From Shakespeare to Dyson spheres, the actors of Star Trek: The Next Generation have seen it all. Here's where they all ended up after the groundbreaking sci-fi series took its last flight.
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00:00From Shakespeare to Dyson spheres, the actors of Star Trek The Next Generation have seen
00:04it all. Here's where they all ended up after the groundbreaking sci-fi series took its
00:08last flight.
00:10From theater to television and the big screen, Sir Patrick Stewart has done it all, and won
00:13more awards than most. For Trekkies, he holds a special place in their hearts as Captain
00:17Jean-Luc Picard, a role he made famous in Star Trek The Next Generation, and continued
00:22to play on and off for over 35 years.
00:25Stewart endeared himself to comic lovers, too, as Professor X in the X-Men movies, and
00:29he's racked up a formidable list of other credits across all genres, from sitcoms to
00:33horrors to a few returns to Shakespeare.
00:36Be or not a bee, that is the question."
00:43Offscreen, Stewart released his memoir in late 2023. He's an avid car enthusiast and
00:48continues to follow the Huddersfield Town Football Club, which he's supported for most
00:52of his life. He's also admitted to taking a keen interest in jigsaw puzzles, speaking
00:56to AARP in December 2023 about what his plans for the future are, Stewart said,
01:01"'One of my ambitions, should my work continue, is to do more comedy. Making people laugh
01:05gave me so much satisfaction, because I've been in productions where I've seen people
01:08sitting wiping their eyes, and I feel sorry for them.'"
01:11Jonathan Frakes will forever be known as William Riker, serving as the Enterprise-D's first
01:15officer for seven seasons and four movies before becoming a captain himself and showing
01:20up in other Trek series. His acting career never stalled after Star Trek, as he popped
01:24up in popular shows like Lois & Clark, Roswell, and Criminal Minds. He also provided the voice
01:29for David Xanatos in Gargoyles, an animated series that saw the appearance of many Star
01:33Trek stars. Even non-Trekkies might recognize him from 90s classics like Alien Autopsy and
01:38Beyond Belief.
01:39"'Do you think this story is built upon truth, or are you hearing the familiar voice of deception
01:44in your ear?''
01:45Frakes also worked behind the camera, directing films like Clockstoppers and two Star Trek
01:50movies, while also helming eight episodes of Next Generation, three episodes of Star
01:53Trek Voyager, and many episodes of Discovery, Picard, and Strange New Worlds. He's also
01:58a part of a select group of Star Trek actors who are talented musicians.
02:02"'You know, this is a much better way of communicating for you. It's far less confusing than the
02:08way you normally speak.'"
02:11He played the trombone on a track for the rock band Phish, appropriately called Riker's
02:15Mailbox, and also gave directing classes at Maine's Rockport College. He's remained close
02:19to his Star Trek castmates, telling Edmonton Journal in September 2024,
02:23"'Our cast is thick as thieves. We've been friends for 39 years and we've been in each
02:27other's lives.'"
02:29Even the worst episodes of Star Trek are redeemed by Brent Spiner's Data, an entertaining and
02:33endearing android who's appeared all over Star Trek media, becoming one of the most
02:37easily recognizable and beloved figures in all sci-fi history. While Spiner has returned
02:41to play Data and various members of his family on numerous occasions, he's also continued
02:45to flex his creative muscles outside of Star Trek. He dabbled in music, releasing albums
02:50in 1991 and 2010, and also made his way back to Broadway for a few shows. He's also appeared
02:55in blockbuster films like Independence Day and The Aviator, while guest-starring in shows
02:59such as Warehouse 13 and Young Justice, in which he voices the Joker.
03:03In a 2002 interview with IGN, Spiner disclosed how he thought about quitting the role of
03:07Data at the end of every season of the hit show that spawned him, but he kept discovering
03:11there was more to uncover. It was about a character who was evolving and growing all
03:14the time, and experimenting with different facets of humanity, and playing other characters
03:19in order to understand that humanity. It felt limitless, finally.
03:22In 2021, Spiner released Fan Fiction, a Mem Noir, a high-concept fictional autobiography
03:28that combined his real experiences filming Star Trek with a murder mystery. The audiobook
03:32edition brought in cameos from Next Generation's core cast.
03:36Marina Sirtis plays the Enterprise's counselor Deanna Troi across seven seasons, four movies,
03:41five other Star Trek series, and even appears as a computer's voice in the fan series Star
03:45Trek Continues. Sirtis also ventured into tons of other movies and television shows
03:48over the years, from The Orville to Adventure Time. Arguably, Sirtis' most famous other
03:53role is in the animated series Gargoyles, where she voices Demona alongside many of
03:57her Star Trek co-stars. Sirtis' husband, musician Michael Lamper, died at the age of 61 in 2019.
04:04Sirtis' political affiliation is also no secret, and in 2021, she explained to Big Issue that
04:09she decided to move back to England because of the shift in the American political landscape,
04:13saying,
04:14"...America changed so much in the 35 years that I was there. When I went, I literally
04:17thought I'd died and gone to heaven. It was brilliant. And then this right-wing fascist
04:21mentality started taking over."
04:23She also claimed that there are more acting opportunities for women her age in her own
04:26home country. In 2023, she appeared on the Hallmark movie Love's Greek to Me.
04:31Michael Dorn portrays the iconic Klingon Worf, and quickly became one of the most popular
04:36characters in the entire Star Trek franchise. Worf moved to a starring role in Star Trek
04:40Deep Space Nine after the conclusion of Next Generation, and has appeared in more Trek
04:44episodes than any other actor.
04:46Dorn isn't only known for his Trek achievements, though, as he's often recognized for his voice
04:50alone.
04:51That is how the Klingon lures a mate.
04:59With the power of his voice, he's crossed over into other comic-based pop culture franchises
05:03like Superman the Animated Series, where he provides the voice of the heavy-hitting
05:06superhero Steel, and the brave and the bold as Batman villain Bane.
05:10In 2023, Dorn received the opportunity to head back to Metropolis as he penned the Steel
05:14comic arc Steelworks. It turned out to be an important writing gig for him, which was
05:18something Dorn was delighted about after having tried to make it happen for a long time. As
05:22he told Polygon,
05:23"...I've written maybe four or five screenplays and people liked my writing, but nothing's
05:27come to fruition. The big thing about Steelworks is, I'm a paid writer."
05:31LeVar Burton brings Geordi LaForge to life in Star Trek The Next Generation, but he's
05:35also renowned for his other impressive creative achievements. As the host and executive producer
05:39of the educational children's show Reading Rainbow, he and his team secured numerous
05:43award nominations and wins, including 26 Daytime Emmys. He also had a podcast from 2017 to
05:492024 called LeVar Burton Reads, in which he would read short stories and discuss the tales
05:53with his audience in an effort to encourage people to read more.
05:56On TV, he often appears as fictionalized versions of himself, on shows like Tim and Eric Awesome
06:01Show...
06:02"...I'm the ghost of LeVar Burton."
06:05...and Community.
06:06"...Hi, I'm LeVar Burton."
06:10He also briefly hosted Jeopardy! Burton joined the board of the AIDS Research Alliance in
06:142012, and was one of the first inductees on the Sacramento Walk of Stars in 2016. In 2019,
06:20a park was renamed in his honor, and in 2023, Burton won an award for his ongoing public
06:25service.
06:26Gates McFadden stars as Dr. Beverly Crusher, but during the first season of the series,
06:31McFadden didn't see eye-to-eye with showrunner Maurice Hurley, which culminated in her character
06:34being replaced for the second season. Dr. Crusher returned from Season 3 onward and
06:38never looked back.
06:39"...I did fall asleep reading a particularly erotic chapter in my grandmother's journal."
06:46She also enjoyed a successful stage and television career, appearing in series like Mad About
06:50You, Franklin & Bash, and The Practice. She's also given back to the acting community, teaching
06:54at Harvard, the University of Pittsburgh, and Brooklyn College. In more recent times,
06:58she lent her voice to animated shows like Masters of the Universe Revolution and X-Men
07:0297. She's also a professional choreographer and has worked on classic films like Labyrinth,
07:07where she uses the name Cheryl instead of Gates. In 2021, she launched the podcast Gates
07:12McFadden Investigates! Who Do You Think You Are?, where she interviewed Next Generation
07:16co-stars and a variety of other Trek actors. And as part of the cast of The Next Generation,
07:21McFadden and her co-stars received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Saturn Awards.
07:25Will Wheaton starred as the polarizing teenager Wesley Crusher.
07:28"...Shut up, Wesley!"
07:31At the time of his casting, fans probably recognized Wheaton from his performance in
07:34Stand By Me. As Next Generation progressed, Wesley's appearances became sporadic as Wheaton
07:39continued his ascension as a young actor. Even so, the actor didn't forget about the
07:43character and returned to play Wesley multiple times.
07:45"...Shut up, Wesley!"
07:47Wheaton's acting career saw him star in films like Toy Soldiers and Flubber, while also
07:50featuring in television shows such as The Big Bang Theory and Eureka. He's also received
07:54opportunities in the animated world, as characters like Aqualad in Teen Titans and Dr. Peter
07:59Meachum in Generator Rex.
08:01Apart from his acting career, Wheaton is also a writer, having started his own blog, written
08:05a few books, and contributed articles to publications like LA Weekly and The Washington Post. Wheaton
08:10also opened up to his fans to write about the mental health issues which he has experienced
08:14throughout his life.
08:15Anyway, let's move on to somebody even more important. Perhaps the most important person
08:20in Starfleet history, Chief Miles O'Brien.
08:24Starfleet fans remember Cole Meany's Chief Miles O'Brien from both Next Generation and
08:28Deep Space Nine. While he might be more associated with the latter, he still featured in 52 episodes
08:32of the former.
08:33Meany continued to have a career that would make any actor jealous, starring in movies
08:37like Con Air and Tolkien, while featuring in series like Hell on Wheels and Stargate
08:41Atlantis.
08:42A highly prolific and recognizable Irish actor prefers to live life out of the limelight,
08:46though, as he left America to move to the island of Majorca with his wife and children
08:50in the 2000s. In August 2024, the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Gazette asked him if he would
08:54welcome the opportunity to reprise the role of Chief O'Brien. Meany joked about not being
08:59able to fit into the suit anymore, before adding,
09:01"...do you want to see an elderly Miles O'Brien? I don't know. It's certainly not at the top
09:05of my agenda of things I'd like to do at the moment."
09:08In the first season of Next Generation, Denise Crosby stars as security chief Tasha Yar,
09:13but the character is killed before the season ends, in the episode titled, Skin of Evil.
09:17In season three, Yar returns as a still-alive Yar from a different timeline, and again later
09:22as Yar's half-Romulan daughter, Selah. Speaking to IGN in April 2024, Crosby explained how
09:27she originally left the show because of creative frustrations regarding her character, saying,
09:31"...it's such an incredible opportunity. You have so much here, but I'm not going to just
09:35be the token hot blonde on the show, but they had a 60s mentality."
09:39After Star Trek, Crosby continued her acting career, appearing in the classic Stephen King
09:43film Pet Sematary and everything from Suits to The Walking Dead. She's remained close
09:47to the Star Trek fan base, however, as she often appears at the Star Trek The Cruise
09:51event and other fan conventions. She's also acted as a producer on the Trekkies documentary
09:55films.
09:56For Star Trek fans, Majel Barrett remains royalty, and one of the most important people
10:00to have ever contributed to this universe. Not only was she the wife of the creator of
10:04the franchise, Gene Roddenberry, but she also played a number of pivotal characters across
10:08different productions. She made numerous appearances as the obnoxious but complex mother of Deanna
10:12Troi, Lwaxana, and during the first season of Next Generation, she became the voice of
10:17the Federation starship's computer in most episodes.
10:20"...Computer, is Commander Riker still on the bridge?"
10:24"...Negative. Riker is currently in holodeck three."
10:27Barrett also appeared in popular sci-fi shows like Babylon 5 and Earth, Final Conflict,
10:32while also voicing Anna Watson in Spider-Man the animated series. One of Barrett's final
10:36roles was the voice of the starship's computer in J.J. Abrams' alternate universe Star Trek
10:40film. In December 2008, Barrett died from leukemia. She was 76 years old. Several of
10:46her Star Trek co-stars attended her funeral to pay their last respects to her.
10:50John De Lancie only appeared in eight episodes of Star Trek The Next Generation, but as the
10:54mischievous character Q, he bookends the series as a vital part of both the premiere and the
10:59finale. It's also a role he reprises in Deep Space Nine, Picard, and Lower Decks.
11:03"...Get out of here, Q! No, we are done with random stuff today! We're not dealing with
11:07any of your Q bulls—!"
11:08In Voyager, he's joined by his real-life son, Keegan. While the actor appears in films
11:13like Gamer and Crank High Voltage, he's found most of his success on television, securing
11:17roles in Charmed, Breaking Bad, and Stargate SG-1. He's lent his voice to Batman the animated
11:22series The Real Adventures of Johnny Quest and My Little Pony, while gamers should recognize
11:27him as the voice of William Miles in various Assassin's Creed titles.
11:30De Lancie also co-wrote a novel about a Star Trek character, as well as a DC Comics story,
11:35and recorded two audio dramas in which his character debates Leonard Nimoy's Spock. He
11:39also co-produced the documentary Bronies.
11:42The actor has also become known as a secular activist, disclosing that he started questioning
11:46religion from the age of six. As he told Skeptical Inquirer,
11:50"...I was asked not to come back to Sunday school. Mostly I felt very manipulated by
11:54some of the religious people I came into contact with."
11:56That being said, De Lancie said people should be free to choose what they believe in for
11:59their own reasons, encouraging critical thinking.
12:02Comfort is one thing. Proof is another. I would never take away the comfort that a religious
12:06belief might afford.