Skip to main content

Which character in Star Trek has been played by the most actors?


Some recurring characters have been played by different actors in different films or episodes. Many main cast members have been portrayed by different actors due to flashbacks, and [(mumble) insert (mumble) technobabble (mumble)] shenanigans. Of course the 2009 reboot opens up a universe of characters being played by a new generation of actors.



Clarifications:



  • The character must be substantially the same: alternate timelines count at the same character, but for example, Shinzon is not Picard.

  • Janeway played by a lizard counts, just because it won't affect the answer and it makes me chuckle.

  • "possessions" (Spock in McCoy in Star Trek III and everyone in "Facets") do not count. This is DeForest Kelley playing Dr. McCoy containing some aspect of Spock, not DeForst Kelley playing Spock. The litmus test is, Would the IMDB or the credits reasonably credit Kelley as Spock? (This is going to be a little debatable, but it doesn't appear it will affect the accepted answer.)



Related: Which actor has portrayed the most distinct roles in the Star Trek universe?



Answer



Mr. Spock (12, up to 15)


Definite:



  1. Leonard Nimoy, most famously

  2. Zachary Quinto in the reboot continuity

  3. Jacob Kogan played the young Spock in Star Trek (2009)

  4. Spock appears as a baby in Star Trek V, although the name of the "actor" is unknown, so far as I know

  5. Carl Steven played nine-year-old Spock in Star Trek III


  6. Vadia Potenza played 13-year-old Spock in Star Trek III

  7. Stephen Manley played 17-year-old Spock in Star Trek III

  8. Joe W. Davis played 25-year-old Spock in Star Trek III

  9. Frank Welker provided Spock's screams in Star Trek III

  10. Billy Simpson voiced yet another young version of Spock in the Star Trek: The Animated Series episode "Yesteryear"

  11. Ethan Peck portrays Spock in Star Trek: Discovery

  12. Liam Hughes portrays young Spock in childhood flashbacks in Star Trek: Discovery


Debatable:




  1. DeForest Kelley played something Spock-like1 in scenes in Star Trek III where McCoy was taken over by Spock's katra

  2. Carey Scott recorded some scenes as a younger Spock for Star Trek V, but they were cut from the finished film

  3. Yet another baby Spock appears in a deleted scene filmed for Star Trek (2009), apparently played by child actress Jenna Vaughn; the scene is available on the DVD release




1 There's at least one scene in the movie where Spock's katra (soul) completely takes over McCoy's body:



McCoy: (in Spock's voice) Jim, ...Help me. ...You left me on Genesis. ...Why did you do that? ...Help me.


Kirk: Bones, ...what the hell are you doing? Have you lost your mind!


McCoy: Help me, Jim. ...Take me home.



Kirk: Bones, we are. We are home.


McCoy: Then perhaps it's not too late. ...Climb the steps, Jim. ...Climb the steps of Mount Seleya.


Kirk: Mount Seleya? Bones, Mount Seleya is on Vulcan! We're home, ...on Earth!


McCoy: (in Spock's voice) Remember!


Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)



However McCoy is still in there somewhere; it's unclear to what extent he and Spock are mingling inside McCoy's body.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize Missy right away?

So after it was established that Missy is actually both the Master, and the "woman in the shop" who gave Clara the TARDIS number... ...why didn't The Doctor or Clara recognize her right away? I remember the Tenth Doctor in The Sound of Drums stating that Timelords had a way of recognizing other Timelords no matter if they had regenerated. And Clara should have recognized her as well... I'm hoping for a better explanation than "Moffat screwed up", and that I actually missed something after two watchthroughs of the episode. Answer There seems to be a lot of in-canon uncertainty as to the extent to which Time Lords can recognise one another which far pre-dates Moffat's tenure. From the Time Lords page on Wikipedia : Whether or not Time Lords can recognise each other across regenerations is not made entirely clear: In The War Games, the War Chief recognises the Second Doctor despite his regeneration and it is implied that the Doctor knows him when they fir

the lord of the rings - Why is Gimli allowed to travel to Valinor?

Gimli was allowed to go to Valinor despite not being a ring bearer. Is this explained in detail or just with the one line "for his love for Galadriel"? Answer There's not much detail about this aside from what's said in Appendix A to Return of the King: We have heard tell that Legolas took Gimli Glóin's son with him because of their great friendship, greater than any that has been between Elf and Dwarf. If this is true, then it is strange indeed: that a Dwarf should be willing to leave Middle-earth for any love, or that the Eldar should receive him, or that the Lords of the West should permit it. But it is said that Gimli went also out of desire to see again the beauty of Galadriel; and it may be that she, being mighty among the Eldar, obtained this grace for him. More cannot be said of this matter. And Appendix B: Then Legolas built a grey ship in Ithilien, and sailed down Anduin and so over Sea; and with him, it is said, went Gimli the Dwarf . And when that sh

Did the gatekeeper and the keymaster get intimate in Ghostbusters?

According to TVTropes ( usual warning, don't follow the link or you'll waste half your life in a twisty maze of content ): In Ghostbusters, it's strongly implied that Dana Barret, while possessed by Zuul the Gatekeeper, had sex with Louis Tully, who was possessed by Vinz Clortho the Keymaster (key, gate, get it?), in order to free Big Bad Gozer. In fact, a deleted scene from the movie has Venkman explicitly asking Dana if she and Louis "did it". I turned the quote into a spoiler since it contains really poor-taste joke, but the gist of it is that it's implied that as part of freeing Gozer , the two characters possessed by the Keymaster and the Gatekeeper had sex. Is there any canon confirmation or denial of this theory (canon meaning something from creators' interviews, DVD commentary, script, delete scenes etc...)? Answer The Richard Mueller novelisation and both versions of the script strongly suggest that they didn't have sex (or at the very l

What is the etymology of Doctor Who?

I recently decided to watch Doctor Who, and started viewing the 2005 version. I have the first two episodes from the first season, and I can't help but wonder what is the etymology of the name "Doctor Who"? And why does the protagonist call himself "the Doctor" (or is it "the doctor")? Answer In the very first episode of Doctor Who (way back in 1963), the Doctor has a granddaughter going by the name "Susan Foreman", and the junkyard where the TARDIS is has the sign "I.M. Foreman". Barbara, who becomes one of the Doctor's companions, calls him "Doctor Foreman" (probably assuming that is his name given his relationship to Susan), and Ian (another early companion) does the same in the second episode, to which the Doctor says: Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about? "Foreman" is most likely selected as a convenient surname for Susan to use because it happened to be on display near where the TARDIS landed.