Published Jun 11, 2026, 8:00 PM EDT
Derek is the Training Lead for ScreenRant. Before his current position, he spent 20 years working in games, TV, and film while also writing for several entertainment sites. Derek is also the co-host of three pop culture podcasts: Across the Omniverse, The Bad Batch, and Watch Men.
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Since it first hit the airwaves in 1966, Star Trek has welcomed some truly great actors onto the Enterprise, Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and every other ship, planet, or space station to appear. Whether they were the stars, recurring characters, or guest stars that many may have forgotten appeared in Star Trek, these actors have solidified their place in the pantheon of Hollywood for their talents. Some may not have become household names, but their work will live on and continue to gain them fans for generations to come.
Trying to break down whom the greatest actors in Star Trek are is, in many ways, an impossible task. With actors like Joan Collins, James Cromwell, Alfre Woodard, and Ricardo Montalbán — just to name a few — showing up in episodes, it would be easy to fill a list with nothing more than amazing guest stars and not even touch the main actors, but it’s the ones who came back week after week and made fans fall in love with the characters they played in the shows and movies, the ones who will forever be attached to their characters in the Star Trek universe, who really shine in the franchise.
These cast members built iconic figures, each infusing the character they played with something only they could bring to it. And, in doing so, they helped make even the worst Star Trek episodes worth watching. Without them, there would be no Star Trek for fans to love.
While Andrew J. Robinson may not have been a primary member of the Deep Space Nine cast, his work as the exiled Cardassian spy turned tailor Elim Garak is one of the show’s most beloved characters, and for good reason. Robinson plays Garak perfectly, giving the character just enough sass and snark to make viewers — and Doctor Bashir — constantly wonder what his true intentions are.
And while he may never have had his name appear in the opening credits with the rest of the main cast, Robinson did appear as Garak in 37 episodes of DS9,and his character played a major role in a number of them. To compare, Walter Koenig only showed up in 36 episodes of The Original Series.
As Kira Kerys, Nana Visitor had one of the toughest jobs in Deep Space Nine. In the early seasons, the actor needed to carefully walk the line of butting heads with most of the other main characters — especially Sisko — but remain likable enough that audiences would root for her.
Visitor also played one of the most complex characters to ever appear in Star Trek. Kira was a freedom fighter who spent most of her life rebelling against Cardassian rule, but, after the end of the occupation, found herself caught up in her own people’s inner struggle for power while dealing with her own PTSD. Visitor pulled it off perfectly, showing Kira’s strengths and never hiding her weaknesses.
While William Shatner’s acting style has often been questioned or outright mocked, it is impossible to imagine Star Trek ever becoming as big a franchise as it has without him, and a big part of that is how he played Captain Kirk. In the Original Series, Shatner gave Kirk a cocksure attitude, but also showed how serious the Captain could be, and how quickly he was willing to dress down his crew when they went against his orders.
But Shatner’s true shining moment in Star Trek is Wrath of Khan. His giant “KHAAAAAAN!!!” yell, out of context, seems funny, but in the moment, in the scene, it is powerful. It is the first time in all the years that fans have watched Kirk’s adventures that they see him truly despondent. And when Kirk gives his eulogy for Spock’s funeral, Shatner fills the scene with a deep sadness that is unmatched in the franchise. The way his voice cracks on “Of all the souls I have encountered in my travels, his was the most… human” is sure to make anyone with a heart cry.
Throughout seven seasons of TV and four movies, Will Riker stands out as a character unlike any other to appear in Star Trek, and a large part of that is thanks to Jonathan Frakes. Riker is, essentially, the Captain Kirk of Star Trek: The Next Generation, but without actually being the captain. Because of this, Frakes plays the character as someone who is more than ready to sit in the big chair, but chooses not to.
This, in turn, allows Frakes to give Riker a lighter touch than most Star Trek leaders have. Riker is just as likely to crack a joke as he is to reprimand an officer, and he has a love for adventure that is only matched by Kirk himself. Frakes plays the character as something like a grown-up Peter Pan. He knows he needs to be an “adult,” but he loves it when things get chaotic.
When Armin Shimerman took on the role of Quark on Deep Space Nine, he had already played two different Ferengi on Next Generation. This meant that Shimerman knew that, until Quark came about, the Ferengi were primarily meant to be used for lighter, more comedic stories, but that would all change.
Shimerman, along with DS9’s writers, still gave Quark plenty of comedic bits, but the actor also built out the character’s inner essence, turning what could have been a one-note figure into an amazingly deep figure who truly grew over seven seasons. Shimerman’s work as Quark, along with Max Grodénchik playing his brother Rom and Aron Eisenberg as his nephew Nog, made fans rethink how they felt about the Ferengi.
It’s impossible to know how much stress Kate Mulgrew felt as she joined the Star Trek family. Now only was she leading the fourth live-action series for the franchise, and not only was she the first woman to do so, she was also a last-minute addition to the cast, taking on the role of Captain Kathryn Janeway after the original actor quit. But to see her in the first episode of Voyager, or any episode after, you would never know it.
Mulgrew gives Janeway the same sense of confidence and locked-in leadership that Kirk and PIcard are famous for, but she adds a little spice to the mix, showing fans a captain who felt more approachable than the others. There was no doubting that Janeway could be as stern as the other captains, but she was also more emotionally open, giving Mulgrew a space to play in that no other Star Trek lead had before.
Not unlike William Shatner, Avery Brooks has a style all his own, and that style makes it impossible to imagine anyone else as Captain Benjamin Sisko. Brooks fills Sisko with a wild energy that truly makes it hard to guess what the leader of Deep Space Nine may decide to do from moment to moment, but everyone can be sure that whatever he does, it will work.
Brooks also gets to do something that no other Star Trek captain has been able to do: be a father. Sisko’s relationship with his son is a major part of DS9, and it allows Brooks to show off the character’s more compassionate and loving side. But it’s one episode in particular, “Far Beyond the Stars,” which Brooks also directed, that shows just how amazing an actor he is.
Acting is all about emotion. Knowing how much to show, and when, can make or break a scene or character. It’s how a character emotes that helps the audience connect with them. But for Brent Spiner, emotion wasn’t a tool he was allowed to use when playing Lieutenant Commander Data. Caked in makeup and wearing what were surely uncomfortable contact lenses, Spiner had to make fans fall in love with an android who spoke in monotone and struggled to understand what humans felt.
Not only did Spiner pull it off, he did such an amazing job that he created one of the most loved science fiction characters of all time. And, even more importantly, he built a character that fans with autism can see themselves in. And in the moments when Data did gain emotions, or when he played Lore, Spiner went all out, showing everyone just how much he could emote, and how much scenery he could chew (in the best way possible).
In a franchise filled with amazing characters and countless aliens, it takes a lot to become the face of it all and keep that position for decades on end. That is exactly what Leonard Nimoy has done with his portrayal of Mister Spock. Nimoy not only had to show the world what Vulcans would be like, he had to act as the logical end of Captain Kirk’s inner struggle, with Bones acting as the emotion end. And while Spock, being half human, would occasionally show some emotion, he was, for the most part, as Stoic as they come.
Others have played Vulcans since, and some have even had to take over the role of Spock from Nimoy. But no one has done a better job of showing the world what the green-blooded beings with pointy ears are all about. Nimoy captured not only what made his character great, but what makes Star Trek great.
The future of Star Trek rested on Patrick Stewart’s shoulders when Star Trek: The Next Generation began. His own agent told him not to worry. That the show would be canceled in a season, but it would be a good paycheck. Instead, playing Captain Jean Luc Picard has become the role that Stewart, a veteran of the stage and screen, will be forever remembered for. And that is because, from day one, the actor took the role seriously.
Stewart brought a level of elegance to Star Trek that had not existed before. His Picard was standoffish, often refusing to spend time off duty with his crew. He was harsher than Shatner’s Kirk ever was. But he treated everyone with respect and listened to his crew. Stewart, who won a Olivier Award in 1979, brought his British style of acting to the franchise and, in doing so, made it about so much more than Captain Kirk. He showed the world just how big Star Trek could be.
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Star Trek: The Original Series, Star Trek: The Animated Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek: Enterprise, Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Short Treks, Star Trek: Picard, Star Trek Lower Decks, Star Trek: Prodigy, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy
Video Game(s)
Star Trek Online, Star Trek: Resurgence, Star Trek: Bridge Crew
First TV Show
Star Trek: The Original Series
William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Deforest Kelley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Michael Dorn, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden, Brent Spiner, LeVar Burton, Wil Wheaton, Avery Brooks, Nana Visitor, Rene Auberjonois, Alexander Siddig, Cirroc Lofton, Armin Shimerman, Colm Meaney, Terry Farrell, Kate Mulgrew, Robert Beltran, Roxann Dawson, Jeri Ryan, Robert Duncan McNeill, Robert Picardo, Ethan Phillips, Garrett Wang, Jolene Blalock, Connor Trinneer, Dominic Keating, Scott Bakula, Linda Park, John Billingsley, Anthony Montgomery, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Simon Pegg, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Chris Hemsworth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Anton Yelchin, Idris Elba, Sonequa Martin-Green, Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp, Wilson Cruz, Oyin Oladejo, Emily Coutts, Jess Bush, Christina Chong, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, Rebecca Romijn, Michelle Yeoh