Many well-known actors have guest-starred in Star Trek over the years, and some of them may come as a surprise. Actors like William Shatner and Patrick Stewart, gained much of their fame from Star Trek and remain forever connected to the franchise. Many famous Star Trek guest stars, however, are known for their work in other projects, either before or after their Star Trek guest roles. With Star Trek’s lengthy history and passionate fanbase, the opportunity to step onto a starship or a space station has been a goal or a springboard for plenty of actors.
While most of these guest stars may not have had large roles on Star Trek, some played memorable characters who left quite an impression. Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek: Voyager ran throughout the 1990s when most of these actors were just beginning their careers. Other stars already had well-established careers and just wanted a chance to don alien makeup or a Starfleet uniform. From pro wrestlers to punk rockers to movie stars, you may have forgotten that these 10 actors made an appearance in Star Trek.
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10 Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
Star Trek: Voyager: Season 6, Episode 15 (“Tsunkatse”)
When Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Lt. Tuvok (Tim Russ) are captured by an alien vessel, Seven is forced to participate in Tsunkatse combat matches for a crowd’s entertainment. In one of her matches, Seven is pitted against a Pendari man played by Dwayne Johnson. Johnson performed his own stunts, which included several wrestling moves, among them one of The Rock’s signatures known as “The Rock Bottom.” Seven’s final match, against a Hirogen opponent, is meant to be to the death, but the USS Voyager rescues her before either opponent has to kill the other.
9 Ashley Judd
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5 Episode 2 (“Darmok”) & Episode 6 (“The Game”)
One of Ashley Judd’s first roles was Ensign Robin Lefler in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lefler was a young officer on the USS Enterprise-D who assisted Chief Engineer Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) and had a brief romance with Ensign Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton). In “The Game,” Wesley visits the Enterprise while on leave from Starfleet Academy, and he and Robin help “rescue” the crew after they have become addicted to a Ktarian game. Producers reportedly planned for Ashley Judd’s Ensign Lefler to appear in more episodes, but the timing did not work out.
8 Teri Hatcher
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 2, Episode 4 (“The Outrageous Okona”)
In Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “The Outrageous Okona,” the Starship Enterprise rescues a roguishly charming space captain named Thadiun Okona (Billy Campbell). In an uncredited role, Teri Hatcher plays transporter chief Lt. B.G. Robinson, who finds herself charmed by Captain Okona after she beams him aboard the Enterprise. Robinson never appears again, and Chief Miles O’Brien (Colm Meany) soon takes over the role of transporter chief. Teri Hatcher would go on to star as Lois Lane in Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and as Susan Mayer Delfino in Desperate Housewives.
7 Kelsey Grammer
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 5, Episode 18 (“Cause and Effect”)
A Star Trek fan himself, Cheers and Frasier’s Kelsey Grammar appeared as Captain Morgan Bateson of the USS Bozeman in TNG’s “Cause and Effect.” When the USS Enterprise-D finds itself caught in a time loop, the ship keeps exploding as it crashes into the Bozeman emerging from a wormhole. Eventually, Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) finds a way out of the loop, and the Enterprise crew members discover they have been trapped for 17 days. The Bozeman has been missing for over 90 years, so Captain Picard and his crew welcome Captain Bateson to the 24th century.
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6 Bibi Neuwirth
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 4, Episode 15 (“First Contact”)
Bibi Neuwirth starred as Dr. Lilith Sternin-Crane, Frasier Crane’s wife, on both Cheers and Frasier throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. During this time, she appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation about a year before her on-screen husband, Kelsey Grammer, would also make a cameo appearance. In “First Contact,” Neuwirth plays an alien nurse named Lanel who tries to help an injured (and disguised) Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) escape from a hospital. The locals have discovered that Riker is not a member of their species, and Lanel helps him escape because she wants to “make love with an alien.”
5 Rainn Wilson
Star Trek: Discovery Season 1 Episode 5 (“Choose Your Pain”) & Episode 7 (“Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad”)
Best known for his role as Dwight Schrute on “The Office,” Rainn Wilson appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery as the con artist and smuggler, Harry Mudd. Played by Roger C. Carmel in Star Trek: The Original Series, Mudd had two run-ins with Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) and his crew. Rainn Wilson’s Mudd makes his first appearance in “Choose Your Pain,” where Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) encounters him in a Klingon prison. Mudd’s next appearance comes in one of Discovery’s most fun episodes, as Mudd attempts to steal the USS Discovery by controlling a time loop.
4 Christian Slater
Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country
Christian Slater appeared as an unnamed Communications Officer who worked the night shift on the USS Excelsior in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. When the ship receives a message from Starfleet asking about the USS Enterprise-A, Slater’s character must wake Captain Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) to pass on the message. Slater had already achieved fame with roles in Heathers and Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and he would go on to appear in numerous popular films and television shows. A huge Star Trek fan, Slater got the part because his mother, Mary Jo Slater, was the casting director for the film.
3 Kirsten Dunst
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 7 (“Dark Page”)
About a year before her breakout role in Interview with the Vampire, a young Kirsten Dunst played Hedril, a member of the Cairn species on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Lwaxana Troi (Majel Barrett) has been teaching the Cairn how to speak, and she visits the Enterprise with the Cairn Ambassador and his daughter, Hedril. Lwaxana’s daughter, Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), soon notices that Lwaxana is not her usual flamboyant self. Deanna eventually uncovers a memory that her mother had long repressed. Before Deanna, Lwaxana had a daughter named Kestra, who died as a child. Hedril subconsciously reminded Lwaxana of Kestra, and caused her repressed memories to resurface.
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2 Terry O’Quinn
Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 12 (“The Pegasus”)
In Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7’s “The Pegasus,” Commander Riker’s former Captain, now-Admiral Erik Pressman, visits the Enterprise-D, played by none other than Lost’s Terry O’Quinn. While commanding the USS Pegasus, Pressman participated in experiments to create a Federation cloaking device, despite the development of such technology being prohibited by the Treaty of Algeron with the Romulans. Pressman’s experiments eventually led his crew to commit a mutiny, but the truth behind the incident was covered up. Riker struggles with his loyalty to his former captain, but he eventually reveals the truth to Captain Picard, and Pressman and his peers are arrested.
1 Iggy Pop
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 6, Episode 10 (“The Magnificent Ferengi”)
“Godfather of Punk” Iggy Pop plays a Vorta negotiator named Yelgrun in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine‘s “The Magnificent Ferengi,” which sees Quark (Armin Shimerman) and his brother Rom (Max Grodénchik) put together a team of Ferengi to rescue their mother from the Dominion. With a much lighter tone than most of the Dominion War episodes, “The Magnificent Ferengi” is an incredibly fun episode and Iggy Pop delivers a memorable performance. People may not think of Iggy Pop when they think of Star Trek, but he’s just one of the surprising actors you may have forgotten made guest appearances in the franchise.
