Deliver the line, shout CUT, and watch these Star Trek actors cross the final frontier.
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Star Trek hasn't just turned out some fairly impressive acting talent over the years it's
00:06also turned out some fairly impressive directing talent. Thanks to the production several of the
00:12people who appeared in front of the camera moved to test their skills behind the camera across all
00:19of the different iterations. This list is going to take you through just 10 examples of those who
00:24have successfully made the change. I'm Sean Ferrick for Trek Culture and here are 10 Star Trek actors
00:31who became directors. Number 10 René Auberjonois
00:36Though audiences would know him best as Odo, René Auberjonois also directed eight episodes of Deep
00:41Space Nine. The first episode, Profit Motive, would prove to be a challenge for him. He remarked that
00:46it was like leading an army into battle as there were relentless questions that needed answering.
00:51He quipped that this and making decisions were things he truly didn't enjoy doing.
00:55His catalogue would include some of the all-time great episodes like Waltz,
00:59but also Led He Who Is Without Sin. Unfortunately this episode ranks among the lowest of the series.
01:04To be very fair, this was an episode that faced numerous behind the scenes issues.
01:09One such example was that Terry Farrell required a tent between shoots as she couldn't be in direct
01:14sunlight for too long. The production had forgotten to source one so Auberjonois himself had to chase
01:18one down. Another issue was that the location scouted was covered by spiny tack burrs, a plant
01:24with thorns that easily poked through his skin, hardly a fun addition to a beach shoot. Despite the
01:29challenges, Auberjonois would direct episodes all the way into the seventh season ending with strange
01:34bedfellows. Number 9 Patrick Stewart
01:38Patrick Stewart's first go behind the camera was in the fifth season of The Next Generation.
01:42In theory is a relatively simple episode, with a starring turn from Brent Spiner and guest actor
01:48Michel Scarabelli as Jenna de Sora. Though another data centric episode, a fistful of data's,
01:54may be the more iconic episode, it's this one that Stewart chose as his favourite overall.
01:59Stewart recalled being grateful that the episode was close to a bottle show, featuring scenes on the
02:04ship only. There were no shoot em ups or scenes on Kronos which made life much easier for the newbie
02:09director. He was also incredibly grateful that Spiner was the focus of the episode,
02:13as he felt the man was both strong enough to carry the episode easily, but was also very open to
02:19Stewart's direction. He would go on to direct other episodes like Hero Worship and Phantasms,
02:24but the aforementioned datas and the penultimate episode Pre-emptive Strike stand out the most.
02:30Impostors, the recent episode of Picard's third season, picks up beautifully from those final scenes
02:35of Pre-emptive Strike, giving the audience a payoff from Stewart's direction 30 years in the making.
02:41Number 8, Gates McFadden. Gates McFadden was the first female Trek actor to direct an episode of
02:47the franchise, namely Genesis. McFadden took a back seat when it came to acting, Dr. Crusher is sprayed
02:52in the face with acid early in the script, so that she could concentrate on making everything come
02:57together, and then an earthquake shut down production. The 1994 Northridge earthquake occurred
03:03right in the middle of filming and saw 57 deaths along with billions of dollars of damage. This
03:08was only another challenge for McFadden and her team to overcome. The production schedule, which saw
03:13this being filmed after the holidays that year was, ironically, a blessing, at least from Michael
03:18Westmore's point of view. The episode is heavy on prosthetics, so Westmore's team were able to work
03:23through the time off, yeah right, to hit their deadlines. The end result is one of the sillier Trek
03:29outings, but it's also iconic in its own right, whether it was McFadden's skill as a director,
03:34or as a choreographer, and former Jim Henson puppeteer that served the episode best as anyone's
03:39guess. All we can be really sure of is that the Spider-Barkley scared the absolute webbing out of
03:44all of us. Number 7, Alexander Sedig. Alexander Sedig directed two episodes of Deep Space Nine,
03:52the fifth season's Business As Usual, and then the sixth season's Poorly Received Profit and Lace.
03:59For his first outing, Sedig was tasked with two big guest stars, Lawrence Tierney and Stephen
04:04Berkhoff. On a recent episode of the Clownstar pod, Sedig revealed a massive curveball that had
04:10been thrown his way during filming. One morning, in the makeup chair, Tierney suffered a stroke.
04:16He was thankfully rushed to the hospital and was able to then come back and film his scene,
04:20but even that came with its challenges. For the second episode, the reception was not kind.
04:26The script for Profit and Lace was a little mixed in terms of tone, so production went with a comedic
04:31angle. Unfortunately, it turned a ho-hum story into something downright offensive, making it not
04:37only a missed opportunity for all concerned, but contributed to there being far fewer Ferengi-centric
04:42episodes for the show's remaining run. Number 6, William Shatner. Star Trek 5 is infamous in many ways,
04:50with much of the ridicule directed toward William Shatner as director. While there's certainly some
04:56fair criticisms to make, one must take the timing of production as well as the budget into account.
05:03To start with two massive positives, Shatner managed to get Jerry Goldsmith to return to score the film,
05:09his first Trek outing since the motion picture. Second, the film contains the best scenes of the trio from
05:16the entire franchise, who hasn't attempted to toast a marshmallow at this point. With ILM busy on the
05:22Last Crusade, the effects were shopped out to cheaper companies, and it shows. The film's climax is
05:28also slightly rushed, owing to the budget and honestly the design of Shatner's rock monsters just ballooning.
05:35In the end, The Final Frontier is certainly one of the weakest Trek films, with some of the more
05:40melodramatic moments contributing to this. Though this would spell the end of Shatner's directing
05:44career, at least in Star Trek, is it truly that bad? Perhaps, time will tell.
05:51Number 5, Avery Brooks. When it comes to literally anything, Avery Brooks brings 110%. As positive as
06:00this sounds, it can also be intimidating, with several of the people who worked under him attesting to it.
06:05Terry Farrell, when discussing his acting skills, would comment that she found it a challenge
06:09to match him in their scenes, though he graciously matched her energy. Behind the camera, it would be
06:15no different. When making his directorial debut on Tribunal, he got into a discussion with his
06:20assistant BC Cameron. Cameron recalled that he invited her to the set of Quark's Bar, which was
06:25in Darkness at the time, and said with a grin, I want you to make sure I get what I need. There
06:30followed an exchange that culminated in Cameron informing Brooks that she wasn't sure he had a
06:35sense of humour, and that he needed to be clearer with his instructions, after which their relationship
06:40improved dramatically. Brooks would go on to direct several more episodes, including Far Beyond the
06:46Stars. While filming Benny Russell's breakdown, Brooks was so lost in the moment that he forgot to
06:51call cut. The actors around him let the scene play out, as they weren't sure whether to interrupt or not.
06:57The result is clear in the finished episode, with both the starring turn and the direction offering
07:03some of Brooks's finest work. Number 4, Leonard Nimoy. Leonard Nimoy's journey to the director's chair
07:11is rather intriguing, especially as it very nearly didn't happen. While filming The Wrath of Cannes,
07:16an urban legend surrounding the actor began to creep along, namely that he demanded to be killed
07:21off so he could escape Star Trek. When production on the search for Spock was being organised, Nimoy waited
07:27for some time for Michael Eisner, then head of Paramount Studios, to get back to him about the job of director.
07:32When the meeting eventually took place, Eisner was adamant that Nimoy shouldn't get the job,
07:38based on the aforementioned rumour. Nimoy was a little shocked, but he was happy to debunk the idea
07:44that he hated Star Trek. The ink was quickly dried on the contract and he took over the reins. He would
07:48of course direct the following film as well, The Voyage Home, which performed so well that Paramount
07:53decided to attempt another live action series. Now if only that had taken off, who knows what Star Trek
07:58might have become. Number 3, LeVar Burton. LeVar Burton made his directorial debut with Second
08:06Chances, working title, Too Many Rikers. He recalled that, it being so effect heavy, it was a real
08:12baptism of fire. The show worked brilliantly, not least for how it handled both Rikers, but also in
08:17Burton's chance to cast Dr. Mae Jemison in the cameo role. Dr. Jemison was the first female African
08:23American in space, something to which she credited Nichelle Nichols. Burton invited Nichols to set
08:28during filming, leading to what he called magic. From this Burton would go on to direct another 28
08:35episodes of Star Trek, including many of the Klingon centric ones. JG Herzler recalled being
08:40especially pleased that, in the Burton directed Soldiers of the Empire, he was given a zoom in,
08:46engage shot, something guest performers rarely got to experience in Star Trek. Burton would cameo in one of
08:53his own episodes, namely, Timeless, Voyager's 100th episode. It took a little convincing at that point,
08:58but it made for a special moment for fans of the franchise. His final credit, to date, is the first
09:04part of Star Trek Enterprise's de facto finale, Demons. Number 2, Roxanne Dawson. Roxanne Dawson may be
09:13best known these days as a director. She's certainly prolific in her body of work, including on Apple TV's
09:19Foundation series. However, it was back in Voyager's sixth season episode, Riddles, wherein she got her
09:25start behind the camera. She recalled directing the episode as both a challenge, but a wonderful
09:30experience. She was helped by her existing relationship with her co-stars, and she credits
09:35Marvin Rush, the director of photography, as to helping to truly create her vision. She later laughed that,
09:40as she has become more experienced, she may have made many different choices, so she was glad to go into that
09:46episode green. Dawson would go on to direct many episodes of Star Trek Enterprise as well,
09:50while also lending her voice to the chilling repair station in Dead Stop. Number 1, Jonathan Frakes.
09:58Jonathan Frakes is perhaps the best known actor turned director in Star Trek. He began his
10:02directing career with The Offspring from The Next Generation's third season, and has directed episodes
10:07in almost every iteration of the franchise ever since. His work on First Contact and Insurrection had audiences
10:13hoping he would direct some more of the films, though this has yet to come to fruition. The running joke for
10:18the actor-director is that he gets things done, leading to the nickname Two Takes Frakes. In an industry
10:24where every second costs money, that's no mean feat. He was the first legacy actor to return to Star Trek,
10:30technically, when he directed Discovery. His appearance in Picard's first season, along with Marina Sirtis,
10:37marked his return to live-action acting after years away from being at front of the camera.
10:42Frakes is a fan favourite when it comes to directing, which has led for Kryze to give him an EP role in
10:47the franchise as well. Whether this happens or not, he certainly seems to be one of, if not the,
10:52go-to alumni when it comes to directing Star Trek. Now, if we can just get that damn legacy show confirmed,
10:59let's see how many of those episodes we can ask him to direct as well. That is everything for this list,
11:04obviously we could fill another list easily with this, so let us know if you would like to see 10 more
11:10Star Trek actors who became directors. In the meantime, thank you so much. Make sure you check
11:14us out over on Twitter at TrekCulture, make sure that you're following us on Instagram at TrekCultureYT,
11:19and BlueSky at TrekCulture as well. I am Sean Ferrick at TrekCulture on the various socials,
11:25and don't forget to like, share and subscribe. You are awesome, you are wonderful, you are lovely,
11:33you are just lovely. Live long and prosper. Thanks a million.