10 Actors Who Should Be In Star Trek
A starship for a stage, captains to act, and directors to uphold the Roddenberry dream.
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00:00Once looked down upon by your serious movie stars, the power and prestige of television
00:05these days means that A-listers are lining up around the block to appear on the small screen.
00:10Moreover, every Star Trek episode of the Kurtzman era feels like, in order to get
00:15the full experience, you should really be sitting in a large darkened room with
00:19complete strangers whilst covered in popcorn. The cinematic scope of the contemporary Trek
00:24series might well prove irresistible to the actors on this list.
00:28For this list, we'll be focusing on actors who, through no fault of their own,
00:32have not yet been in Star Trek, but who really, really need to be.
00:36A big thank you to Andrew Hyde for reaching out on Instagram with the original idea for this list.
00:41So, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with Trek Culture, here with 10 actors who should be in Star Trek.
00:4810. Anya Chilotra
00:50Anya Chilotra is a relative newcomer to the acting world, but she has certainly
00:54proved her might as Yennefer in Netflix's The Witcher, which quickly became one of
00:58the most watched series on the platform. Given the subtleties of her performance in
01:02The Witcher, we have previously recast Chilotra as the ever-stoic but bubbling
01:06mass of Vulcan emotions beneath the surface, T'Pol, in a Star Trek Enterprise reboot.
01:12However, the talented British actress is now set to star in a very different role that should
01:16make her an ideal fit for another arm of the Trek franchise.
01:19Already in production, Chilotra will be voicing a character in the animated series
01:24New Gen, based on the Marvel comic book series. Set in a utopian future, where nanotech is
01:30commonplace, the series will be aimed primarily at young children. Hashtag Save Star Trek Prodigy.
01:35Assuming that all goes well and that Prodigy finds a new home,
01:38Chilotra could join up with Janeway and her warrant officers-in-training as an
01:42entirely new character from anywhere in the galaxy, or she could even lend her voice to Lower Decks.
01:479. Dominique Tipper
01:49Listed by IMDb as one of their kick-ass women of sci-fi alongside Star Trek alum
01:54Nichelle Nichols, Kate Mulgrew, Jerry Ryan, Celia Rose Gooding, Rebecca Romijn, and more,
02:00British actress Dominique Tipper made her name in the role of battle-ready belter with a heart
02:05of gold Naomi Nagata in Amazon Prime Video's The Expanse. Naomi is certainly one of the most
02:12likable characters on the show, but my oh my is she made to suffer, both physically and emotionally.
02:17Hopefully on Star Trek, Tipper can have a calmer journey through the galaxy.
02:21The Expanse was also noted for its use of belter creole, and for the intricate code
02:26switching employed by Naomi depending on whether she was around inners or belters.
02:30Such an ease with language and the diversity that brings to the screen would make Tipper
02:34an excellent choice for Trek, a series in which the dialogue is, by and large,
02:38still given in the somewhat euphemistically named Federation standard.
02:428. Nicolas Cage
02:45Nicolas Cage is another Hollywood A-lister to have claimed his Trekkie credentials of late,
02:49and we think it's about time he was given a role in the show. I mean,
02:52his last name is literally Cage for Pike's sake. I mean, technically it's actually not, but whatever.
02:58Much to the chagrin of Pedro Pascal, Cage told Yahoo that he wasn't down for joining Star Wars
03:05as his unbearable weight of massive talent co-star might have hoped. Cage was firmly
03:09in the Star Trek family. Commenting on Cage's I'm-a-Trekkie reveal, Ansem Mount retweeted the
03:15Yahoo interview to Akiva Goldsman, saying,
03:18Must. Make. This. Happen.
03:20To which the Star Trek showrunner executive producer simply replied,
03:24Aye aye, Cap.
03:25Now, it's a bit late for Strange New World Season 2 by now, but perhaps next season Cage
03:29could play Jonathan Archer Dawes, an enterprising Starfleet historian in search of lost galactic
03:35treasures, the map to which is written on the back of a Federation charter.
03:39But more seriously though, Cage would make just as good a Cardassian as he would a Starfleet
03:43captain. The possibilities are endless. Someone might want to check nonetheless
03:47if bees are still about by the 23rd century.
03:50Number 7. Lawrence Fishburne
03:52Lawrence Fishburne is a multi-talented, award-winning actor with films and TV
03:57series under his belt as diverse as Apocalypse Now, The Color Purple, CSI, and Hannibal.
04:02His stint as Morpheus in The Matrix also makes him a veritable sci-fi legend.
04:07So convinced, in fact, our people, that Fishburne is Morpheus, the actor jokingly once stated that
04:13he considered carrying around red and blue M&Ms to blow people's minds.
04:18This time, let's take both pills and slide down the rabbit hole into Trek Wonderland.
04:22Fishburne has an intriguing link to Star Trek, albeit a very tenuous one.
04:27In 1997, the actor played another ship's captain, Miller, in now-cult sci-fi horror
04:32classic Event Horizon. With Fishburne's star power and sci-fi captaincy previous,
04:38he'd be perfect for a leadership role in Star Trek,
04:41although he's surely earned the admiral pips and stripes by now.
04:45Number 6. Mila Kunis
04:47One of her most famous characters, Meg, might well have good reason to hate the
04:51show after contracting the mumps from a fan at a convention, but Mila Kunis,
04:55much like Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane, clearly loves Star Trek,
05:00often citing The Next Generation as her favourite.
05:03When the actress appeared on the penultimate The Late Late Show with James Corden earlier this
05:07year, she could barely contain her excitement to be sitting next to a certain Patrick Stewart.
05:12Trying to play it cool, Kunis admitted that back in the days of those classic
05:16Nokia phones, she bought a ringtone that went,
05:19Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise.
05:23Although she would gladly play Deanna Troi, as Marina Sirtis once suggested,
05:27Kunis has expressed some hesitancy when asked about joining the franchise.
05:31Watching Star Trek with the fourth wall firmly in place is, for her,
05:35more fun than being a part of it.
05:37We certainly wouldn't want to take any of that enjoyment away.
05:40Mila really should be in Star Trek.
05:42We definitely know she has the voiceover chops for a role in Lower Decks or even Prodigy.
05:47Number 5. Adrian Dunbar
05:49Adrian Dunbar needs to be in Star Trek.
05:52The Northern Ireland-born actor has enjoyed a prolific career on stage,
05:56screen and behind the camera for over four decades.
05:59No stranger to a sci-fi franchise or two, Dunbar starred in the BBC's 2005
06:04live broadcast film remake of 1950s sci-fi series The Quatermass Experiment.
06:09He even played a role in Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace,
06:13but his scenes were cut from the theatrical release.
06:15Dunbar is no doubt most well-known, though,
06:18for his role as Head of Police Anti-Corruption Unit 12 in the hugely popular Line of Duty.
06:23AC-12's no-nonsense S.I. would certainly have fit right in,
06:27chasing alien OCGs in S.T.T.N.G., D.S.9, V.O.Y., and E.N.T.
06:33But these days, we could see the gaffer actor as an admiral, or at least a captain, in SNW.
06:38Mother of God, just give Adrian Dunbar his own long trek, in fact.
06:42Number 4. Stephen Graham
06:44One of the finest, most sought-after actors of his generation,
06:48Stephen Graham is equally at home in big-budget Hollywood with DiCaprio
06:52and De Niro as he is in an intimate BBC drama.
06:55Known for playing criminals, or at least the multi-faceted wrongin' type,
06:59in films and series such as Gangs of New York, The Irishman, This Is England,
07:03and The Odd Guy Ritchie Work, the Merseyside native is a master of accents
07:07and recently showed off his keen comedic timing and culinary skills
07:11in Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical and Boiling Point, respectively.
07:15Not to typecast, but if it's complex, morally ambiguous undercover operatives you're after,
07:20Star Trek has a few organisations for that.
07:22Section 31 might be the obvious choice, but why not a Romulan Tal Shiar agent,
07:27or a long trek about the Orion Syndicate?
07:30Graham could equally play an operative or head of the Department of Temporal Investigations,
07:35now that the time travel police are getting some more attention in Star Trek Strange New Worlds.
07:39Our very own Sean Furrick also cast Graham as Rom in a Star Trek Deep Space Nine reboot,
07:45for fear of going back to coffee duty,
07:47I must say that is absolutely the only and most magnificent choice.
07:51Number 3, Hannah Waddingham
07:53Now, anyone who follows me personally on social media
07:56won't find it difficult to guess who made this suggestion for this list.
08:00From a family of opera singers, Waddingham is an accomplished West End performer in her own right,
08:05having starred in shows such as Spamalot and The Wizard of Oz.
08:08Of course, Waddingham rocketed to global fame
08:11with the role of Rebecca Welton in the much lauded Ted Lasso.
08:15Now, as I mentioned earlier, I made the suggestion for Hannah Waddingham on this list,
08:18and the character of Rebecca Welton fits the mould of my favourite characters in anything I watch.
08:24Now, my favourite Star Trek character, again, if you're not aware, is Captain Janeway.
08:28There are some real parallels between those two characters.
08:32Now, of course, they are also very different characters, but the fundamentals are the same.
08:36But in Star Trek, whilst it would be great to see Waddingham as an admiral or a captain,
08:41she would be the perfect Romulan badass villain.
08:45And the basis for that conclusion comes from her superbly villainous role
08:49as Magdalena in the third season of 12 Monkeys,
08:53where she became good friends with Terry Metallus and Todd Stashwick.
08:57So, a Star Trek role for Waddingham seems practically predestined at this point.
09:02Number 2. Lena Headey
09:04Lena Headey and the previous ray of sunshine on this list, Hannah Waddingham,
09:08became fast friends on the set of Game of Thrones, in spite of, or even in part owing to,
09:13the challenges of that waterboarding scene and the naked walk of shame.
09:17It would be an utter delight to see the pair reunite on screen in Star Trek,
09:22either as opposing forces once more, or as colleagues, chums in Starfleet, or elsewhere.
09:27Evidently at home with fantasy, science fiction is also familiar territory for Headey.
09:33The English actress played the titular Sarah in the woefully cut short series
09:37Terminator The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Mama in 2012's Dread.
09:41Headey could happily catch up, nay, to pass, her Terminator co-star and Star Trek stalwart
09:46Thomas Decker, who has previously had roles in Star Trek Generations,
09:50Star Trek Voyager, and in Star Trek Picard.
09:53In fact, Headey has already been cast, so to speak, as half-Vulcan, half-human Captain Tessara Frost
10:00in the Star Trek Courageous Fan Universe, set just after the end of Star Trek Deep Space Nine
10:05and before Star Trek Nemesis.
10:07Number 1. James McAvoy
10:10What do goat legs and that bloody-hell-it's-hot-in-here gif have in common with Captain Picard?
10:15James McAvoy, of course.
10:16The internationally renowned Glaswegian actor has taken on a host of characters in his career,
10:22but most notably, for our purposes, he played a young Professor Charles X Xavier.
10:26McAvoy not only has precedent then to play a younger version of Picard,
10:31but he's practically been canvassing for the role for a good while now.
10:35A proud geek through and through, McAvoy is an avid Star Trek fan,
10:39telling GQ of his admiration for Stewart's work in The Next Generation.
10:42Asked by Jimmy Fallon in a 2020 interview if he'd like to take on the Picard role,
10:47McAvoy replied,
10:49I'm doing the virtual lockdown equivalent of rubbing my scent all over Patrick's face and
10:53saying this territory is mine.
10:55If you haven't seen McAvoy's lockdown sci-fi salation Star Trek parody homage,
11:00then do yourself a favor.
11:02The utterly hilarious, quite literally made-on-a-shoestring-at-times Star Force
11:06stars McAvoy as the captain, Katrina Balfe as second-in-command,
11:10and has guest actors the likes of Florence Pugh, Kit Harington, and Sam Heughan.
11:15Give them all their own Trek series, I say, and see what happens.
11:19And that concludes our list.
11:20Let us know which actors you'd like to see in Star Trek in the comments down below.
11:24And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe,
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11:33and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:37I've been Ellie with Trek Culture.
11:39I hope you have a wonderful day, and remember to boldly go where no one has gone before.