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Deliver the line, shout CUT, and watch these Star Trek actors cross the final frontier.
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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
00:18of 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
00:47it 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, but also Let He Who
01:00Is Without Sin. Unfortunately this episode ranks among the lowest of the series. To be very fair,
01:06this was an episode that faced numerous behind the scenes issues. One such example was that Terry
01:10Farrell required a tent between shoots as she couldn't be in direct sunlight for too long.
01:15The production had forgotten to source one so Auberjonois himself had to chase one down.
01:19Another issue was that the location scouted was covered by spiny tack burrs, a plant with thorns
01:25that easily poked through his skin, hardly a fun addition to a beach shoot. Despite the challenges,
01:30Auberjonois would direct episodes all the way into the seventh season ending with strange bedfellows.
01:36Number 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 DeSora. 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, as he felt the man was
02:15both strong enough to carry the episode easily, but was also very open to Stewart's direction.
02:20He would go on to direct other episodes like Hero Worship and Phantasms, but the aforementioned
02:25datas and the penultimate episode Pre-emptive Strike stand out the most. Impostors, the recent
02:31episode of Picard's third season, picks up beautifully from those final scenes of Pre-emptive Strike,
02:36giving the audience a payoff from Stewart's direction 30 years in the making.
02:40Number 8, Gates McFadden. Gates McFadden was the first female Trek actor to direct an episode of
02:47the franchise, namely Genesis. McFadden took a backseat when it came to acting, Dr. Crusher is
02:52sprayed in the face with acid early in the script, so that she could concentrate on making everything
02:56come together, 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 was only
03:09another challenge for McFadden and her team to overcome. The production schedule which saw this
03:13being 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
03:39anyone's guess. All we can be really sure of is that the Spider-Barkley scared the absolute webbing
03:44out of all of us. Number 7. Alexander Sedig
03:48Alexander Sedig directed two episodes of Deep Space Nine, the fifth season's Business As Usual,
03:55and then the sixth season's Poorly Received Prophet and Lace. For his first outing, Sedig was tasked with
04:01two big guest stars, Lawrence Tierney and Stephen Berkoff. On a recent episode of the Clownstar Pod,
04:07Sedig revealed a massive curveball that had been thrown his way during filming. One morning,
04:13in the makeup chair, Tierney suffered a stroke. He was thankfully rushed to the hospital and was able
04:18to then come back and film his scene, but even that came with its challenges. For the second episode,
04:24the reception was not kind. The script for Prophet and Lace was a little mixed in terms of tone,
04:29so production went with a comedic angle. Unfortunately, it turned a ho-hum story into
04:34something downright offensive, making it not only a missed opportunity for all concerned,
04:39but contributed to there being far fewer Ferengi-centric episodes for the show's remaining run.
04:45Number 6. William Shatner
04:47Star Trek V is infamous in many ways, with much of the ridicule directed toward William Shatner as director.
04:54While there's certainly some fair criticisms to make, one must take the timing of production as
05:01well as the budget into account. To start with two massive positives, Shatner managed to get Jerry
05:07Goldsmith to return to score the film his first Trek outing since the motion picture. Second, the film
05:14contains the best scenes of the trio from the entire franchise. Who hasn't attempted to toast a
05:19marshmallow at this point? With ILM busy on The Last Crusade, the effects were shopped out to cheaper
05:25companies and it shows. The film's climax is also slightly rushed owing to the budget and, honestly,
05:31the design of Shatner's rock monsters just ballooning. In the end, The Final Frontier is certainly one of
05:37the weakest Trek films, with some of the more melodramatic moments contributing to this. Though this
05:43would spell the end of Shatner's directing career, at least in Star Trek, is it truly that bad? Perhaps,
05:49time will tell. Number 5. Avery Brooks
05:54When it comes to literally anything, Avery Brooks brings 110%. As positive as this sounds,
06:00it 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 to
06:09match 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
06:29need. There
06:30followed an exchange that culminated in Cameron informing Brooks that she wasn't sure he had a sense of
06:35humour, 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 call
06:52cut. 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
07:02offering some of Brooks's finest work. Number 4. Leonard Nimoy
07:08Leonard Nimoy's journey to the director's chair is rather intriguing, especially as it very nearly
07:13didn't happen. While filming The Wrath of Cannes, an urban legend surrounding the actor began to creep
07:19along, namely that he demanded to be killed off so he could escape Star Trek. When production on the
07:24search for Spock was being organised, Nimoy waited for some time for Michael Eisner, then head of Paramount
07:30Studios to get back to him about the job of director. When the meeting eventually took place,
07:35Eisner was adamant that Nimoy shouldn't get the job, based on the aforementioned rumour. Nimoy was
07:41a little shocked, but he was happy to debunk the idea that he hated Star Trek. The ink was quickly
07:46dried
07:46on the contract and he took over the reins. He would of course direct the following film as well,
07:50The Voyage Home, which performed so well that Paramount decided to attempt another live action series.
07:55Now if only that had taken off, who knows what Star Trek might have become. Number 3. LeVar Burton
08:03LeVar Burton made his directorial debut with Second Chances, working title, Too Many Rikers. He recalled
08:09that, it being so effect heavy, it was a real baptism of fire. The show worked brilliantly, not least for
08:15how it handled both Rikers, but also in Burton's chance to cast Dr. Mae Jemisin in the cameo role.
08:20Dr. Jemisin was the first female African-American in space, something to which she credited Nichelle
08:26Nicholls. Burton invited Nicholls to set during filming, leading to what he called magic. From
08:32this Burton would go on to direct another 28 episodes of Star Trek, including many of the Klingon-centric
08:38ones. JG Herzler recalled being especially pleased that, in the Burton-directed Soldiers of the Empire,
08:44he was given a zoom-in, engage shot, something guest performers rarely got to experience in Star
08:50Trek. Burton would cameo in one of his own episodes, namely, Timeless, Voyager's 100th episode. It took a
08:57little convincing at that point, but it made for a special moment for fans of the franchise. His final
09:02credit, to date, is the first part of Star Trek Enterprise's de facto finale, Demons.
09:08Number 2. Roxanne Dawson. Roxanne Dawson may be best known these days as a director. She's
09:15certainly prolific in her body of work, including on Apple TV's Foundation series. However, it was
09:21back in Voyager's 6th season episode, Riddles, wherein she got her start behind the camera. She
09:27recalled directing the episode as both a challenge, but a wonderful experience. She was helped by her
09:32existing relationship with her co-stars, and she credits Marvin Rush, the director of photography,
09:37as to helping to truly create her vision. She later laughed that, as she has become more experienced,
09:42she may have made many different choices, so she was glad to go into that episode green. Dawson would
09:47go on to direct many episodes of Star Trek Enterprise as well, while also lending her voice to the chilling
09:53repair station in Dead Stop. Number 1. Jonathan Frakes. Jonathan Frakes is perhaps the best known actor
10:00turned director in Star Trek. He began his directing career with The Offspring from The Next Generations' third
10:05season, and has directed episodes in almost every iteration of the franchise ever since. His work
10:10on First Contact and Insurrection had audiences hoping he would direct some more of the films,
10:15though this has yet to come to fruition. The running joke for the actor-director is that he gets things
10:20done, leading to the nickname Two Takes Frights. In an industry where every second costs money,
10:26that's no mean feat. He was the first legacy actor to return to Star Trek, technically, when he directed
10:32Discovery. His appearance in Picard's first season, along with Marina Sirtis, marked his return to
10:38live-action acting after years away from being at front of the camera. Frights is a fan favourite when
10:43it comes to directing, which has led for cries to give him an EP role in the franchise as well.
10:48Whether this happens or not, he certainly seems to be one of, if not THE, go-to alumni when it
10:54comes to
10:55directing Star Trek. Now, if we can just get that damn legacy show confirmed, let's see how many of
11:00those episodes we can ask him to direct as well. That is everything for this list. Obviously,
11:05we could fill another list easily with this, so let us know if you would like to see 10 more
11:10Star
11:10Trek actors who became directors. In the meantime, thank you so much. Make sure you check us out over
11:15on Twitter at TrekCulture. Make sure that you're following us on Instagram at TrekCultureYT and
11:19BlueSky at TrekCulture as well. I am Sean Ferrick at TrekCulture on the various socials,
11:25videos, and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe. You are awesome, you are wonderful,
11:31you are lovely. You're just lovely. Live long and prosper. Thanks a million.
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