Dave Bautista wants to be a Klingon. Make it happen already.
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00:00 Star Trek is undeniably one of the greatest and most iconic franchises in the history
00:05 of fiction, which over the last 50-plus years has expanded the imaginations of anyone who
00:10 has ever sat down to watch it.
00:12 This includes, of course, Hollywood's own acting elite themselves, many of who grew
00:16 up with Trek just as the general public did.
00:19 Beyond that, some of Trek's famous fans have even publicly stated their long-held desire
00:23 to appear in some form of Trek media.
00:26 And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie, with Trek Culture, here with 10 actors who want
00:31 to be in Star Trek.
00:33 Number 10.
00:34 Nicolas Cage
00:35 Kicking things off with perhaps the single most chaotic choice on this list, we have
00:39 Nicolas Cage, who, while promoting his new Western film The Old Way, told Yahoo that
00:44 he's a card-carrying Trekkie and would love to join the franchise.
00:48 When the interviewer mentioned that Pedro Pascal, Cage's co-star in the recent The Unbearable
00:53 Weight of Massive Talent, wanted to recruit Cage to join his Star Wars series The Mandalorian,
00:58 Cage replied,
00:59 "I'm not really down.
01:00 I'm a Trekkie man.
01:01 I'm on the Star Trek enterprise.
01:03 That's where I roll.
01:04 I'm not in the Star Wars family.
01:05 I'm in the Star Trek family."
01:07 Cage also expressed a fondness for Trek's history of sociopolitical messaging and praised
01:12 Chris Pine's performance as the rebooted Captain Kirk in the J.J. Abrams-produced movies.
01:17 With Paramount still hoping to get a fourth Pine-starring movie before camera soon, wouldn't
01:22 Cage make for one hell of an addition to the cast, whether as a sage-supporting character
01:26 or riotous villain?
01:28 Number 9.
01:29 Rosario Dawson
01:31 Rosario Dawson gained a whole new generation of fans when she began playing the live-action
01:35 iteration of Star Wars' Ahsoka Tano in both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett.
01:41 But in a 2020 interview with Variety, Dawson confessed that her ambitions didn't simply
01:45 end with Star Wars and that she'd love to add Trek to her resume too.
01:49 She said,
01:50 "I'm in the two universes, Star Trek and Star Wars.
01:52 I get in those two, I'm telling you, man, that's it.
01:55 I will just retire.
01:56 And then I can just concentrate on going to school and running for office.
01:59 That would be it."
02:00 Though Dawson added that she'd happily play a background part as a Romulan or Vulcan,
02:04 her own father suggested she play a new version of iconic Trek character Q.
02:09 Speaking of the possibilities of playing the dimension-hopping entity, Dawson said,
02:12 "I mean, it would be great, 'cause then I could jump on Discovery, I could be on Picard.
02:16 I just want to be with Jean-Luc Picard."
02:18 Don't we all, Rosario?
02:20 Don't we all?
02:21 Number 8.
02:22 David Tennant
02:23 David Tennant is, of course, best known for playing surely the most beloved modern iteration
02:27 of Doctor Who, and during a 2020 Reddit AMA, was asked by a fan if there were any major
02:33 franchises he'd like to tick off his acting bucket list by appearing in.
02:36 Tennant succinctly responded that he's eager to play a part in Star Trek after having some
02:41 up-close and personal contact with a certain legendary Trek cast member.
02:45 He said,
02:46 "Star Trek would be great.
02:47 After talking to George Takei for the podcast, I've got a bit immersed in it."
02:50 Tennant certainly wouldn't be the first Doctor Who performer to join the Trek franchise,
02:54 but he'd undeniably be one of the most high-profile gets to date, and per his impressive versatility
03:00 as a performer, could evidently slot into a variety of possible roles.
03:04 Number 7.
03:05 Mila Kunis
03:06 Mila Kunis has repeatedly stated in interviews that she's absolutely obsessed with Star Trek,
03:11 and even went as far as to rank the various Trek series for GQ back in 2011.
03:16 The Next Generation came out on top, of course.
03:19 And in 2015, while speaking to IGN to promote Jupiter Ascending, Kunis reacted with stunned
03:24 surprise upon learning that Deanna Troi actress Marina Sirtis wanted her to play Troi if The
03:29 Next Generation was ever rebooted.
03:32 After recovering from the joyous shock of the news, Kunis replied in the affirmative
03:35 that she'd love to play a new version of Troi, saying,
03:38 "I love Deanna Troi.
03:39 She's awesome.
03:40 I would totally put in those contact lenses and call it a day.
03:43 Big poofy hair, curl, like get a perm."
03:46 Later in the interview, Kunis admitted that she actually considered contacting J.J. Abrams
03:50 to be an extra in one of his Trek movies, though in terms of a larger role admitted
03:54 that she'd simply prefer to keep watching as a fan.
03:57 Even so, a cameo could be fun.
03:59 Number 6.
04:00 Paul Giamatti
04:01 Paul Giamatti isn't just one of the greatest actors of his generation, he's one of the
04:06 greatest actors, period.
04:07 As such, he'd be a major credit to any Star Trek production that'd have him, and as a
04:12 self-professed sci-fi fan admitted his desire to join the Trek universe when appearing on
04:16 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2019.
04:19 He said,
04:20 "My dearest wish in the world as a child until this moment is to be a Klingon, basically,
04:25 or to be something, but for some reason those jobs don't come to me."
04:28 When Colbert added that Giamatti doesn't evoke a dangerous air, Giamatti replied that he'd
04:33 gladly play any role on Star Trek, even one of the silly blue guys, presumably referring
04:38 to Andorians.
04:40 Anybody who's seen Big Fat Liar knows that Giamatti looks the part under blue makeup,
04:44 and it goes without saying he'd absolutely crush the role of a Trek villain of any kind.
04:49 Number 5.
04:50 Katie Sackhoff
04:51 Katie Sackhoff is undeniably sci-fi royalty in her own right at this point, having risen
04:56 to fame while playing fan-favorite character Starbuck on Battlestar Galactica and since
05:01 starred as Star Wars' Bo-Katan in both voiceover and live-action form.
05:06 And in a 2021 interview with Looper, Sackhoff confirmed that she might not be stopping at
05:10 those Titanic sci-fi franchises.
05:12 When asked whether she had designs on any other major IP, Sackhoff said,
05:16 "I mean, I haven't been in Star Trek.
05:18 That seems to be the one that's still there.
05:20 That's still there and still exists for the possibility."
05:23 The fact that this hasn't actually happened already is honestly pretty surprising, and
05:26 given Sackhoff's continued popularity as a genre icon, it feels like a mere matter of
05:31 time before she wins a beefy role on a Trek TV series.
05:34 Make it happen already, Paramount!
05:36 Number 4.
05:37 Tom Hanks
05:39 Tom Hanks would be basically the biggest A-list name Star Trek could ever get, a universally
05:44 beloved actor who over more than 40 years has delivered some of the most iconic performances
05:48 of all time.
05:49 And unlike most everybody on this list, Hanks' name was actually in the conversation for
05:54 a Star Trek role at one point, even if he sadly didn't know about it.
05:58 While the filmmakers of Star Trek First Contact were locking down casting for the vital role
06:02 of Zefron Cochran, the first human to create a warp drive and make contact with the Vulcans,
06:06 they kicked around the ideas of offering the part to Hanks.
06:10 But in a recent interview on a Josh Horowitz Happy Sad Confused podcast, Hanks claimed
06:14 that he'd never actually been offered the chance to play Cochran, with the part eventually
06:18 going to the great James Cromwell instead.
06:20 Hanks, a huge Trek fan, responded with clear disappointment about never learning of the
06:24 offer, which he would have loved to accept.
06:26 Hanks said,
06:27 "The guy who invented warp drive, oh, come on, I would have jumped on that.
06:31 I would have come in and brought gift tribbles to everyone on the first meeting.
06:34 I would have done that."
06:36 While the potential for Hanks' presence to prove distracting in any Trek media speaks
06:40 for itself, could any producer really say no to him if he formally threw his hat in
06:44 the ring?
06:45 3.
06:46 Mira Savino
06:47 You won't get many bigger Star Trek fans in Hollywood than Oscar-winning actress Mira
06:51 Savino, whose father, Paul Savino, appeared in the Next Generation's seventh season episode
06:56 "Homeward" playing Worf's human foster brother, Nikolai Rozenko.
07:01 In a 2018 interview with SyFy, Savino was asked about her starter passions before becoming
07:06 an actress, and couldn't resist but bring up Star Trek, saying,
07:09 "You know what I'm gonna say.
07:10 I've been on the record before.
07:12 Original Star Trek.
07:13 I have the dolls, I have the phaser, I've got the little toy set which has the transporter
07:17 that turns around, I went to conventions as a teenager, I have met most of the original
07:21 cast, while many of them have now passed on, sadly.
07:24 I am the biggest geek for Star Trek ever."
07:27 And crucially, Savino couldn't help but advocate for herself appearing on basically any form
07:32 of Star Trek media in the future, adding,
07:34 "That's my thing, and if I could ever, hint hint, be in any future iterations..."
07:38 Well, as of 2023, it hasn't happened yet, but considering how easy it is to picture
07:43 Savino playing a dignitary or higher-up at Starfleet, it's about time somebody made her
07:48 dream a reality.
07:49 2.
07:50 Dave Bautista
07:51 Dave Bautista will be imminently making his final appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
07:56 in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, after which he'll be retiring from the
08:00 Drax role and seeking challenges elsewhere.
08:03 It's evident that Bautista wishes to be taken seriously as a real actor, rather than a wrestler-turned-actor,
08:09 and he's certainly made a persuasive case for that since leaving the wrestling ring.
08:12 But in the summer of 2021, Bautista added his name to the many who want to make an appearance
08:17 in Star Trek.
08:18 When freelance writer Jay Stobie tweeted that he'd love to see Bautista in Star Trek
08:22 one day, the star retorted with his enthusiasm for the idea, saying,
08:26 "Likewise, I was born to be a Klingon.
08:28 Just sayin'."
08:29 He's certainly not wrong.
08:30 It takes no mental effort whatsoever to picture Big Dave as a Klingon, and so casting him
08:35 as a Klingon warlord in a future Trek movie basically sells itself.
08:39 So let's get on it.
08:41 1.
08:42 Daniel Craig
08:43 Following on from Dave Bautista, we have his James Bond and Knives Out co-star Daniel
08:47 Craig, who in an admittedly relatively old interview with Airlock Alpha from 2007, confessed
08:53 a long-held desire to be a part of Star Trek.
08:56 Craig said,
08:57 "I would love a stint in the TV show or in a movie.
08:59 It's been a secret ambition of mine for years."
09:01 And given that Craig ended up making a surreptitious cameo as a Stormtrooper in Star Wars The Force
09:06 Awakens, one suspects his love of major sci-fi franchises hasn't diminished one bit.
09:12 It's just a shame that The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams couldn't have found a way to insert
09:16 Craig into his trilogy of Trek reboot movies.
09:18 Yet if the long-gestating fourth film does ever go into production, there will be ample
09:23 time to correct that mistake, especially with Craig's all-consuming Bond role now at an
09:27 end.
09:28 Whether as a wink-wink cameo or honest-to-God character in his own right, Craig has the
09:32 chops to give us a Trek character either smolderingly intense or totally hilarious.
09:37 And that concludes our list.
09:39 If you think we missed someone, then do let us know in the comments below.
09:42 And while you're there, don't forget to like and subscribe, and tap that notification bell
09:46 so you never miss a Trek Culture video again.
09:49 Also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and Instagram as well, and I can be found
09:52 across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
09:55 I've been Ellie with Trek Culture.
09:57 I hope you have a wonderful day, and remember to boldly go where no one has gone before.