recent episode of the Clownstar Pod,
04:07Siddig revealed a massive curveball that had been thrown his way during filming.
04:12One morning, in the make-up chair, Tierney suffered a stroke.
04:16He was thankfully rushed to the hospital and was able to then come back and film his scene,
04:20but even that came with its challenges.
04:23For the second episode, the reception was not kind.
04:26The script for Profit & Lace was a little mixed in terms of tone,
04:29so production went with a comedic angle.
04:31Unfortunately, it turned a ho-hum story into something downright offensive,
04:36making it not only a missed opportunity for all concerned,
04:39but contributed to there being far fewer Ferengi-centric episodes
04:43for the show's remaining run.
04:45Number 6 – William Shatner
04:47Star Trek V is infamous in many ways,
04:50with much of the ridicule directed toward William Shatner as director.
04:54While there's certainly some fair criticisms to make,
04:58one must take the timing of production as well as the budget into account.
05:03To start with two massive positives,
05:06Shatner managed to get Jerry Goldsmith to return to score the film,
05:09his first Trek outing since the motion picture.
05:12Second, the film contains the best scenes of the trio from the entire franchise.
05:18Who hasn't attempted to toast a marshmallow at this point?
05:21With ILM busy on the Last Crusade,
05:23the effects were shopped out to cheaper companies, and it shows.
05:27The film's climax is also slightly rushed owing to the budget and,
05:31honestly, the design of Shatner's rock monsters just ballooning.
05:35In the end, The Final Frontier is certainly one of the weakest Trek films,
05:39with some of the more melodramatic moments contributing to this.
05:42Though this would spell the end of Shatner's directing career,
05:45at least in Star Trek,
05:46is it truly that bad?
05:49Perhaps time will tell.
05:51Number 5 – Avery Brooks
05:54When it comes to literally anything,
05:56Avery Brooks brings 110%.
05:59As positive as this sounds,
06:00it can also be intimidating,
06:02with several of the people who worked under him attesting to it.
06:05Terry Farrell, when discussing his acting skills,
06:07would comment that she found it a challenge to match him in their scenes,
06:11though he graciously matched her energy.
06:14Behind the camera, it would be no different.
06:16When making his directorial debut on Tribunal,
06:19he got into a discussion with his assistant, BC Cameron.
06:22Cameron recalled that he invited her to the set of Quark's Bar,
06:25which was in darkness at the time,
06:26and said with a grin,
06:28I want you to make sure I get what I need.
06:30There followed an exchange that culminated in Cameron informing Brooks
06:33that she wasn't sure he had a sense of humour,
06:36and that he needed to be clearer with his instructions,
06:39after which their relationship improved dramatically.
06:42Brooks would go on to direct several more episodes,
06:45including Far Beyond the Stars.
06:47While filming Benny Russell's breakdown,
06:49Brooks was so lost in the moment that he forgot to call cut.
06:52The actors around him let the scene play out,
06:55as they weren't sure whether to interrupt or not.
06:58The result is clear in the finished episode,
07:00with both the starring turn and the direction
07:02offering some of Brooks' finest work.
07:054. Leonard Nimoy
07:08Leonard Nimoy's journey to the director's chair is rather intriguing,
07:12especially as it very nearly didn't happen.
07:14While filming The Wrath of Khan,
07:16an urban legend surrounding the actor began to creep along,
07:20namely that he demanded to be killed off so he could escape Star Trek.
07:23When production on The Search for Spock was being organised,
07:26Nimoy waited for some time for Michael Eisner,
07:29then head of Paramount Studios, to get back to him about the job of director.
07:32When the meeting eventually took place,
07:35Eisner was adamant that Nimoy shouldn't get the job,
07:38based on the aforementioned rumour.
07:40Nimoy was a little shocked,
07:42but he was happy to debunk the idea that he hated Star Trek.
07:45The ink was quickly dried on the contract and he took over the reins.
07:48He would of course direct the following film as well, The Voyage Home,
07:51which performed so well that Paramount decided to attempt another live-action series.
07:56Now, if only that had taken off, who knows what Star Trek might have become!
08:00Number 3 – LeVar Burton
08:03LeVar Burton made his directorial debut with Second Chances,
08:06working title Too Many Rikers.
08:08He recalled that, it being so effect-heavy, it was a real baptism of fire.
08:13The show worked brilliantly, not least for how it handled both Rikers,
08:16but also in Burton's chance to cast Dr. Mae Jemison in the cameo role.
08:21Dr. Jemison was the first female African-American in space,
08:24something to which she credited Nichelle Nichols.
08:26Burton invited Nichols to set during filming, leading to what he called magic.
08:32From this, Burton would go on to direct another 28 episodes of Star Trek,
08:36including many of the Klingon-centric ones.
08:39J.G. Hertzler recalled being especially pleased that,
08:42in the Burton-directed Soldiers of the Empire,
08:44he was given a zoom-in, engage shot,
08:48something guest performers rarely got to experience in Star Trek.
08:51Burton would cameo in one of his own episodes,
08:53namely Timeless, Voyager's 100th episode.
08:56It took a little convincing at that point,
08:58but it made for a special moment for fans of the franchise.
09:02His final credit, to date,
09:03is the first part of Star Trek Enterprise's de facto finale, Demons.
09:08Number 2 – Roxanne Dawson
09:11Roxanne Dawson may be best known these days as a director.
09:15She's certainly prolific in her body of work,
09:18including on Apple TV's Foundation series.
09:20However, it was back in Voyager's sixth season episode,
09:24Riddles, wherein she got her start behind the camera.
09:26She recalled directing the episode as both a challenge,
09:29but a wonderful experience.
09:31She was helped by her existing relationship with her co-stars,
09:34and she credits Marvin Rush, the director of photography,
09:37as to helping to truly create her vision.
09:39She later laughed that, as she has become more experienced,
09:42she may have made many different choices,
09:44so she was glad to go into that episode green.
09:47Dawson would go on to direct many episodes of Star Trek Enterprise as well,
09:51lending her voice to the chilling repair station in Dead Stop.
09:55Number 1 – Jonathan Frakes
09:58Jonathan Frakes is perhaps the best-known actor-turned-director in Star Trek.
10:01He began his directing career with The Offspring from The Next Generation's third season,
10:06and has directed episodes in almost every iteration of the franchise ever since.
10:10His work on First Contact and Insurrection
10:12had audiences hoping he would direct some more of the films,
10:15though this has yet to come to fruition.
10:18The running joke for the actor-director
10:19is that he gets things done, leading to the nickname Two Takes Frakes.
10:23In an industry where every second costs money, that's no mean feat.
10:27He was the first legacy actor to return to Star Trek,
10:30technically, when he directed Discovery.
10:33His appearance in Picard's first season, along with Marina Sirtis,
10:37marked his return to live-action acting after years away from being in front of the camera.
10:42Frakes is a fan favourite when it comes to directing,
10:44which has led for cries to give him an EP role in the franchise as well.
10:48Whether this happens or not, he certainly seems to be one of,
10:51if not the, go-to alumni when it comes to directing Star Trek.
10:56Now, if we can just get that damn legacy show confirmed,
10:59let's see how many of those episodes we can ask him to direct as well.
11:02That is everything for this list.
11:04Obviously, we could fill another list easily with this,
11:07so let us know if you would like to see 10 more Star Trek actors who became directors.
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