One Oscar winning movie featured six actors from across the Star Trek franchise, and also earned one star an Academy Award. Several Star Trek movies have been nominated for Oscars, but none have ever won, or been nominated for, the coveted Best Picture Oscar. Star Trek movies are generally nominated for technical awards like visual effects, makeup, and sound design, never acting. Therefore, any Star Trek actor who wins an Oscar – and there have been a few – wins them in more venerated movies.
Despite potential awards snobbery toward it, Star Trek is such a beloved institution that many big-name Hollywood actors are attracted to the franchise. For example, Academy Award nominee Whoopi Goldberg had to convince her co-stars that she truly wanted to join the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, one Oscar-winning movie from the 1970s has the distinction of featuring six different actors who would go on to play roles in Star Trek movies and shows throughout the 80s and 90s.
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One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest Features 6 Star Trek Actors
The 1975 Jack Nicholson movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest won five Academy Awards, including the Best Picture Oscar in 1976. It also featured six actors who would go on to play some big roles in the Star Trek franchise. Nurse Ratched was played by Louise Fletcher, who played Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s villainous Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was also Brad Dourif’s first credited movie role, and his heartbreaking performance as Billy Bibbit earned him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Dourif would later play Star Trek: Voyager‘s most interesting character, the Betazoid murderer, Lon Suder.
Other Star Trek actors who starred in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest include Christopher Lloyd as Taber. The Back to the Future star played Kruge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. Also in the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest is Michael Berryman as Ellis, who later played Captain Rixx in the controversial Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Conspiracy.” Frederickson actor Vincent Schiavelli later played the holographic arms dealer in TNG‘s “Arsenal of Freedom.” Rounding out the Star Trek actors in the cast was Peter Brocco as Colonel Matterson, who had previously played the Organian, Claymare in Star Trek: The Original Series.
What DS9’s Louise Fletcher Has In Common With Star Trek: Discovery’s Michelle Yeoh
Louise Fletcher won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1976. Fletcher’s chilling performance also earned her a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. While this would be the only time that Louise Fletcher’s name would appear in the annual awards ceremonies, she went on to win other accolades, particularly for her performance as Kai Winn in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. In 1997, 1998, and 1999, Fletcher took home the Best Guest Actress in a Syndicated Series trophy at the Online Film and Television Association awards.
Michelle Yeoh is the only other Star Trek actress to win the Best Actress in a Leading Role Oscar. Star Trek: Section 31‘s Michelle Yeoh won the Oscar for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once in 2023. Michelle Yeoh also won a Golden Globe for her performance in the sci-fi action movie, but unlike Louise Fletcher, wasn’t able to secure a BAFTA win in the UK. However, both Michelle Yeoh and Louise Fletcher’s career successes prove that Star Trek provides the sort of rich character material that can attract actors of their stature.
