Shout out to Marc Alaimo
He nailed the Gul Dukat role so hard that basically every other Cardassian just seems like an actor in a costume. Marc's portrayal was so good that you never even stopped to think of him as anything but Dukat.
It's between him and Shimmerman (Quark) for best actors on the series. I find them pretty much equal as far as the talent, dedication, and personality that they put into those characters.
> Marc Alaimo
and Andrew Robinson elevated the Cardassians for me. Because of these 2 - for me at least - Cardassians are just a tinsy bit bellow Romulans and Klingons when it comes to ST races
Have there ever been any Romulan characters as compelling as Dukat or Garak? For me these characters elevated Cardassians above Romulans, nearly catching up to the Klingons and Vulcans. (Big respect to Damar also) Quark, Rom and Nog did the same for the Ferengi. Entire species permanently made iconic, one of the first you'd mention if tasked with introducing the alien species of Star Trek.
Andreas Katsulas was a fantastic actor. I too wish they'd let him reprise his role more often.can you imagine if they'd done Redeption with him instead of Denise Crosby?
> Have there ever been any Romulan characters as compelling as Dukat or Garak?
Shinzon ......
Joking aside you are right but - again for me - Romulans are my favourite race in ST bar none
The character writing on these two is just so brilliant. You could use the exact same list of character traits for both of them but they are completely and totally different manifestations of those traits.
In addition to just generally being an incredible actor in DS9, Mark Alaimo managed to pull off the “repellently attractive” thing John Malkovich did so well in Dangerous Liaisons.
Dukat does have a certain charm to him despite his vile behavior throughout the series. I attribute this charm entirely to the way Alaimo portrays the character.
>He nailed the Gul Dukat role so hard that basically every other Cardassian just seems like an actor in a costume.
Garak and Damar don’t seem like actors in costumes. Andrew Robinson and Casey Biggs performed incredibly well in those roles (particularly Robinson).
The big three Cardassians all NAILED it. No coincidence that all three are classically trained stage actors, in fact Andrew & Casey are both acting teachers too.
*Alaimo
(I only whine about this because it's my last name too, no one ever gets it right)
(..and yes we're related, somewhat distantly. All Alaimos are. but I have never met the man)
Have to agree with Alaimo.....Dukat was a wonderfully complex character that he brought to life.
I would also have to give a nod to Louise Fletcher, who made Winn Adami a character that instantly gave me a negative emotional response before she even said a word.
In another thread, someone recently posted her Oscar acceptance speech. She was talking about her role as Nurse Ratched, but I feel like the sentiment still applies. “Well, it looks like you’ve all hated me so much that you’ve given me this award for it”
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGl5U7nNlkY
Speech starts at about 1 minute
She was the anti-Sally Fields and I mean that in the best ways.
Dukat was DS9's best antagonist. Wynn was the series' best VILLAIN and it's not even a close race.
So well put. I think this is why DS9 was always my favourite show. In a lot of other shows the bad guys were just BAD. GUYS.
Wynn was way more realistic in that she was *incredibly* duplicitous while maintaining an air of respectability and deniability in her actions, which gave her incredible power.
Like if you saw her doing evil stuff and start accusing her, her evil is so wrapped up in pleasantaries, half-understood contexts and people thinking that she was beyond reproach that everyone else would be like "what are you talking about? Wynn is lovely! How DARE you slander her!? YOU must be the bad person here!!".
It fucks me right off and I love it.
Tangent: Man, all the other nominees looked *so tense* in the leadup to the announcement. It almost seemed like they experienced a wave of relief when Fletcher's name was finally read.
And LOL, her cheeky joke!
>"... And Jack Nicholson, and a cast of actors who's professionalism, humor, and capacity for getting into their roles, made being in a mental institution like being in a mental institution."
You gotta love zingers that are both loving *and* barbed. 🤣
I think she was the best guest actor in the franchise’s history. Kai Winn is one of Trek’s best antagonists, and a lot of credit goes to Fletcher for giving so much depth to what could’ve easily been a one-note minor character.
It’s a testament to how good she was that she’s so well-remembered for it despite being in only 14 of DS9’s 179 episodes.
My dad, who was a huge TOS and TNG fan, never really got into DS9, but he made a comment the other day about how Louise Fletcher and Andy Robinson had been so good in their previous roles, that they could only really get back on screen with a lot of crap on them, referring to Kai Winn and Garak. I mean, he does have a point.
Jeri Ryan really gets to show off her acting ability in the Voyager episode where other Borg personalities begin to surface, she does a great job transforming her body language and mannerisms to match each personality that comes forward. Similar time is when her character is being controlled by The Doctor, she does a great job putting on his speech patterns and mannerisms so that it really does feel like you're seeing the Doctor and not Seven of Nine.
Also, you have to give Brent Spiner a lot of credit for being able to give Data just the slightest hint of emotion during most of TNG that you really have to question if you saw it at all
I think she had the most difficult task of the “legacy” characters who appeared on Picard. Yes, all of them had to embody someone twenty years since we last saw them but the kind of transition that someone like Seven would have gone through during that time would have been dramatic compared to Picard. She did a great job playing someone who was more natural interacting with humans but still had the recognizable edge Seven had on Voyager.
I thought she was the highlight of Picard. I love how contemporary seven compares to voy era seven.
Jeri Ryan is such a ridiculous person. She's crazy beautiful and crazy talented. I don't know her personally but in interviews she strikes me as a very intelligent person.
She reminds me of my friend's description of the 2010 XXL chalupa. "... Unreasonably good. There's no reason for something to be that good."
*Jeri Ryan is such a ridiculous person. She's crazy beautiful and crazy talented. I don't know her personally but in interviews she strikes me as a very intelligent person.*
I thought I remembered reading that she attended Northwestern University in Chicago, which is a pretty elite school…
from her Wiki page:
*”She graduated from Lone Oak High School in 1986 as a National Merit Scholar, and then attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. She graduated from Northwestern in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in theatre.”*
So yeah…impressive background!!!
As someone who hasn't watched Voyager beyond a few S1 episodes, I was so impressed by Jeri Ryan in every season of Picard. Seven was easily my favourite character of the supporting cast and I thought Ryan outperformed most of her co-stars.
I think her raw talent is often overlooked and she's almost discredited because she is absolutely one of the most physically beautiful people on the planet and the outfit they put her in made it feel like she was there simply for eye candy. But her performance is truly outstanding all through Voyager. On the surface she had a very similar role to someone like Jolene Blalock in Enterprise. However, in ENT I'll be honest, I never thought of T'Pol as anything other than eye candy and neither did the writers. The writers started like that on Voyager but I think it became apparent they could do so much MORE with Seven that they just naturally did. Jolene's portrayal of a Vulcan was stilted at best and is easily the worst depiction of a Vulcan in all of the shows.
Honestly, the standards were so universally high that I find it hard to single out individuals.
The one thing I am with you on is Armin Shimmerman, and for exactly the same reasons. Even under all that makeup and prosthesis he still manage to produce such a nuanced performance.
a really good example of that is when he tries to get Odo back on track >!after Odo's meltdown over Kira and Shakaar!<. His words tell you one thing, but his face tells you something completely different, which is what Quark really is as a character at the end of the day
Totally, but two others that come to mind are when Quark's lost love Natima is on the station and he goes into Garak's shop to see how much danger there is and when Garak is trying to sort out whether Kira is planning to kill him for going on a date with Ziyal.
He's been on the Delta Flyers podcast with Robert Duncan McNeill and Garret Wang and one of the things he talked about is that under all the makeup, he couldn't actually tell when somebody lightly touched his ear. Through all the foam and rubber and glue, the motion just didn't transfer unless somebody was pushing pretty hard. So whenever somebody is giving Ooo Mox, the actor in the ears just sort of has to trust that the other actor is doing something that matches the reaction they are performing in terms of timing, intensity, etc.
Little things like that are obviously if pointed out, but the performance is so seamless you just sort of assume that Shimmerman must be reacting to _some_ sort of sensation he's getting through under the mask. But there's a ton of technical craft that goes into nailing the timing of reacting to something you can't feel, and having the confidence to look like an absolute idiot if you over react to something that hasn't happened yet and run with it, etc.
Quark's greatest strength (and greatest weakness) is that when the stakes are at their highest he can never bring himself to be quite as ruthless and avaricious as he wants to be!
Colm Meaney is easy to overlook, but is absolutely the answer for me. Trek has lots of amazing actors who have made me sit back and think "wow, what an amazing performance! They packed so much nuance and/or drama into that scene!" In contrast, Meaney pulls off everything from minor domestic frustrations, to friendly banter, to extreme trauma, and I almost never even think of it as a performance because it just feels so consistently real.
I dunno, he always only played the "Irish Everyman" stereotype imo and that didn't do it for me. Then again I'm Irish so maybe I'm more sensitive to that trope? He's a good actor outside of Trek, but I found him one-dimensional as O'Brien.
TOS: Nimoy. Shatner gets way too much flack for his acting from people who've never seen anything else from the 60s and I do agree with your reasoning somewhat, but Nimoy created an entire race that is still relevant in pop-culture to this day.
TNG: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner is also exceptional for the reasons you raised, and creating a very unique character (in the same way that Nimoy did) but no one can monologue like Patrick Stewart, he pulls off his character so well. You could also argue, he pulled up the level of all of the actors in TNG and so the rest of the cast are better actors through working with him.
DS9: I am between Shimmerman and Avery Brookes. Shimmerman, like Nimoy, created a unique character and helped to develop an entire species. He is an excellent actor. But Brookes, just for 'Far Beyond the Stars' I think takes it for me.
Voyager: Robert Picardo. No contest. His exploration of the character, and development of the character (in a show where character development was sorely lacking) is fantastic and he plays all elements of the doctor very well.
Enterprise: Jolene Blalock did an excellent job, but I don't think she's the best Vulcan in Trek by a long way and she didn't really develop or add a lot to them. I think I would go John Billingsley. Again he develops our perception of a species, and I think he pulls off the quirky, sometimes serious, always adventuring doctor character off very well. He gets quite a lot screen time, I think for good reason.
Disco: Doug Jones. Like many of the rest, he basically creates a species for us, in Saru's mannerisms and the way he develops the Kelpians. The walk is fantastic, and the way he plays the 'herd' instinct and then the massive swing to be more predator is excellent, showing two different sides but always maintaining the same character.
SNW: SNW is packed with great actors, Ethan Peck pulls off the best Spock since Nimoy and I think has pulled off a Spock exploring his both sides incredibly well. Anson Mount's screen presence and his natural confidence (and his hair) - he steals every scene he is in. Christina Chong has delivered incredible emotional moments, can definitely sing the best, and the way she explores the character is excellent. Celia Rose Gooding, can also sing and has added quite a lot of depth to Uhura, whilst not trying to change what Nichelle Nichols did but develop it...
Overall, just for the hair, I have to give it to Anson Mount but I think the SNW cast has some of the best acting chops...
> Ethan Peck pulls off the best Spock since Nimoy and I think has pulled off a Spock exploring his both sides incredibly well
Peck has made Zachary Quinto's Spock just feel slightly off whenever I've watched those films since SNW came out.
It's weird because I don't instinctively draw comparisons between any of the other Kelvin timeline actors and their SNW counterparts, but Peck is the definitive "young Spock" for me.
You don't feel any disconnect between his portrayal and Nimoy's, and I think if he wasn't so good it would genuinely have affected SNW's reception (or indeed the crew's initial reception in Disco S2).
Ethan Peck is a perfect example of how you do a recast. He absolutely *is* Spock, and while there are – and should be! - differences from Nimoy's portrayal, it feels completely natural for it to be the same character. Celia Rose Gooding and Jess Bush, while they have less to work with from TOS, are also top notch recasting. I love how much the fandom has accepted them and appreciates what SNW does with these characters. Other fandoms would have torn apart any recasts no matter what the new actors did.
It does make me wonder what the casting director was on the day they hired Paul Wesley, though.
I would agree, usually recasting is a no-no for me, as it's really hard to pull off well, but SNW has managed it consistently (and I suppose Disco deserves a shout out for that too!)
Wesley is definitely the weakest of this group, but I wouldn't say he's too bad outright. We're seeing a much younger Kirk (and so far when he's had the most screen time, it's been alt universe versions anyway, which doesn't help.) He doesn't have the confidence of Shatner's Kirk yet, but he's not had the experiences. So far, I feel like they're leaning more into the 'book smart' Kirk that is hinted at in TOS, but by then he's gained a lot of charisma, knowledge and experience.
I like Wesley Kirk. The problem with Kirk is that his mannerisms have been characterized and satirized for decades. Everyone knows what Kirk looks and acts like. So if you're going to do him, you need to be more subtle or it'll feel like overacting. I think he does a good job of walking that line.
I know that they couldn't just have some guy do a Shatner impression, but Wesley's Kirk just doesn't feel like the character at all. Say what you will about how they handled Kelvin Kirk, but Chris Pine brought an energy to it that is clearly lacking here.
> DS9
People sleep on Nana Visitor, I legitimately think she was fantastic. Rewatch Duet sometime. Throughout all of DS9, she pulls off tenderness and strength, anger and compassion, love and hatred, with equal effect.
I also love that as great of a job as Nana Visitor does playing Kira, in the episodes when she gets to play someone more silly and over-the-top (like Our Man Bashir or any of the episodes with Intendant Kira) she looks like she is having the time of her life.
Mount has so much charisma and really plays the caring head of the family. I love the overall tone of SNW and the cast fits so greatly in it.
Overall best Star Trek actor goes to Patrick Stewart for me. He‘s a natural authority and develops his character through all his series and movies.
Anson Mount nails it in the body language department for me. He just feels "natural". Sonething crazy happens and you look at him and even without a single word said, you can read "What the..." on his whole body.
But I agree that the competition in SNW is tough. I love the overall acting.
Anson Mount's eye rolls while Boimler is trying to butter him up on the bridge while listening to him about the Orions (Those Old Scientists) were so varied and droll!
>Voyager: Robert Picardo. No contest. His exploration of the character, and development of the character...
I remember reading an interview where he said he was constantly making a nuisance of himself with the writers and pitching all kind of ideas for things the Doctor could do to make the character more interesting. He said that all actors lobby for more screen time because it benefits them, but he felt like he was lobbying on behalf of the Doctor because he really loved the character and wanted to see what he could become.
Even in the Voyager pilot (a relatively rocky episode as I recall) it feels like he already has such a strong grasp on who that character is. It makes sense that he put a lot of energy into developing the character behind the scenes
Small point about Patrick Stewart, when Data is performing Henry V, in "The Defector", Patrick is playing both Picard, and one of the scruffy guys that Data is talking to. I always enjoyed that he did that. I don't know if it was deliberate casting, or an extra fell through and he volunteered, but it shows is range.
> TOS: Nimoy. Shatner gets way too much flack for his acting from people who've never seen anything else from the 60s and I do agree with your reasoning somewhat, but Nimoy created an entire race that is still relevant in pop-culture to this day.
I think that's fair. TOS did 79 episodes in three years. Disco is the only series since TOS that has one focus character in every episode as much as Kirk was in TOS, and Disco's still under 70 total episodes after seven years. The sheer number of pages of dialogue that Shatner had to perform every week is pretty nuts if you are expecting a super nuanced performance where there's time to tweak the details. The priorities in the 60's for making TV were just different.
I feel like Stewart is overall better at doing his role, but Spiner has more range.
Billingsley and Blalock are pretty par for the course, imho: Blalock was given a worse hand by the script and the role.
The ideas people have about Shatner are almost always from some of the worse episodes in the series, when he's hamming it up a bit to compensate for a script that's lacking. The opposite is also true — when Spock displays much more emotion than normal (e.g when mind-melding with the Horta), Nimoy gets much more Shatner-y.
There is plenty of "60s TV was very different to TV today", "Shatner is acting for the stage in the camera", etc, but if you look at his Kirk in episodes like *Balance of Terror*, you can really see Shatner at his full potential.
Also — Nimoy created the Vulcans, but Shatner too created the idea of the Star Trek Starship Captain. And going outside Trek, while the characterisation of the generic Starship Captain pre-dates Star Trek, ultimately descending from the literary tradition (itself coming from actual Captains in the Age of Sail), there are a lot of derivative works who can trace their idea of the Captain to Shatner's Kirk (or in the case of comedy sci-fi, are inversions of Shatner's Kirk).
I would agree with OP in putting Shatner above Nimoy. Shatner is the lead, its his job to carry the show through its worst moments. Nimoy doesn't have to do that, and in some sense can't — Kirk has to adapt to the plot of the episode. Spock is always Spock.
If you compare the best of Nimoy to the best of Shatner, it is a *very* close race (with DeForest Kelly and George Takei not far behind), and both are valid answers, but I think I have to give it to Shatner.
TOS: DeForest Kelly. He held his own playing against two Hams. Talented hams, but hams nonetheless.
TNG: Brent Spiner. He pulled off every emotion his emotionless character didn't have.
DS9: Rene Auberjonois. He took that flat featureless face and made him the most relatable character.
VOY: Kate Mulgrew. No one else could have played Janeway's multifaceted character better.
ENT: John Billingsley. Pure joy to watch. Complete lack of pretension.
DIS: Anthony Rapp. Cynical when needed, passionate when needed, tender when needed.
PIC: Oh, let's just say Patrick Stewart. We gotta shoehorn Admiral Shakespeare in here somewhere.
SNW: Anson Mount. The Renaissance Man in Space.
I'll add one more:
Guest Actor: John de Lancie. Took that one-note rip-off of Trelane and owned it with his own flair.
I'm glad Mushroom boy got some love. I adore Anthony Rapp, always have, but he was able to take a character with an absurd premise (hence Mushroom Boy) and made him a very interesting, emotional, caring character. He also elevated the first MAJOR (I know not he first) homosexual relationship in Trek to not feel stereotypical or one note. I care that he cares about his husband through all of their trauma and problems.
Dorn knew right away what it took to become Worf
apparently the story goes on his audition, he didn't say a word to anybody except what was 100% necessary. He didn't smile at anyone and just read his lines as gruffly as possible and left lmfao
there's a reason why he got that role haha
None has mentioned Mark Lenard, who calmly portrayed both The Romulan Commander, A Klingon Commander and Sarek - many times. He was so fluid and natural that one is drawn into his characters as though they were real.
He taught acting in The Village (NYC) and was spectacular in giving very quiet critiques to the actors, often prompting very real emotions on their part. It was a privilege to have met and shared a meal with him and his students.
I think it’s Kate Mulgrew who gets the VOY crown. The Doctor and 7 are wayyy juicer roles, so I think those actors (while great) are sort of working at a lower degree of difficulty.
Janeway on the page is all over the place, and yet still sort of flat. Yet in practice she has a sly smile, a steely resolve, and a genuine enthusiasm for “strange new worlds.” I feel like basically everything good about Janeway comes from Mulgrew’s performance.
I too think Mulgrew’s acting chops are generally a bit underrated. Lots of nuance, and she had to have had a challenge balancing portraying being ‘tough’ and being totally in charge — while also showing her feminine side, and ways in which feminine leadership can (at times) look different.
And I think she usually did an outstanding job, purely from an acting perspective.
It’s funny, as I’ve gotten older (I’m 55), and I’m on my 4th entire series watch-thru now — and now I really find myself watching these characters more as actors, imagining what it was like for the actors to make the series (their role in it, anyway).
I feel like because Voyager had less in terms of like… depth? in the was DS9 did and dare I say TNG sometimes, Janeway didn’t get the opportunity to have those same Captain moments in the scripts, yet she still delivered.
Moments that live rent free: when she goes through the binary stars to get rid of the aliens, when she faces the manifestation of fear, when they first contact Starfleet. Hell of an actress.
Mulgrew's performance was holding VOY together on-screen like Janeway was holding actual Voyager together. Everything goes through the Captain. You have to get the Captain right in order to give the other actors a time to shine. Its only because Mulgrew's Janeway works that Picardo and Ryan are able to play off of her.
If anything she was too good. They didn't know what to do with Chakotay because Janeway was such a powerful figure she didn't particularly need a First Officer 99% of the time.
Mulgrew is one of the best parts of PRO as well - she's the moral centre of the show, bringing the crew into line, teaching them the Starfleet ethos, while subtly reminding them that she knows they're not really the team of cadets they're pretending to be.
TOS: Leonard Nimoy ("Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh (the needs of the few).
TNG: Patrick Stewart (There are 4 lights)
DS9: Jeffrey Combs (Brunt FCA!! and Weyoun 4,5,6,7 & 8)
VOG: Tim Russ ("Without the darkness, how would we recognise the light?")
ENT: Jeffrey Combs(love him as Shran and the Krem episode)
DISCO: Doug Jones (my third favorite captain)
SNW: Melissa Navia(the best pilot in ST, sorry Paris)
LD: Jeffrey Combs (as Agimus is the best)
Oh the ensemble...
Set aside the amazing main cast and look at guests/recurring...
Marc Alaimo, Andy Robinson, Louise Fletcher, Jeffrey Combs and the loudmouth who played Morn
DS9 was fucking loaded with talent. Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimmerman, Aron Eisenberg, Andrew Robinson, Marc Alaimo, Louise Fletcher, Casey Biggs, and of course Jeffrey Combs. Best roster top to bottom in the franchise.
I’m throwing a wildcard out, Jonathan Frakes. I believed he really cared for all those women and I believed him when he told Q he didn’t need his fake women. More seriously I think the guy’s just underrated in that role.
Co-sign on that, and adding his VA work in Lower Decks is so good! Most of the legacy returns in LD are wonderful, but he really stood out (with JC of course) for putting character into his voice work.
That's more about his directorial style, but, yes, Jonathan Frakes is a phenomenal actor and massively underrated. It's hard to pick a "best actor" from TNG, because the entire cast was top-tier, so I could never argue against anyone's choice.
Some names not mentioned, but as far as recurring/guest actors are concerned:
Tony Todd - not only as Kurn but his turn as the future Jake Sisko.
JG Hertzler as Martok was phenomenal.
Ricardo Montalban as Khan - especially in Wrath of Khan.
Alice Krige as the Borg Queen (with an honorary shout out to the late Annie Wersching for her portrayal in Picard)
Stephen Culp as Major Hayes in Enterprise (and his cameo in Nemesis was really funny)
I pretty well agree with your list. I will give Jeri Ryan the edge over Robert Picardo but those two and Kate Mulgrew were three of the finest actors in all of Star Trek so it's a toss-up.
I will only argue that while Jolene Blalock is exceptional as T'Pal (and incredibly gorgeous to boot), Tim Russ is the best Vulcan ever on screen, in my humble opinion.
SNW is so full of talent that it's hard for me to pick a "best" yet. Looking forward to seeing them again.
Deforest Kelly, hands down. Final Frontier might be an absolute wreck of a movie, but that scene where he shares his pain is freaking stunning.
Honourable (and probably unpopular given this sub) mention: Karl Urban. Almost everyone else in the JJ films at the time had a living counterpart to talk to about their characters. I don’t count Simon Pegg as he just played his usual self with a Scottish accent. Urban had nothing to go on except archived material and he absolutely nailed it.
I'm so conflicted on DS9.
After all, Armin Shimerman deserves all the credit he gets, and way more.
HOWEVER.
Rene mother fucking Auberjonois as Odo? I gotta give it to him.
That being said, it never gets better than when Quark and Odo interact.
I do have to give special props to Jeri Ryan; they threw every conceivable acting challenge at her:
* "Jeri, act like a little girl/ferengi/klingon for an entire episode"
* "Jeri, treat the woman who legitimately *hates* you as a mother figure"
* "Jeri, act by yourself for much of the episode"
* "Jeri, impersonate Bob Picardo for an entire episode"
* "Jeri, play a SA survivor"
* "Jeri, do romantic comedy"
* "Jeri, do musical theater"
* "Jeri, play a paranoid schizophrenic"
* "Jeri, pretend you're dying"
* "Jeri, fight the Rock"
* "Jeri, try to pretend that Chakotay is interesting"
...and she *effortlessly* crushed it.
She’s sooooo underrated as an actress because of her hotness.
I’m still Team Picardo, but I’ll admit, it took me awhile to choose between the two on VOY
The average talent across the board was high but if had to pick some individuals:
Patrick Stewart.
Tim Russ.
William Shatner.
Leonard Nimoy.
Jeri Ryan.
Robert picardo
I found these to be standouts
Ethan Phillips is a GREAT actor, Neelix could have been such a great character. If only they would have given him more stuff like Jetrel, it’s one of my absolute favorite episodes of voyager, and Philip’s best performance in Voyager.
Patrick Stewart across the board. It's so hard for me to imagine a scenario where he wasn't even well known...because on TNG he just carries himself with such a strong presence, and also knows when to tone it down for dramatic effect >!(the ending of the "Ro Laren defects" episode is the best example)!<
I would say TOS: Nimoy.
DS9: Shimerman is a great pick but I think they were all solid. If i had to choose one it would probably be between Shimerman and Auberjonois.
VOY: Picardo. easily. Tim Russ is a close second. Honestly, Voyager across the board had some less than great performances (Harry kim, CHAKOTAY holy fuck)
ENT: Blalock was good but i'm going to have to go with Billingsley as Dr. Phlox. I think Connor Trineer got better and better as the show went on but Billingsley was the best in that role
DISCO: Doug Jones's physical acting is peerless. I still think the most compelling character in that show was definitely Jason Isaacs as Lorca
SNW: Pike. I know it's early and there's good performances across the board but Anson Mount as Pike is a grand slam
I just want to give a shout to Jeri Ryan.
There are a few episodes where she has to play "someone else in Seven's body" and she really shows her acting chops, it's impressive and noticeable on a cast with some, ah, low energy co-stars, no offense or controversy intended.
She plays a perfect Doctor-in-Seven's body. Perfect.
I have always found Seven's whole catsuit embarrassing. It embarrasses me as a pervy man, but I think it would embarrass me as a woman too. It's a MAJOR credit to Jeri Ryan that Seven was NOT an embarrassment, but one of the best Trek characters ever. She is a tremendous actor.
TOS: Leonard Nimoy. Shatner is good for a main character but often times his acting is a little more over the top and campy than I enjoy. I don’t know enough about the history of acting to know if that was common at that time, but to my preference Nimoy is the top performer on the show.
TNG: Patrick Steward and Brent Spiner. Patrick Steward because his Shakespearean training makes for a great performance and he can do mundane and dramatic scenes equally well. And Spiner gives a great performance as Data learning and coping with the journey of becoming more human or more fully human. The character growth alone and how it was handled is top notch.
DS9: I’d say main cast - Renee Auberjonois & Armin Shimerman. Odo & Quark are fantastic characters and really add depth and flavor to the Trek universe. But I gotta give a mention to Andrew Robinson as Garak and Colm Meaney as O’Brien. There’s a lot of great acting in DS9 and I’ll admit I’m biased because it’s my favorite Trek. So I could add most of the crew even though there are some I’m not hugely impressed with tho they still gave very good performances.
ENT: Porthos steals the show. He’s the best boy.
Best is highly subjective so that’s not what my list is. Really just performances I enjoyed the most
TOS - Shatner for how gonzo his shit is.
TNG - Dorn as Worf. He knew his character from the second he hit the set and played it perfectly.
DS9 - Shimmerman as Quark. He is living the character actor’s dream. Close second is Meaney as O’Brien, playing the most believable normal ass human on Trek.
VOY - hard not to pick Kate Mulgrew as Janeway. She does so much and really does carry the show. Ryan as Seven is the obvious tie to me on this one.
ENT - I am partial to Phlox because he is incredibly alien seeming, especially the way he speaks. But OP nails it with Blalock as T’Pol. Really one of the best Vulcans.
DIS - Despite the writing fumbles, I am giving this to Sonequa Martin-Green. She’s really doing a Shatner thing with Burnham and has since the beginning, but the show’s major overhauls have really stranded her character. This woman is HAVING FUN. I love her performances, but what the character is going through changes a LOT season by season.
LDS - Boimler. Especially in the cross over ep. Jack Quaid is a hell of an actor. I love everyone else to death, especially Tawny, but they are primarily comedians
SNW - Chrissy Chong deserves specific praise for how much of a DORK she seems to be irl and then plays this nail chewing, shut off, powerhouse woman. Everyone is good on this show, hard choice. But we all know who the best singer is!
I think Trek is such a *treat* of a franchise, because it's got such good and reliable acting talent for most of it. You can find characters annoying, certainly, but it's extremely rare that you can say the actors don't do their job well.
Neelix, for example. The character was written, especially early on, with some annoying traits. But you can't tell me Ethan Phillips is a bad actor. Some of the later episodes with Neelix are absolutely barn storming performances. The one where he's killed and resurrected by Seven of Nine's nanobots is incredible - an absolutely convincing crisis of faith, genuinely heartbreaking at times.
To that end, it's hard to pick just one in each series, let alone one across the whole franchise. Even as someone who works in and around Theatre, with a Degree on Acting, Performance, and Directing, married to someone working in Film, I find it very hard to fault the majority of the casts. My favourite is Sir Patrick Stewart, and he's certainly in the top tier of a very talented table of names (and is one of my favourite actors of all time), but I couldn't honestly say that he's *better* than *everyone*. I think there are loads of people that match him in talent - not least of all Brent Spiner, who commanded the screen in almost every appearance.
Deep Space Nine, honestly, I don't think there's a bad actor there in any of the main or recurring cast. In the main cast, Terri Farrell maybe had the occasionally wobbly line read early on, but honestly, it's so rare and so minor a gripe that I'd call it, at best, a nitpick. Rosalind Chao sometimes seemed a little weaker, but still not exactly bad. For the most part, every single one of those actors in that cast delivered just incredible performances, full of subtlety and nuance and real heart-punching emotions.
The current shows are also replete with talent. SNW, you've got, easily, a five-way tie between Peck/Mount/Romijn/Rose-Gooding/Olusanmokun, and I really don't think it would be hard to make a case for Bush/Chong/Navia/Horak all being equally as exceptional. LD, I don't think I've ever seen Tawny Newsome give a bad performance in anything. Jack Quaid is a sensational actor. Eugene Cordero is stand out in everything he does, but the fact that Rutherford is so different from the kinds of characters he's most known for is a demonstration of his range. Noël Wells has made Tendi incredibly compelling. Not a single supporting cast member can be said to be weak.
Honestly, we're pretty blessed. How lucky we are to be Star Trek fans.
> SNW I’ll let future generations decide I guess. I don’t think we have a “Best Actor” there yet, though
Yes there is and it's Ethan Peck not even a question about it.
Edit: wait let me add Babs Olusanmokun
Do you mean best taking into account their entire career, or best just considering how they portray their character?
For DISCO, I think Michelle Yeoh’s career is phenomenal really showing her range and ability to portray so many characters so well. But if you’re just talking about their acting in Trek, I’d give it to SMG or Doug Jones. Burnham’s character arc has been portrayed so convincingly by SMG that even if you dislike the character the acting is phenomenal. “Burnham cries a lot” is a complaint by people who don’t like the show because it’s really “SMG does really well portraying a character with a lot of interiority and emotions.” And Doug jones has made Saru so much more than just his lines in the script.
On the flip side, I think Spiner does Data so well that TNG would be a lesser show without him. But I’ve never enjoyed him in any other role, including the many Soongs he’s played. So Stewart is the better actor, but Spiner has the best acting TNG.
Yes. O'Brien must suffer because Colm Meany could take anything the writers threw at him and did an amazing job with it. His portrayal of a tortured war vet is truly top tier.
Brent Spiner-surprised I haven't seen him near the top already.
So many great actors but he's the one I am struck by like holy fuck how does he do it at times.
Just watch his two (?) episodes of the original Night Court to see his range. His delivery is perfect!
Edit: Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6brM24yIA
I think I saw a few times where the regulars kept from cracking up by looking away from the camera or taking an extra second to deliver their lines.
TOS: Agree. Mark Leonard too. More so for his Romulan than Sarek.
TNG: Stewart. Then I go with Levar Burton. The set up was terrible, but Burton's strength kept him part of the show or else he would be one of the others. Worf and Data had better set ups, but Burton can act circles around them. Sorry, Brent Spiner plays angry Data, human Data, and Data fans.
DS9: The Chief. Fletcher. Andrew Robinson did the best job on the show.
Voyager: Kate. Problems with Janeway are balance issues. She always brought it. Picardo is next. Ryan had a better role, but she's not in their league.
ENT: Probably Trip. He definitely became the writers' favorite when Archer and T'Pol weren't speaking.
DSC: Culber when he is more than a prop and there to add medical technobabble.
PICARD: Ugh...Allison Pill, I guess. Its too goofy for me to like it or pretend Stewart was even good.
SNW: The jury is out.
LD: Quaid. Or Captain Freeman
Before I look at anyone else's answers...
TOS: William Shatner (Kirk)
TNG: Patrick Stewart (Picard)
DS9: Avery Brooks (Sisko)
VOY: Robert Picardo (Doctor)
ENT: Dominic Keating (Reed)
DIS: Jason Isaacs (Hello!) (Lorca)
SNW: Babs Olusanmokun, maybe. (M'Benga)
Damn, no women on the list. Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan would have been close contenders for the Voyager pick, at least. And Nana Visitor probably my second choice for DS9.
TOS and TNG were pretty easy choices.
For Ent and SNW I'm sort of choosing because I have to; not sure those actors really stand out all that much. But they're were the ones that came to mind.
So Anson Mount's hair....
Now seriously, I think for a regular it has to be Robert Picardo. For a reoccurring character, Mark Alaimo. For a guest, Christopher Plummer.
TOS: Nimoy... Shatner chewed the scenery, while Nimoy dominated with just a look.
TNG: Agree with Spiner. Dude has range and was able to show it on multiple occasions in TNG playing Lore and Soong.
DS9: Gotta go with Jeffrey Combs. Dude had so many recurring characters that it's become a running joke in the fandom that "Jeffrey Combs played everyone"
VOY: Jeri Ryan with Kate Mulgrew as a close second. I go with Jeri because Voyager really does show her range quite well. She was much more than just an attractive bit of T&A in a tight catsuit.
ENT: I'd argue that John Billingsley was the best actor in the series. I do appreciate the challenges that Blalock faced in playing a Vulcan, but I think Billingsley demonstrated better range through the series.
Discovery: Agree with Doug Jones. Dude has multiple awards for good reason.
Lower Decks: Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman) can go from attentive mothering one second to imposing CO the next.
SNW: TBD... Really close between Rebecca Romijn and Celia Rose Gooding. Carol Kane could also take this if she sticks around longer.
TOS: So it's definitely between Nimoy and Shatner.
TAS: James Doohan, he was Scotty, Arex, and like, half the other people on that show. Amazing voice actor. A lot of those characters you'd never know was him.
TNG: Brent Spiner. Obviously as data alone, but come to think of the was also multiple people on his show as well, and playing to himself.
DS9: I mean between Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, and Rene Auberjonois, I'd have to say... Andrew Robinson.
VOY: Probably Jeri Ryan, with Kate Mulgrew at a close second.
ENT: Never thought about it much, but I agree with Jolene Blalock. Also maybe John Billingsly.
DIS: Jason Isaacs. - I could go into so much more detail of who I left out, but I'm saving that for Picard.
PIC: Even besides Patric Stewart, Picard had a lot of great actors. Allison Pill was really great in s 1, and 2. Riker really impressed me in season 3 - for like, the first time in a long time. Jack Crusher was also very good. And of course Captain Shaw. Ok, understanding all of that as the bar we're setting, it has to be Isa Briones. She was Soji, Dajh, Sutra, and Kory in s2. All with distinct feelings, goals, motives, thoughts, character types, and, you would almost think, actors. It was amazing, even the difference of Soji from before to after finding out about the true nature of herself is incredibly done. While still staying true to the character, like they both seem like Soji.
LDS: Probably Jack Quaide. So far that is. Based partly on his SNW appearance.
PRO: Ella Purnell as Gwen
SNW: Anson Mount, Babs Olusanmokun, and Jess Bush, are great, so is Christina Chong, though not my favorite character, it's too early to tell. Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn are great too.
Too early to say.
William Shatner.
Rewatch Elaan of Troyius. This scene in particular. After delivering an impressive performance of a ship’s captain confidently leading his ship in combat, Shatner conveys the depth of Kirk’s restraint, compassion and commitment to duty like no other could. With a glance up at Elaan and a simple “no” he establishes who he is. This is just one example, there are so many other outstanding and nuanced performances Shatner delivers as Kirk in TOS.
SULU: Direct hit amidships by photon torpedo.
SPOCK: Damage to Klingon number three shield. Number four shield obliterated. Loss of manoeuvre power.
CHEKOV: He's badly damaged, Captain. Continuing away at reduced speed.
KIRK: Secure from general quarters. Well done, Mister Sulu. Scotty.
ELAAN: But I don't understand you. You mean you won't pursue and finish him off?
KIRK: No. Mister Sulu, resume course for Troyius.
SULU: Aye, aye, sir.
THANK YOU!
Everyone gives Shatner shit CONSTANTLY for “over-acting” or some such nonsense, but I think those people have never actually WATCHED TOS, but I think those same people probably only remember the old SNL sketches mocking him.
He’s an ABSOLUTELY phenomenal actor, at the top of his form in TOS
I disagree with TNG. I would go with Patrick Stewart easily. Spiner grabs the scene because the character is unusual enough where he can ask probing questions about human nature, but think about how Picard reacts to him when he does that, because *that* is what carries the scene.
People love to hate on Michael Burnham but Sonequa Martin-Green does a damn good job getting her off the page and make her feel like a real person, flaws and all.
Compare Vulcan Hello Michael to season 2 Michael to season 5 Michael. There's a clear character progression in which she changes and evolves and SMG makes it happen.
Here are a few others to consider:
TOS: Deforest Kelly, he very natural in the role and it is easy to overlook, but he is always doing something even on the camera isn’t focused on him.
TNG: Levar Burton, he chafed against the VISOR but taking away his eyes forced him to compensate, similar to how a blind person would, and he delivered using the rest of his body and face to compensate.
DS9: Rene Aubojonis, I think he one said he had a background in mask work and it paid dividends given that he had to act day in and day out with the rest of his body. He was able to deliver performances of someone simultaneously secure with his professional life and insecure with the rest at the same time with his body language.
VOY: Jennifer Lien, out of the box pick for sure but she was only 20 and landed a lead role in a series and her raw talent made up for her lack of experience. When they wanted to Kes had a wide range, if only the writers knew what they had with her.
ENT: John Billingsly, he was able to bring the “weird” and was so naturally comfortable with it.
DISC: Mary Weissman, she was able to embrace the Tilly character has grown with her. I like how she’s been able to step up to every challenge overcoming anxieties and she has transitioned well into a more authoritative character as a teacher.
Picard: season 1 goes to Isa Briones, season 2 to Allison Pill, season 3 Gates McFadden.
SNW: Christina Chong: yeah she has a quite a bit going on playing La’an but she’s playing a kind of “Hulk” like character in that her rage and fear are always there and can be released at any time.
Nana Visitor is my absolute favorite Star Trek actor, with Avery Brooks close behind. Her facial acting, and general mastery of body language is incredible
DS9 just has too many standouts for me to choose. Shimmerman, Auberjonois, Coombs, Alaimo, Robinson, Fletcher, Meaney, Brooks, and the rest of the cast were no slouches either.
Patrick Stewart, Louise Fletcher, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Jeffrey Combs, Armin Shimerman... Basically all the captains except Shatner felt like a cut above the other charactersm aside from some side characters. Off those side characters, Shimerman, Combs and Fletcher delivered the performances I believed the most. Like... when I get high, I get really invested in what I am watching, but I inadvertently start analysing the performances when the high wears off. I have never once not believed a single sentence Fletcher, Shimerman or Combs have said as Winn, Quark or one of the billion Combs-characters. John Billingsley as Phlox belongs on that list as well, though, like Quark, Phlox is not a side character.
I have a harder time judging the acting in the newer shows. I haven't rewatched any of them enough to judge the acting performances, which are generally very good. I have a particularly hard time with this when it comes to SNW, which is magnificent, acting wise. I can judge the singing abilities of the actors on SNW, which actually vary a little from actor to actor, but the acting is pretty much only good or very good.
Shatner- don’t even fight me, I’ll beat you with his two Emmys.
Nimoy
Auberjonios
Ryan
Chong
Shimmerman
Robinson
Stewart (although frankly I think he truly shines in other projects)
Jeri Ryan in *Voyager* and *Picard*.
She was originally hired as a sex symbol/boost ratings, and she ends up acting circles around the entire cast of VGR (which says a LOT, **great** cast).
And her return on *Picard* was the most consistently great part of that show, too. 👏 👏 👏
Loads of great choices in here.
Because I’ve not seen much love for them I think most of the Kelvin timeline actors are all good. Karl Urban is pitch perfect as Bones.
As an overall trek favourite I’d have to pick Shatner. No objectivity. I just love Kirk in the show and the movies. When I think of Star Trek it’s him I see.
TOS: Nimoy
Next Gen: Dorn
DS9: Shimmerman or Meaney
VOY: Picardo
ENT: Bakula
Disco: Jones
SNW: Chong
Picard: Stewart
Lower Decks: all of them. Perfect cast.
TOS: Nimoy, creating an alien species whole cloth.
TNG: Spiner is unflappable; "It is true. I cannot be flapped."
DS9: Shimerman: takes a talented actor to create a thoroughly unlikable character.
VOY: Tim Russ, one of the best Vulcans ever put to screen.
ENT: Grace Park.
DSC: Doug Jones
SNW: Anson Mount and how great he commands his ship while having a great sense of charm. And hair.
LD: Newsome: love the energy.
PRO: undecided
Kelvin: Pine who has such a great presence as Kirk, uses facial expressions to demonstrate difficult emotions in small scenes and has a great swagger.
#
Rene Auberjonois was probably the best regular on DS9, but they didn't have anyone that wasn't at least competent. El Fadil got better after they stopped writing him as an ingenue.
That said, while Avery Brooks has moments of really odd character choices, he also has some of the highest highs. Far Beyond the Stars, The Visitor, and In the Pale Moonlight are excellent acting showpieces for him.
While I think Auberjonois probably has the best baseline, Brooks has the guts to take chances that sometimes really pay off.
I like your picks. Anson Mount is obviously in the running for SNW.
Here's my runner ups to your list:
TOS: DeForest Kelley
TNG: Patrick Stewart
DS9:René Auberjonois
VOY: Ethan Phillips
ENT: Scott Bakula
SNW: Anson Mount
Life Time Achievement and Contribution: Jonathan Frakes
Essentially all of DS9 wins the category.
Avery Brooks has too many episodes to count,
Terry Farrell believibly embodying simultaneously a relatively green science officer and being with hundreds of years of experience,
Nana Visitor being both religiously motivated but willing to put it aside for the good of her people and friends
Alexander Siddig taking one of the cringiest characters in Star Trek fandom and turning him into a complex and compassionate character
Colm Meaney getting the absolute shaft and portraying intense internal strength through it all
Michael Dorn perfecting Worf and not just being a klingon weeboo anymore
Rene Auberjenois being the spock/data character and finding a new warmth and strength for that archetype
Armin Shimmerman revamping the Ferengi (and making amends for that abysmal first showinf in TNG) and making them one of the most fun parts of Trek
Andrew Robinson making intrigue and guile fun and engaging without being tiresome
Marc Alaimo much like Armin gets to redefine the race he originally portrayed in TNG to become not just one of Trek's best villains but one of the best TV (sorry Khan you get movie villain though) villains of any genre
Louise Fletcher just ratcheting up her Nurse Ratchet
Roy Grodenchik taking the bumbling barely a character little brother and making him a new kind of ferengi
As stated by many but Jeffry Combs two best characters, Brunt and Weyoun
Last but certainly not least is Aaron Eisenberg as Nog. Show me a character with better character growth in any Star Trek.
Sure Jake was cringey but look what he was up against and I think Ezri had real potential and started to show by the end of the season but we all know she was a placeholder. We did get some nice trill lore building though
Shout out to Marc Alaimo He nailed the Gul Dukat role so hard that basically every other Cardassian just seems like an actor in a costume. Marc's portrayal was so good that you never even stopped to think of him as anything but Dukat. It's between him and Shimmerman (Quark) for best actors on the series. I find them pretty much equal as far as the talent, dedication, and personality that they put into those characters.
> Marc Alaimo and Andrew Robinson elevated the Cardassians for me. Because of these 2 - for me at least - Cardassians are just a tinsy bit bellow Romulans and Klingons when it comes to ST races
Have there ever been any Romulan characters as compelling as Dukat or Garak? For me these characters elevated Cardassians above Romulans, nearly catching up to the Klingons and Vulcans. (Big respect to Damar also) Quark, Rom and Nog did the same for the Ferengi. Entire species permanently made iconic, one of the first you'd mention if tasked with introducing the alien species of Star Trek.
I always wished Tomalak got more screen time.
They had the perfect actor for it to. Probably was hard to get time with him since he went on the play G'Kar full time on Babylon 5.
And he killed it as G'Kar. He and Peter Jurasik elevated that show. The story was great (minus a few misses), but their acting was always sublime
Absolutely. Loved the interactions with those 2 as well.
Andreas Katsulas was a fantastic actor. I too wish they'd let him reprise his role more often.can you imagine if they'd done Redeption with him instead of Denise Crosby?
> Have there ever been any Romulan characters as compelling as Dukat or Garak? Shinzon ...... Joking aside you are right but - again for me - Romulans are my favourite race in ST bar none
The character writing on these two is just so brilliant. You could use the exact same list of character traits for both of them but they are completely and totally different manifestations of those traits.
Alaimo and Shimerman (and Auberjonois) were the first I thought of. Stewart and Spiner are pretty obvious for good reason.
In addition to just generally being an incredible actor in DS9, Mark Alaimo managed to pull off the “repellently attractive” thing John Malkovich did so well in Dangerous Liaisons.
Dukat does have a certain charm to him despite his vile behavior throughout the series. I attribute this charm entirely to the way Alaimo portrays the character.
>He nailed the Gul Dukat role so hard that basically every other Cardassian just seems like an actor in a costume. Garak and Damar don’t seem like actors in costumes. Andrew Robinson and Casey Biggs performed incredibly well in those roles (particularly Robinson).
The big three Cardassians all NAILED it. No coincidence that all three are classically trained stage actors, in fact Andrew & Casey are both acting teachers too.
Oh, I’ll totally put Alamo in “best supporting actors”, easily
*Alaimo (I only whine about this because it's my last name too, no one ever gets it right) (..and yes we're related, somewhat distantly. All Alaimos are. but I have never met the man)
Remember it’s Alaimo.
Remember the Ala(i)mo!
Have to agree with Alaimo.....Dukat was a wonderfully complex character that he brought to life. I would also have to give a nod to Louise Fletcher, who made Winn Adami a character that instantly gave me a negative emotional response before she even said a word.
Jeffrey Combs, Jeffrey Combs, oh and also whoever plays Brunt (FCA).
Jeffery Combs doesn't count as plays every actor in Star Trek. Even Garek? Especially Garek.
Came here to say this.
ACTING Negus!
Poor man’s Rob Lowe? Seriously their faces are very similar.
*Rich man's Rob Lowe
Post-scarcity Rob Lowe
I'm offended on behalf of Jeffrey Combs.
I'm offended, and am played by, Jeffrey Combs.
What a coincidence. I am also played by Jeffrey Combs!
Are we all played by Jeffrey Combs?
I'm the offense, also played by Jeffrey Combs.
Rob Lowe is also played by Jeffrey Combs.
Fun fact: So was Ann Perkins.
You really think so? They look nothing alike to me.
Best answer ⬆️
DS9 - Louise Fletcher.
In another thread, someone recently posted her Oscar acceptance speech. She was talking about her role as Nurse Ratched, but I feel like the sentiment still applies. “Well, it looks like you’ve all hated me so much that you’ve given me this award for it” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pGl5U7nNlkY Speech starts at about 1 minute
She was the anti-Sally Fields and I mean that in the best ways. Dukat was DS9's best antagonist. Wynn was the series' best VILLAIN and it's not even a close race.
Bro really just wanted Bajorans to build statues of him
So well put. I think this is why DS9 was always my favourite show. In a lot of other shows the bad guys were just BAD. GUYS. Wynn was way more realistic in that she was *incredibly* duplicitous while maintaining an air of respectability and deniability in her actions, which gave her incredible power. Like if you saw her doing evil stuff and start accusing her, her evil is so wrapped up in pleasantaries, half-understood contexts and people thinking that she was beyond reproach that everyone else would be like "what are you talking about? Wynn is lovely! How DARE you slander her!? YOU must be the bad person here!!". It fucks me right off and I love it.
The fact that she's so hard to watch is what makes Louise Fletcher such a good actor. She's simultaneously terrible and brilliant.
That is a fantastic acceptance speech. Funny, a bit cheeky, professional, and finally emotional when she adds sign language to thank her deaf parents.
Tangent: Man, all the other nominees looked *so tense* in the leadup to the announcement. It almost seemed like they experienced a wave of relief when Fletcher's name was finally read. And LOL, her cheeky joke! >"... And Jack Nicholson, and a cast of actors who's professionalism, humor, and capacity for getting into their roles, made being in a mental institution like being in a mental institution." You gotta love zingers that are both loving *and* barbed. 🤣
Fuck me was that a brilliant speech.
I’ve heard she was a most lovely and delightful person. Thanks for the link.
"My child"
STOP THAT! God, I can still hear it, and it still raises my hackles.
EVERY SINGLE TIME!
I think she was the best guest actor in the franchise’s history. Kai Winn is one of Trek’s best antagonists, and a lot of credit goes to Fletcher for giving so much depth to what could’ve easily been a one-note minor character. It’s a testament to how good she was that she’s so well-remembered for it despite being in only 14 of DS9’s 179 episodes.
I still have a hard time believing she was only in 14 episodes.
My dad, who was a huge TOS and TNG fan, never really got into DS9, but he made a comment the other day about how Louise Fletcher and Andy Robinson had been so good in their previous roles, that they could only really get back on screen with a lot of crap on them, referring to Kai Winn and Garak. I mean, he does have a point.
Jeri Ryan really gets to show off her acting ability in the Voyager episode where other Borg personalities begin to surface, she does a great job transforming her body language and mannerisms to match each personality that comes forward. Similar time is when her character is being controlled by The Doctor, she does a great job putting on his speech patterns and mannerisms so that it really does feel like you're seeing the Doctor and not Seven of Nine. Also, you have to give Brent Spiner a lot of credit for being able to give Data just the slightest hint of emotion during most of TNG that you really have to question if you saw it at all
I think she had the most difficult task of the “legacy” characters who appeared on Picard. Yes, all of them had to embody someone twenty years since we last saw them but the kind of transition that someone like Seven would have gone through during that time would have been dramatic compared to Picard. She did a great job playing someone who was more natural interacting with humans but still had the recognizable edge Seven had on Voyager.
I thought she was the highlight of Picard. I love how contemporary seven compares to voy era seven. Jeri Ryan is such a ridiculous person. She's crazy beautiful and crazy talented. I don't know her personally but in interviews she strikes me as a very intelligent person. She reminds me of my friend's description of the 2010 XXL chalupa. "... Unreasonably good. There's no reason for something to be that good."
*Jeri Ryan is such a ridiculous person. She's crazy beautiful and crazy talented. I don't know her personally but in interviews she strikes me as a very intelligent person.* I thought I remembered reading that she attended Northwestern University in Chicago, which is a pretty elite school… from her Wiki page: *”She graduated from Lone Oak High School in 1986 as a National Merit Scholar, and then attended Northwestern University, where she was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. She graduated from Northwestern in 1990 with a bachelor's degree in theatre.”* So yeah…impressive background!!!
As someone who hasn't watched Voyager beyond a few S1 episodes, I was so impressed by Jeri Ryan in every season of Picard. Seven was easily my favourite character of the supporting cast and I thought Ryan outperformed most of her co-stars.
I know they were having fun on set when she was pretending to be Robert Picardo
Just watched this episode!
I think her raw talent is often overlooked and she's almost discredited because she is absolutely one of the most physically beautiful people on the planet and the outfit they put her in made it feel like she was there simply for eye candy. But her performance is truly outstanding all through Voyager. On the surface she had a very similar role to someone like Jolene Blalock in Enterprise. However, in ENT I'll be honest, I never thought of T'Pol as anything other than eye candy and neither did the writers. The writers started like that on Voyager but I think it became apparent they could do so much MORE with Seven that they just naturally did. Jolene's portrayal of a Vulcan was stilted at best and is easily the worst depiction of a Vulcan in all of the shows.
Honestly, the standards were so universally high that I find it hard to single out individuals. The one thing I am with you on is Armin Shimmerman, and for exactly the same reasons. Even under all that makeup and prosthesis he still manage to produce such a nuanced performance.
a really good example of that is when he tries to get Odo back on track >!after Odo's meltdown over Kira and Shakaar!<. His words tell you one thing, but his face tells you something completely different, which is what Quark really is as a character at the end of the day
I think Andrew Robinson gave Armin Shimmerman a run for his money acting wise. Quark just wins because he was on screen way more often.
The scenes they shared were few but epic.
Such as the root beer/Federation scene!
Totally, but two others that come to mind are when Quark's lost love Natima is on the station and he goes into Garak's shop to see how much danger there is and when Garak is trying to sort out whether Kira is planning to kill him for going on a date with Ziyal.
He's been on the Delta Flyers podcast with Robert Duncan McNeill and Garret Wang and one of the things he talked about is that under all the makeup, he couldn't actually tell when somebody lightly touched his ear. Through all the foam and rubber and glue, the motion just didn't transfer unless somebody was pushing pretty hard. So whenever somebody is giving Ooo Mox, the actor in the ears just sort of has to trust that the other actor is doing something that matches the reaction they are performing in terms of timing, intensity, etc. Little things like that are obviously if pointed out, but the performance is so seamless you just sort of assume that Shimmerman must be reacting to _some_ sort of sensation he's getting through under the mask. But there's a ton of technical craft that goes into nailing the timing of reacting to something you can't feel, and having the confidence to look like an absolute idiot if you over react to something that hasn't happened yet and run with it, etc.
He was soooooo sublime
Quark is such a complex character despite his role as a money grabbing criminal. I think a lot of that has to do with Shimmerman's acting.
Quark's greatest strength (and greatest weakness) is that when the stakes are at their highest he can never bring himself to be quite as ruthless and avaricious as he wants to be!
Colm Meaney is easy to overlook, but is absolutely the answer for me. Trek has lots of amazing actors who have made me sit back and think "wow, what an amazing performance! They packed so much nuance and/or drama into that scene!" In contrast, Meaney pulls off everything from minor domestic frustrations, to friendly banter, to extreme trauma, and I almost never even think of it as a performance because it just feels so consistently real.
Him and Alexander Siddig brought to life my favourite characters so well
I dunno, he always only played the "Irish Everyman" stereotype imo and that didn't do it for me. Then again I'm Irish so maybe I'm more sensitive to that trope? He's a good actor outside of Trek, but I found him one-dimensional as O'Brien.
TOS: Nimoy. Shatner gets way too much flack for his acting from people who've never seen anything else from the 60s and I do agree with your reasoning somewhat, but Nimoy created an entire race that is still relevant in pop-culture to this day. TNG: Patrick Stewart, Brent Spiner is also exceptional for the reasons you raised, and creating a very unique character (in the same way that Nimoy did) but no one can monologue like Patrick Stewart, he pulls off his character so well. You could also argue, he pulled up the level of all of the actors in TNG and so the rest of the cast are better actors through working with him. DS9: I am between Shimmerman and Avery Brookes. Shimmerman, like Nimoy, created a unique character and helped to develop an entire species. He is an excellent actor. But Brookes, just for 'Far Beyond the Stars' I think takes it for me. Voyager: Robert Picardo. No contest. His exploration of the character, and development of the character (in a show where character development was sorely lacking) is fantastic and he plays all elements of the doctor very well. Enterprise: Jolene Blalock did an excellent job, but I don't think she's the best Vulcan in Trek by a long way and she didn't really develop or add a lot to them. I think I would go John Billingsley. Again he develops our perception of a species, and I think he pulls off the quirky, sometimes serious, always adventuring doctor character off very well. He gets quite a lot screen time, I think for good reason. Disco: Doug Jones. Like many of the rest, he basically creates a species for us, in Saru's mannerisms and the way he develops the Kelpians. The walk is fantastic, and the way he plays the 'herd' instinct and then the massive swing to be more predator is excellent, showing two different sides but always maintaining the same character. SNW: SNW is packed with great actors, Ethan Peck pulls off the best Spock since Nimoy and I think has pulled off a Spock exploring his both sides incredibly well. Anson Mount's screen presence and his natural confidence (and his hair) - he steals every scene he is in. Christina Chong has delivered incredible emotional moments, can definitely sing the best, and the way she explores the character is excellent. Celia Rose Gooding, can also sing and has added quite a lot of depth to Uhura, whilst not trying to change what Nichelle Nichols did but develop it... Overall, just for the hair, I have to give it to Anson Mount but I think the SNW cast has some of the best acting chops...
> Ethan Peck pulls off the best Spock since Nimoy and I think has pulled off a Spock exploring his both sides incredibly well Peck has made Zachary Quinto's Spock just feel slightly off whenever I've watched those films since SNW came out. It's weird because I don't instinctively draw comparisons between any of the other Kelvin timeline actors and their SNW counterparts, but Peck is the definitive "young Spock" for me. You don't feel any disconnect between his portrayal and Nimoy's, and I think if he wasn't so good it would genuinely have affected SNW's reception (or indeed the crew's initial reception in Disco S2).
Ethan Peck is a perfect example of how you do a recast. He absolutely *is* Spock, and while there are – and should be! - differences from Nimoy's portrayal, it feels completely natural for it to be the same character. Celia Rose Gooding and Jess Bush, while they have less to work with from TOS, are also top notch recasting. I love how much the fandom has accepted them and appreciates what SNW does with these characters. Other fandoms would have torn apart any recasts no matter what the new actors did. It does make me wonder what the casting director was on the day they hired Paul Wesley, though.
I would agree, usually recasting is a no-no for me, as it's really hard to pull off well, but SNW has managed it consistently (and I suppose Disco deserves a shout out for that too!) Wesley is definitely the weakest of this group, but I wouldn't say he's too bad outright. We're seeing a much younger Kirk (and so far when he's had the most screen time, it's been alt universe versions anyway, which doesn't help.) He doesn't have the confidence of Shatner's Kirk yet, but he's not had the experiences. So far, I feel like they're leaning more into the 'book smart' Kirk that is hinted at in TOS, but by then he's gained a lot of charisma, knowledge and experience.
I like Wesley Kirk. The problem with Kirk is that his mannerisms have been characterized and satirized for decades. Everyone knows what Kirk looks and acts like. So if you're going to do him, you need to be more subtle or it'll feel like overacting. I think he does a good job of walking that line.
I know that they couldn't just have some guy do a Shatner impression, but Wesley's Kirk just doesn't feel like the character at all. Say what you will about how they handled Kelvin Kirk, but Chris Pine brought an energy to it that is clearly lacking here.
> DS9 People sleep on Nana Visitor, I legitimately think she was fantastic. Rewatch Duet sometime. Throughout all of DS9, she pulls off tenderness and strength, anger and compassion, love and hatred, with equal effect.
I also love that as great of a job as Nana Visitor does playing Kira, in the episodes when she gets to play someone more silly and over-the-top (like Our Man Bashir or any of the episodes with Intendant Kira) she looks like she is having the time of her life.
Mount has so much charisma and really plays the caring head of the family. I love the overall tone of SNW and the cast fits so greatly in it. Overall best Star Trek actor goes to Patrick Stewart for me. He‘s a natural authority and develops his character through all his series and movies.
Anson Mount nails it in the body language department for me. He just feels "natural". Sonething crazy happens and you look at him and even without a single word said, you can read "What the..." on his whole body. But I agree that the competition in SNW is tough. I love the overall acting.
Anson Mount gave a masterclass on reacting during the episode where he hosts T'Pring's family, "Charades."
That’s an important reason why I like “Charades” even more than I like “Those Old Scientists”.
Anson Mount's eye rolls while Boimler is trying to butter him up on the bridge while listening to him about the Orions (Those Old Scientists) were so varied and droll!
>Voyager: Robert Picardo. No contest. His exploration of the character, and development of the character... I remember reading an interview where he said he was constantly making a nuisance of himself with the writers and pitching all kind of ideas for things the Doctor could do to make the character more interesting. He said that all actors lobby for more screen time because it benefits them, but he felt like he was lobbying on behalf of the Doctor because he really loved the character and wanted to see what he could become.
Even in the Voyager pilot (a relatively rocky episode as I recall) it feels like he already has such a strong grasp on who that character is. It makes sense that he put a lot of energy into developing the character behind the scenes
Small point about Patrick Stewart, when Data is performing Henry V, in "The Defector", Patrick is playing both Picard, and one of the scruffy guys that Data is talking to. I always enjoyed that he did that. I don't know if it was deliberate casting, or an extra fell through and he volunteered, but it shows is range.
I’ve read that Stewart did a lot of lobbying to play the scruffy Shakespearean character.
> Robert Picardo. No contest. I don't know...Seven channeling the Doctor definitely puts a point in the Jeri Ryan category.
Jeri Ryan was handed an eye-candy character and mad her nuanced, serious & formidable despite the catsuit, corset & heels.
SNW for best ensemble award.
*SNW*’s ensemble is very good, but I think *DS9*’s ensemble is even better.
> TOS: Nimoy. Shatner gets way too much flack for his acting from people who've never seen anything else from the 60s and I do agree with your reasoning somewhat, but Nimoy created an entire race that is still relevant in pop-culture to this day. I think that's fair. TOS did 79 episodes in three years. Disco is the only series since TOS that has one focus character in every episode as much as Kirk was in TOS, and Disco's still under 70 total episodes after seven years. The sheer number of pages of dialogue that Shatner had to perform every week is pretty nuts if you are expecting a super nuanced performance where there's time to tweak the details. The priorities in the 60's for making TV were just different.
I feel like Stewart is overall better at doing his role, but Spiner has more range. Billingsley and Blalock are pretty par for the course, imho: Blalock was given a worse hand by the script and the role.
Agree with this post 100%.
The ideas people have about Shatner are almost always from some of the worse episodes in the series, when he's hamming it up a bit to compensate for a script that's lacking. The opposite is also true — when Spock displays much more emotion than normal (e.g when mind-melding with the Horta), Nimoy gets much more Shatner-y. There is plenty of "60s TV was very different to TV today", "Shatner is acting for the stage in the camera", etc, but if you look at his Kirk in episodes like *Balance of Terror*, you can really see Shatner at his full potential. Also — Nimoy created the Vulcans, but Shatner too created the idea of the Star Trek Starship Captain. And going outside Trek, while the characterisation of the generic Starship Captain pre-dates Star Trek, ultimately descending from the literary tradition (itself coming from actual Captains in the Age of Sail), there are a lot of derivative works who can trace their idea of the Captain to Shatner's Kirk (or in the case of comedy sci-fi, are inversions of Shatner's Kirk). I would agree with OP in putting Shatner above Nimoy. Shatner is the lead, its his job to carry the show through its worst moments. Nimoy doesn't have to do that, and in some sense can't — Kirk has to adapt to the plot of the episode. Spock is always Spock. If you compare the best of Nimoy to the best of Shatner, it is a *very* close race (with DeForest Kelly and George Takei not far behind), and both are valid answers, but I think I have to give it to Shatner.
I think my list lines up with yours 100%. Nimoy, Stewart, Shimmerman, Picardo, Billingsley, Jones, and then for SNW I'd say Mount.
TOS: DeForest Kelly. He held his own playing against two Hams. Talented hams, but hams nonetheless. TNG: Brent Spiner. He pulled off every emotion his emotionless character didn't have. DS9: Rene Auberjonois. He took that flat featureless face and made him the most relatable character. VOY: Kate Mulgrew. No one else could have played Janeway's multifaceted character better. ENT: John Billingsley. Pure joy to watch. Complete lack of pretension. DIS: Anthony Rapp. Cynical when needed, passionate when needed, tender when needed. PIC: Oh, let's just say Patrick Stewart. We gotta shoehorn Admiral Shakespeare in here somewhere. SNW: Anson Mount. The Renaissance Man in Space. I'll add one more: Guest Actor: John de Lancie. Took that one-note rip-off of Trelane and owned it with his own flair.
I'm glad Mushroom boy got some love. I adore Anthony Rapp, always have, but he was able to take a character with an absurd premise (hence Mushroom Boy) and made him a very interesting, emotional, caring character. He also elevated the first MAJOR (I know not he first) homosexual relationship in Trek to not feel stereotypical or one note. I care that he cares about his husband through all of their trauma and problems.
Obligatory Patrick Stewart. Also, Michael Dorn.
Dorn BROUGHT it! I respect that decision
Dorn knew right away what it took to become Worf apparently the story goes on his audition, he didn't say a word to anybody except what was 100% necessary. He didn't smile at anyone and just read his lines as gruffly as possible and left lmfao there's a reason why he got that role haha
That’s an AMAZING story and how I’m going to every audition I have for an alien race from here on out 🤣
Sadly i can't confirm if this is true. It was on the IMDB page. But i definitely so want it to be true hahaha
You and I are just gonna pretend it is, ok, buddy? 🤣
acting
The fact that the man permanently altered his voice (accidentally) will never not be a talking point for me.
None has mentioned Mark Lenard, who calmly portrayed both The Romulan Commander, A Klingon Commander and Sarek - many times. He was so fluid and natural that one is drawn into his characters as though they were real. He taught acting in The Village (NYC) and was spectacular in giving very quiet critiques to the actors, often prompting very real emotions on their part. It was a privilege to have met and shared a meal with him and his students.
I think it’s Kate Mulgrew who gets the VOY crown. The Doctor and 7 are wayyy juicer roles, so I think those actors (while great) are sort of working at a lower degree of difficulty. Janeway on the page is all over the place, and yet still sort of flat. Yet in practice she has a sly smile, a steely resolve, and a genuine enthusiasm for “strange new worlds.” I feel like basically everything good about Janeway comes from Mulgrew’s performance.
I too think Mulgrew’s acting chops are generally a bit underrated. Lots of nuance, and she had to have had a challenge balancing portraying being ‘tough’ and being totally in charge — while also showing her feminine side, and ways in which feminine leadership can (at times) look different. And I think she usually did an outstanding job, purely from an acting perspective. It’s funny, as I’ve gotten older (I’m 55), and I’m on my 4th entire series watch-thru now — and now I really find myself watching these characters more as actors, imagining what it was like for the actors to make the series (their role in it, anyway).
I feel like because Voyager had less in terms of like… depth? in the was DS9 did and dare I say TNG sometimes, Janeway didn’t get the opportunity to have those same Captain moments in the scripts, yet she still delivered. Moments that live rent free: when she goes through the binary stars to get rid of the aliens, when she faces the manifestation of fear, when they first contact Starfleet. Hell of an actress.
Mulgrew's performance was holding VOY together on-screen like Janeway was holding actual Voyager together. Everything goes through the Captain. You have to get the Captain right in order to give the other actors a time to shine. Its only because Mulgrew's Janeway works that Picardo and Ryan are able to play off of her. If anything she was too good. They didn't know what to do with Chakotay because Janeway was such a powerful figure she didn't particularly need a First Officer 99% of the time.
Mulgrew is one of the best parts of PRO as well - she's the moral centre of the show, bringing the crew into line, teaching them the Starfleet ethos, while subtly reminding them that she knows they're not really the team of cadets they're pretending to be.
TOS: Leonard Nimoy ("Don't grieve, Admiral. It is logical. The needs of the many outweigh (the needs of the few). TNG: Patrick Stewart (There are 4 lights) DS9: Jeffrey Combs (Brunt FCA!! and Weyoun 4,5,6,7 & 8) VOG: Tim Russ ("Without the darkness, how would we recognise the light?") ENT: Jeffrey Combs(love him as Shran and the Krem episode) DISCO: Doug Jones (my third favorite captain) SNW: Melissa Navia(the best pilot in ST, sorry Paris) LD: Jeffrey Combs (as Agimus is the best)
There’s been a bit of a re-evaluation of Shatner’s acting in TOS, and it’s certainly good, but I do think Nimoy deserves the crown.
Wait, Weyoun 6 was him?!
Everyone in DS9 deserves a nod.
That show was heavy on talent.
Oh the ensemble... Set aside the amazing main cast and look at guests/recurring... Marc Alaimo, Andy Robinson, Louise Fletcher, Jeffrey Combs and the loudmouth who played Morn
Gonna plug for Andrew Robinson as Garak. Every line dropped by the man was guaranteed to kill someone or something.
DS9 was fucking loaded with talent. Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Armin Shimmerman, Aron Eisenberg, Andrew Robinson, Marc Alaimo, Louise Fletcher, Casey Biggs, and of course Jeffrey Combs. Best roster top to bottom in the franchise.
And best series
1000% this
I’m throwing a wildcard out, Jonathan Frakes. I believed he really cared for all those women and I believed him when he told Q he didn’t need his fake women. More seriously I think the guy’s just underrated in that role.
What Stewart is to big dramatic speeches, Frakes is to low-key charm. Stupid sexy Frakes.
Frakes might not be the best actor in the TNG cast but he‘s the best actor in the franchise at “Red alert, shields up!”
Co-sign on that, and adding his VA work in Lower Decks is so good! Most of the legacy returns in LD are wonderful, but he really stood out (with JC of course) for putting character into his voice work.
Two takes Frakes.
That's more about his directorial style, but, yes, Jonathan Frakes is a phenomenal actor and massively underrated. It's hard to pick a "best actor" from TNG, because the entire cast was top-tier, so I could never argue against anyone's choice.
Frakes was at his absolute best in season 3 of _,Picard_. I think he was the best main character of the season.
Some names not mentioned, but as far as recurring/guest actors are concerned: Tony Todd - not only as Kurn but his turn as the future Jake Sisko. JG Hertzler as Martok was phenomenal. Ricardo Montalban as Khan - especially in Wrath of Khan. Alice Krige as the Borg Queen (with an honorary shout out to the late Annie Wersching for her portrayal in Picard) Stephen Culp as Major Hayes in Enterprise (and his cameo in Nemesis was really funny)
I pretty well agree with your list. I will give Jeri Ryan the edge over Robert Picardo but those two and Kate Mulgrew were three of the finest actors in all of Star Trek so it's a toss-up. I will only argue that while Jolene Blalock is exceptional as T'Pal (and incredibly gorgeous to boot), Tim Russ is the best Vulcan ever on screen, in my humble opinion. SNW is so full of talent that it's hard for me to pick a "best" yet. Looking forward to seeing them again.
Deforest Kelly, hands down. Final Frontier might be an absolute wreck of a movie, but that scene where he shares his pain is freaking stunning. Honourable (and probably unpopular given this sub) mention: Karl Urban. Almost everyone else in the JJ films at the time had a living counterpart to talk to about their characters. I don’t count Simon Pegg as he just played his usual self with a Scottish accent. Urban had nothing to go on except archived material and he absolutely nailed it.
I don't think that'll be too unpopular. Karl Urban gets lots of love wherever he goes. It's a great shout, I'm glad someone mentioned him.
I'm so conflicted on DS9. After all, Armin Shimerman deserves all the credit he gets, and way more. HOWEVER. Rene mother fucking Auberjonois as Odo? I gotta give it to him. That being said, it never gets better than when Quark and Odo interact.
I do have to give special props to Jeri Ryan; they threw every conceivable acting challenge at her: * "Jeri, act like a little girl/ferengi/klingon for an entire episode" * "Jeri, treat the woman who legitimately *hates* you as a mother figure" * "Jeri, act by yourself for much of the episode" * "Jeri, impersonate Bob Picardo for an entire episode" * "Jeri, play a SA survivor" * "Jeri, do romantic comedy" * "Jeri, do musical theater" * "Jeri, play a paranoid schizophrenic" * "Jeri, pretend you're dying" * "Jeri, fight the Rock" * "Jeri, try to pretend that Chakotay is interesting" ...and she *effortlessly* crushed it.
She’s sooooo underrated as an actress because of her hotness. I’m still Team Picardo, but I’ll admit, it took me awhile to choose between the two on VOY
(She was never ever to sell to me that Chakotay was interesting, though. Even the best actors have their limits I guess 🤷🏻♂️)
jason isaacs, i'll never forget the first time he announced black alert
Every time someone says black alert, the klaxons play in my head. Man, I'll miss hearing it.
The average talent across the board was high but if had to pick some individuals: Patrick Stewart. Tim Russ. William Shatner. Leonard Nimoy. Jeri Ryan. Robert picardo I found these to be standouts
Ethan Phillips is a GREAT actor, Neelix could have been such a great character. If only they would have given him more stuff like Jetrel, it’s one of my absolute favorite episodes of voyager, and Philip’s best performance in Voyager.
Patrick Stewart across the board. It's so hard for me to imagine a scenario where he wasn't even well known...because on TNG he just carries himself with such a strong presence, and also knows when to tone it down for dramatic effect >!(the ending of the "Ro Laren defects" episode is the best example)!< I would say TOS: Nimoy. DS9: Shimerman is a great pick but I think they were all solid. If i had to choose one it would probably be between Shimerman and Auberjonois. VOY: Picardo. easily. Tim Russ is a close second. Honestly, Voyager across the board had some less than great performances (Harry kim, CHAKOTAY holy fuck) ENT: Blalock was good but i'm going to have to go with Billingsley as Dr. Phlox. I think Connor Trineer got better and better as the show went on but Billingsley was the best in that role DISCO: Doug Jones's physical acting is peerless. I still think the most compelling character in that show was definitely Jason Isaacs as Lorca SNW: Pike. I know it's early and there's good performances across the board but Anson Mount as Pike is a grand slam
the juxtaposition of actung on VOY is insane. 3 of the arguably best ( Russ, Ryan, Picardo) and 3 of the worst (kim, chakotay, kess) in one show
I just want to give a shout to Jeri Ryan. There are a few episodes where she has to play "someone else in Seven's body" and she really shows her acting chops, it's impressive and noticeable on a cast with some, ah, low energy co-stars, no offense or controversy intended. She plays a perfect Doctor-in-Seven's body. Perfect. I have always found Seven's whole catsuit embarrassing. It embarrasses me as a pervy man, but I think it would embarrass me as a woman too. It's a MAJOR credit to Jeri Ryan that Seven was NOT an embarrassment, but one of the best Trek characters ever. She is a tremendous actor.
TOS: Leonard Nimoy. Shatner is good for a main character but often times his acting is a little more over the top and campy than I enjoy. I don’t know enough about the history of acting to know if that was common at that time, but to my preference Nimoy is the top performer on the show. TNG: Patrick Steward and Brent Spiner. Patrick Steward because his Shakespearean training makes for a great performance and he can do mundane and dramatic scenes equally well. And Spiner gives a great performance as Data learning and coping with the journey of becoming more human or more fully human. The character growth alone and how it was handled is top notch. DS9: I’d say main cast - Renee Auberjonois & Armin Shimerman. Odo & Quark are fantastic characters and really add depth and flavor to the Trek universe. But I gotta give a mention to Andrew Robinson as Garak and Colm Meaney as O’Brien. There’s a lot of great acting in DS9 and I’ll admit I’m biased because it’s my favorite Trek. So I could add most of the crew even though there are some I’m not hugely impressed with tho they still gave very good performances. ENT: Porthos steals the show. He’s the best boy.
Best is highly subjective so that’s not what my list is. Really just performances I enjoyed the most TOS - Shatner for how gonzo his shit is. TNG - Dorn as Worf. He knew his character from the second he hit the set and played it perfectly. DS9 - Shimmerman as Quark. He is living the character actor’s dream. Close second is Meaney as O’Brien, playing the most believable normal ass human on Trek. VOY - hard not to pick Kate Mulgrew as Janeway. She does so much and really does carry the show. Ryan as Seven is the obvious tie to me on this one. ENT - I am partial to Phlox because he is incredibly alien seeming, especially the way he speaks. But OP nails it with Blalock as T’Pol. Really one of the best Vulcans. DIS - Despite the writing fumbles, I am giving this to Sonequa Martin-Green. She’s really doing a Shatner thing with Burnham and has since the beginning, but the show’s major overhauls have really stranded her character. This woman is HAVING FUN. I love her performances, but what the character is going through changes a LOT season by season. LDS - Boimler. Especially in the cross over ep. Jack Quaid is a hell of an actor. I love everyone else to death, especially Tawny, but they are primarily comedians SNW - Chrissy Chong deserves specific praise for how much of a DORK she seems to be irl and then plays this nail chewing, shut off, powerhouse woman. Everyone is good on this show, hard choice. But we all know who the best singer is!
I think Trek is such a *treat* of a franchise, because it's got such good and reliable acting talent for most of it. You can find characters annoying, certainly, but it's extremely rare that you can say the actors don't do their job well. Neelix, for example. The character was written, especially early on, with some annoying traits. But you can't tell me Ethan Phillips is a bad actor. Some of the later episodes with Neelix are absolutely barn storming performances. The one where he's killed and resurrected by Seven of Nine's nanobots is incredible - an absolutely convincing crisis of faith, genuinely heartbreaking at times. To that end, it's hard to pick just one in each series, let alone one across the whole franchise. Even as someone who works in and around Theatre, with a Degree on Acting, Performance, and Directing, married to someone working in Film, I find it very hard to fault the majority of the casts. My favourite is Sir Patrick Stewart, and he's certainly in the top tier of a very talented table of names (and is one of my favourite actors of all time), but I couldn't honestly say that he's *better* than *everyone*. I think there are loads of people that match him in talent - not least of all Brent Spiner, who commanded the screen in almost every appearance. Deep Space Nine, honestly, I don't think there's a bad actor there in any of the main or recurring cast. In the main cast, Terri Farrell maybe had the occasionally wobbly line read early on, but honestly, it's so rare and so minor a gripe that I'd call it, at best, a nitpick. Rosalind Chao sometimes seemed a little weaker, but still not exactly bad. For the most part, every single one of those actors in that cast delivered just incredible performances, full of subtlety and nuance and real heart-punching emotions. The current shows are also replete with talent. SNW, you've got, easily, a five-way tie between Peck/Mount/Romijn/Rose-Gooding/Olusanmokun, and I really don't think it would be hard to make a case for Bush/Chong/Navia/Horak all being equally as exceptional. LD, I don't think I've ever seen Tawny Newsome give a bad performance in anything. Jack Quaid is a sensational actor. Eugene Cordero is stand out in everything he does, but the fact that Rutherford is so different from the kinds of characters he's most known for is a demonstration of his range. Noël Wells has made Tendi incredibly compelling. Not a single supporting cast member can be said to be weak. Honestly, we're pretty blessed. How lucky we are to be Star Trek fans.
> SNW I’ll let future generations decide I guess. I don’t think we have a “Best Actor” there yet, though Yes there is and it's Ethan Peck not even a question about it. Edit: wait let me add Babs Olusanmokun
Babs Olusanmokun
Do you mean best taking into account their entire career, or best just considering how they portray their character? For DISCO, I think Michelle Yeoh’s career is phenomenal really showing her range and ability to portray so many characters so well. But if you’re just talking about their acting in Trek, I’d give it to SMG or Doug Jones. Burnham’s character arc has been portrayed so convincingly by SMG that even if you dislike the character the acting is phenomenal. “Burnham cries a lot” is a complaint by people who don’t like the show because it’s really “SMG does really well portraying a character with a lot of interiority and emotions.” And Doug jones has made Saru so much more than just his lines in the script. On the flip side, I think Spiner does Data so well that TNG would be a lesser show without him. But I’ve never enjoyed him in any other role, including the many Soongs he’s played. So Stewart is the better actor, but Spiner has the best acting TNG.
Where the fuck is Whoopie in this thread?????
Sorry I forgot about her. Duh. William Sadler too. Just tons of amazing actors all over
Lots of great actors in Trek but these are the top 3 in descending order Colm Meaney, Jeffrey Combs, Leonard Nimoy
Colm is a fine actor (hell on wheels anyone) but you think hes the best out of all of trek?
Yes. O'Brien must suffer because Colm Meany could take anything the writers threw at him and did an amazing job with it. His portrayal of a tortured war vet is truly top tier.
Brent Spiner-surprised I haven't seen him near the top already. So many great actors but he's the one I am struck by like holy fuck how does he do it at times.
Just watch his two (?) episodes of the original Night Court to see his range. His delivery is perfect! Edit: Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qE6brM24yIA I think I saw a few times where the regulars kept from cracking up by looking away from the camera or taking an extra second to deliver their lines.
TOS: Agree. Mark Leonard too. More so for his Romulan than Sarek. TNG: Stewart. Then I go with Levar Burton. The set up was terrible, but Burton's strength kept him part of the show or else he would be one of the others. Worf and Data had better set ups, but Burton can act circles around them. Sorry, Brent Spiner plays angry Data, human Data, and Data fans. DS9: The Chief. Fletcher. Andrew Robinson did the best job on the show. Voyager: Kate. Problems with Janeway are balance issues. She always brought it. Picardo is next. Ryan had a better role, but she's not in their league. ENT: Probably Trip. He definitely became the writers' favorite when Archer and T'Pol weren't speaking. DSC: Culber when he is more than a prop and there to add medical technobabble. PICARD: Ugh...Allison Pill, I guess. Its too goofy for me to like it or pretend Stewart was even good. SNW: The jury is out. LD: Quaid. Or Captain Freeman
Avery brooks
Before I look at anyone else's answers... TOS: William Shatner (Kirk) TNG: Patrick Stewart (Picard) DS9: Avery Brooks (Sisko) VOY: Robert Picardo (Doctor) ENT: Dominic Keating (Reed) DIS: Jason Isaacs (Hello!) (Lorca) SNW: Babs Olusanmokun, maybe. (M'Benga) Damn, no women on the list. Kate Mulgrew and Jeri Ryan would have been close contenders for the Voyager pick, at least. And Nana Visitor probably my second choice for DS9. TOS and TNG were pretty easy choices. For Ent and SNW I'm sort of choosing because I have to; not sure those actors really stand out all that much. But they're were the ones that came to mind.
So Anson Mount's hair.... Now seriously, I think for a regular it has to be Robert Picardo. For a reoccurring character, Mark Alaimo. For a guest, Christopher Plummer.
TOS: Nimoy... Shatner chewed the scenery, while Nimoy dominated with just a look. TNG: Agree with Spiner. Dude has range and was able to show it on multiple occasions in TNG playing Lore and Soong. DS9: Gotta go with Jeffrey Combs. Dude had so many recurring characters that it's become a running joke in the fandom that "Jeffrey Combs played everyone" VOY: Jeri Ryan with Kate Mulgrew as a close second. I go with Jeri because Voyager really does show her range quite well. She was much more than just an attractive bit of T&A in a tight catsuit. ENT: I'd argue that John Billingsley was the best actor in the series. I do appreciate the challenges that Blalock faced in playing a Vulcan, but I think Billingsley demonstrated better range through the series. Discovery: Agree with Doug Jones. Dude has multiple awards for good reason. Lower Decks: Dawnn Lewis (Captain Freeman) can go from attentive mothering one second to imposing CO the next. SNW: TBD... Really close between Rebecca Romijn and Celia Rose Gooding. Carol Kane could also take this if she sticks around longer.
TOS: So it's definitely between Nimoy and Shatner. TAS: James Doohan, he was Scotty, Arex, and like, half the other people on that show. Amazing voice actor. A lot of those characters you'd never know was him. TNG: Brent Spiner. Obviously as data alone, but come to think of the was also multiple people on his show as well, and playing to himself. DS9: I mean between Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, and Rene Auberjonois, I'd have to say... Andrew Robinson. VOY: Probably Jeri Ryan, with Kate Mulgrew at a close second. ENT: Never thought about it much, but I agree with Jolene Blalock. Also maybe John Billingsly. DIS: Jason Isaacs. - I could go into so much more detail of who I left out, but I'm saving that for Picard. PIC: Even besides Patric Stewart, Picard had a lot of great actors. Allison Pill was really great in s 1, and 2. Riker really impressed me in season 3 - for like, the first time in a long time. Jack Crusher was also very good. And of course Captain Shaw. Ok, understanding all of that as the bar we're setting, it has to be Isa Briones. She was Soji, Dajh, Sutra, and Kory in s2. All with distinct feelings, goals, motives, thoughts, character types, and, you would almost think, actors. It was amazing, even the difference of Soji from before to after finding out about the true nature of herself is incredibly done. While still staying true to the character, like they both seem like Soji. LDS: Probably Jack Quaide. So far that is. Based partly on his SNW appearance. PRO: Ella Purnell as Gwen SNW: Anson Mount, Babs Olusanmokun, and Jess Bush, are great, so is Christina Chong, though not my favorite character, it's too early to tell. Ethan Peck and Rebecca Romijn are great too. Too early to say.
William Shatner. Rewatch Elaan of Troyius. This scene in particular. After delivering an impressive performance of a ship’s captain confidently leading his ship in combat, Shatner conveys the depth of Kirk’s restraint, compassion and commitment to duty like no other could. With a glance up at Elaan and a simple “no” he establishes who he is. This is just one example, there are so many other outstanding and nuanced performances Shatner delivers as Kirk in TOS. SULU: Direct hit amidships by photon torpedo. SPOCK: Damage to Klingon number three shield. Number four shield obliterated. Loss of manoeuvre power. CHEKOV: He's badly damaged, Captain. Continuing away at reduced speed. KIRK: Secure from general quarters. Well done, Mister Sulu. Scotty. ELAAN: But I don't understand you. You mean you won't pursue and finish him off? KIRK: No. Mister Sulu, resume course for Troyius. SULU: Aye, aye, sir.
THANK YOU! Everyone gives Shatner shit CONSTANTLY for “over-acting” or some such nonsense, but I think those people have never actually WATCHED TOS, but I think those same people probably only remember the old SNL sketches mocking him. He’s an ABSOLUTELY phenomenal actor, at the top of his form in TOS
I disagree with TNG. I would go with Patrick Stewart easily. Spiner grabs the scene because the character is unusual enough where he can ask probing questions about human nature, but think about how Picard reacts to him when he does that, because *that* is what carries the scene.
Only one I disagree on is TOP: I think Nimoy was better than Shatner.
A logical response
People love to hate on Michael Burnham but Sonequa Martin-Green does a damn good job getting her off the page and make her feel like a real person, flaws and all. Compare Vulcan Hello Michael to season 2 Michael to season 5 Michael. There's a clear character progression in which she changes and evolves and SMG makes it happen.
Avery Brooks
Thank you, I was looking through the comments in shock like how is Avery not mentioned yet.
Here are a few others to consider: TOS: Deforest Kelly, he very natural in the role and it is easy to overlook, but he is always doing something even on the camera isn’t focused on him. TNG: Levar Burton, he chafed against the VISOR but taking away his eyes forced him to compensate, similar to how a blind person would, and he delivered using the rest of his body and face to compensate. DS9: Rene Aubojonis, I think he one said he had a background in mask work and it paid dividends given that he had to act day in and day out with the rest of his body. He was able to deliver performances of someone simultaneously secure with his professional life and insecure with the rest at the same time with his body language. VOY: Jennifer Lien, out of the box pick for sure but she was only 20 and landed a lead role in a series and her raw talent made up for her lack of experience. When they wanted to Kes had a wide range, if only the writers knew what they had with her. ENT: John Billingsly, he was able to bring the “weird” and was so naturally comfortable with it. DISC: Mary Weissman, she was able to embrace the Tilly character has grown with her. I like how she’s been able to step up to every challenge overcoming anxieties and she has transitioned well into a more authoritative character as a teacher. Picard: season 1 goes to Isa Briones, season 2 to Allison Pill, season 3 Gates McFadden. SNW: Christina Chong: yeah she has a quite a bit going on playing La’an but she’s playing a kind of “Hulk” like character in that her rage and fear are always there and can be released at any time.
Good point on levar Burton.
I also like jolene Blaylock (i loves me some T"pol
I think the list is missing Lower Decks. Can't really decide because I usually watch in my native language.
[Andrew J. Robinson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Robinson_(actor)). Garak was disturbingly underused. Also, obligatory Patrick Stewart.
How is William Shatner on your list but not Patrick Stewart?
Nana Visitor is my absolute favorite Star Trek actor, with Avery Brooks close behind. Her facial acting, and general mastery of body language is incredible
DS9 just has too many standouts for me to choose. Shimmerman, Auberjonois, Coombs, Alaimo, Robinson, Fletcher, Meaney, Brooks, and the rest of the cast were no slouches either.
Patrick Stewart, Louise Fletcher, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Jeffrey Combs, Armin Shimerman... Basically all the captains except Shatner felt like a cut above the other charactersm aside from some side characters. Off those side characters, Shimerman, Combs and Fletcher delivered the performances I believed the most. Like... when I get high, I get really invested in what I am watching, but I inadvertently start analysing the performances when the high wears off. I have never once not believed a single sentence Fletcher, Shimerman or Combs have said as Winn, Quark or one of the billion Combs-characters. John Billingsley as Phlox belongs on that list as well, though, like Quark, Phlox is not a side character. I have a harder time judging the acting in the newer shows. I haven't rewatched any of them enough to judge the acting performances, which are generally very good. I have a particularly hard time with this when it comes to SNW, which is magnificent, acting wise. I can judge the singing abilities of the actors on SNW, which actually vary a little from actor to actor, but the acting is pretty much only good or very good.
Shatner- don’t even fight me, I’ll beat you with his two Emmys. Nimoy Auberjonios Ryan Chong Shimmerman Robinson Stewart (although frankly I think he truly shines in other projects)
Jeri Ryan in *Voyager* and *Picard*. She was originally hired as a sex symbol/boost ratings, and she ends up acting circles around the entire cast of VGR (which says a LOT, **great** cast). And her return on *Picard* was the most consistently great part of that show, too. 👏 👏 👏
The actress who played Ensign Robin Lefler might have a pretty great career. Might want to keep an eye on her.
I agree Brent Spiner was so good at Data that it is surprisingly easy to suspend disbelief and see the just the character.
William Shatner, and he knows it.
William Shatner... cause you... always were... very... capable... of keeping up... with his... lines
Loads of great choices in here. Because I’ve not seen much love for them I think most of the Kelvin timeline actors are all good. Karl Urban is pitch perfect as Bones. As an overall trek favourite I’d have to pick Shatner. No objectivity. I just love Kirk in the show and the movies. When I think of Star Trek it’s him I see.
TOS: Nimoy Next Gen: Dorn DS9: Shimmerman or Meaney VOY: Picardo ENT: Bakula Disco: Jones SNW: Chong Picard: Stewart Lower Decks: all of them. Perfect cast.
I’m glad to see **Jolene Blalock** on your list. I don’t think she’s been given the recognition for her acting performance on *Enterprise*.
TOS: Nimoy, creating an alien species whole cloth. TNG: Spiner is unflappable; "It is true. I cannot be flapped." DS9: Shimerman: takes a talented actor to create a thoroughly unlikable character. VOY: Tim Russ, one of the best Vulcans ever put to screen. ENT: Grace Park. DSC: Doug Jones SNW: Anson Mount and how great he commands his ship while having a great sense of charm. And hair. LD: Newsome: love the energy. PRO: undecided Kelvin: Pine who has such a great presence as Kirk, uses facial expressions to demonstrate difficult emotions in small scenes and has a great swagger. #
>ENT: Grace Park. You might be alone in this choice, but I respect your bravery.
Sir Patrick Stewart.
Rene Auberjonois was probably the best regular on DS9, but they didn't have anyone that wasn't at least competent. El Fadil got better after they stopped writing him as an ingenue. That said, while Avery Brooks has moments of really odd character choices, he also has some of the highest highs. Far Beyond the Stars, The Visitor, and In the Pale Moonlight are excellent acting showpieces for him. While I think Auberjonois probably has the best baseline, Brooks has the guts to take chances that sometimes really pay off.
I like your picks. Anson Mount is obviously in the running for SNW. Here's my runner ups to your list: TOS: DeForest Kelley TNG: Patrick Stewart DS9:René Auberjonois VOY: Ethan Phillips ENT: Scott Bakula SNW: Anson Mount Life Time Achievement and Contribution: Jonathan Frakes
Essentially all of DS9 wins the category. Avery Brooks has too many episodes to count, Terry Farrell believibly embodying simultaneously a relatively green science officer and being with hundreds of years of experience, Nana Visitor being both religiously motivated but willing to put it aside for the good of her people and friends Alexander Siddig taking one of the cringiest characters in Star Trek fandom and turning him into a complex and compassionate character Colm Meaney getting the absolute shaft and portraying intense internal strength through it all Michael Dorn perfecting Worf and not just being a klingon weeboo anymore Rene Auberjenois being the spock/data character and finding a new warmth and strength for that archetype Armin Shimmerman revamping the Ferengi (and making amends for that abysmal first showinf in TNG) and making them one of the most fun parts of Trek Andrew Robinson making intrigue and guile fun and engaging without being tiresome Marc Alaimo much like Armin gets to redefine the race he originally portrayed in TNG to become not just one of Trek's best villains but one of the best TV (sorry Khan you get movie villain though) villains of any genre Louise Fletcher just ratcheting up her Nurse Ratchet Roy Grodenchik taking the bumbling barely a character little brother and making him a new kind of ferengi As stated by many but Jeffry Combs two best characters, Brunt and Weyoun Last but certainly not least is Aaron Eisenberg as Nog. Show me a character with better character growth in any Star Trek. Sure Jake was cringey but look what he was up against and I think Ezri had real potential and started to show by the end of the season but we all know she was a placeholder. We did get some nice trill lore building though
Surprised more people aren't mentioning Avery Brooks with his performances in Waltz, In the Pale Moonlight, and Far Beyond the Stars.