Star Trek and Star Wars are often looked upon as two sides of the same sci-fi coin, locked
in a never-ending battle of philosophy versus action that will last until the end of time…
or at least until the arguing nerds need a nap.
In truth, both franchises probably owe their continued existence to each other.
George Lucas admitted that Star Trek basically paved the way for Star Wars.
And William Shatner conceded that Paramount only became interested in giving Star Trek
a real shot on the big screen after Star Wars took the world by storm in 1977.
Generally, fans pledge outright allegiance to one franchise over the other, but that's
an idea that the following actors chose to ignore entirely.
Here are a few actors who visited both a galaxy far, far away and the Alpha Quadrant.
George Takei
Star Trek legend George Takei has been a part of the Enterprise from the very beginning,
first appearing as Lieutenant Sulu in the original series, and going on to reprise the
role for six Star Trek feature films, video games, and even an episode of Voyager.
But like many Star Trek alumni, it was through voice work that he made the transition between
the two biggest universes in sci-fi.
Takei became the most high profile name to take the leap when he landed the part of General
Lok Durd in the Clone Wars animated series.
"I congratulate you on your good fortune."
When asked about appearing in Star Wars, Takei remarked that he didn't consider it to be
jumping ship, telling Comic Book Resources,
"The Star Trek philosophy is to embrace the diversity of life, and Star Wars is a part
of that diversity.
[...] Star Trek is science fiction and Star Wars is more science fantasy.
But with the episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars that I worked on, I think there is a
merging there."
Star Trek and Star Wars living together in harmony?
"Oh my!"
Brent Spiner
Another legend of Trek, Brent Spiner's run as Lieutenant Commander Data spanned fifteen
years.
That includes seven seasons of The Next Generation and four feature films, one of which earned
him a Saturn Award for best supporting actor.
He also played Data's brother, Data's creator, and even made an appearance in the prequel
series Enterprise, as Data's great-great-grandfather, so his place in Trek spans more than just
one series.
Spiner eventually put Trek behind him.
At one point, he even publicly took issue with fans' perception of the show, saying
in 2011,
"We carry guns.
It's a joke.
It's like that illusion that it is somehow all about peace.
It's really not."
"Oh, s---!"
After provoking the wrath of Trekkies everywhere, Spiner's subsequent casting in Star Wars Rebels
must have struck a nerve.
The actor voiced Senator Gall Trayvis, a character who, coincidentally, is a total traitor.
No kidding, Brent.
"No!"
​Ethan Phillips
Though he pops up in everything from Girls to Veep to Homeboys in Outer Space, Ethan
Phillips' most memorable role remains Neelix, the USS Voyager's chef and ambassador.
Phillips portrayed the Talaxian for the show's entire seven-season run, but he also made
three minor appearances as different Star Trek characters.
In Next Generation and Enterprise, Phillips played two different Ferengi, and he also
made a cameo appearance in Star Trek: First Contact as a holographic maitre d'.
Phillips has since become something of a regular in the world of Star Wars video games, providing
the voice of transport pilot Hamman Flatt in Force Commander.
He also played an Imperial medical droid, Krantian governor and Royal grenade trooper
in 2002's Galactic Battlegrounds, as well as several additional characters in 2003's
Knights of the Old Republic.
"Hello to you.
You’re new to The Academy, aren't you?"
Simon Pegg
British actor Simon Pegg is known for many roles, from his zombie-fighting hero in Shaun
of the Dead, to his recurring role in the Mission Impossible film franchise.
But Trek fans know him as Montgomery Scott in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek reboot movies.
He proved to be such as asset to Abrams that the director later admitted he had an ulterior
motive when he cast him in the minor role of Unkar Plutt in Star Wars: The Force Awakens,
saying,
"When we were shooting The Force Awakens in Abu Dhabi he was there as an actor.
But for me, he was there as a writer and film-maker, and as someone to go around the issues I was
having at the time with the story and to get some great feedback."
It probably didn't take much for Abrams to convince Pegg to appear in the film, either:
"It's Star Wars.
I'd burn for Star Wars."
Pegg's input didn't end there, either.
He was also sought out by Paramount bosses when Abrams left the Star Trek franchise,
bringing Pegg on board as a co-writer for the third installment, Star Trek Beyond.
Ron Perlman
Best known for playing the demonic anti-hero Hellboy, as well as his starring role on Sons
of Anarchy, and a few hundred voice roles, Ron Perlman has been around the block more
than once.
Many of Perlman's hundreds of credits lie in genre films, an area of cinema he's has
always supported.
So when the opportunity came along to join the cast of 2002's Star Trek: Nemesis as the
Reman Viceroy, Perlman asked his manager for the time and place.
While he enjoyed working on the movie, neither audiences nor critics seemed to share his
enthusiasm.
Fortunately, his foray into Star Wars received a much more positive reaction.
Perlman voiced Gha Nachkt, a Trandoshan scavenger who meets his untimely end at the hands of
General Grievous, in the highly acclaimed first season of The Clone Wars.
​Ed Begley Jr.
Veteran actor and environmentalist Ed Begley Jr. is probably best known for his seven-year
stint on St. Elsewhere, though he actually has hundreds of TV and movie credits to his
name.
Among them are his appearance on the Star Trek: Voyager two-parter "Future's End", in
which he took on the one-off role of 20th century industrialist Henry Starling — who
just happens to be working with a character played by Sarah Silverman.
Begley Jr. has since said he "felt really blessed" to be a part of the Star Trek franchise,
as a huge fan of the show, though that didn't stop him from taking a gig with the rival
franchise the very same year.
He was hired to provide the voice of Boba Fett in the radio adaptation of Return of
the Jedi, produced with the blessing of George Lucas.
And speaking of Boba Fett…
Jason Wingreen
A victim of the dreaded Star Wars DVD editions, Jason Wingreen saw his part as the voice of
Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back chopped and replaced with the voice of Temuera Morrison,
the man who played Jango Fett in the prequel trilogy.
To add insult to injury, Wingreen was never actually credited for his contribution to
the Star Wars universe, which only became common knowledge four years before the great
remastering of '04.
While he may be best remembered as Harry Snowden from All in the Family, for Star Trek fans
he'll always be Doctor Linke, the Federation scientist who gets sent to the uninhabited
planet Minara II to conduct studies in Original Series episode "The Empath."
Deep Roy
The diminutive Deep Roy has an impressive filmography stretching back about 40 years,
including two big screen Star Wars installments.
Roy played musician Droopy McCool in Return of the Jedi, a member of the Max Rebo Band,
the 12-piece ensemble that performs in Jabba the Hutt's Tatooine palace.
The four-foot-three actor actually appeared uncredited in The Empire Strikes Back, as
a body double for Yoda during a number of scenes on Dagobah.
Roy is also one of the very few actors to appear on screen in both franchises, playing
Scotty's oyster-faced alien sidekick Keenser in the rebooted Trek series.
Keenser was never even meant to join Scotty on the franchise's most famous starship but
Roy's performance was so memorable that they invited him back to reprise his role.
​Clancy Brown
Sci-fi fans shouldn't really need an introduction to Clancy Brown.
He's played the immortal antagonist The Kurgan in Highlander,
“Mom!
Woof!"
...and Sergeant Zim in Starship Troopers.
Even your kids know Clancy Brown, even if only in voice.
"Donate to the children’s fund?
Why?
What have children ever done for me?”
Despite an impressive sci-fi resume, it wasn't until 2002 that Brown showed up on Star Trek,
taking on the role of Zobral in the Enterprise episode "Desert Crossing."
In it, Archer and Tucker accept an invitation to his homeworld — and unwittingly find
themselves caught up in a war.
Among his countless voice roles, Brown also dipped into Star Wars territory when he played
Darth Maul's brother Savage Opress in the Clone Wars series, as well as Ryder Azadi
in Rebels… who only kind of looks exactly like him.
​Clive Revill
Renowned stage actor Clive Revill portrayed a tweaked version of classic English character
Sir Guy of Gisbourne in 1991's Next Generation episode "Qpid," which took the crew to the
12th-century world of Robin Hood.
While it wasn't the most memorable performance the New Zealand native has given over the
course of his distinguished career, at least it wasn't replaced in later edits like his
work on the original Star Wars trilogy was.
"Sorry.”
Revill supplied the voice of Emperor Palpatine in the first cut of The Empire Strikes Back.
But like so many others, his work was dubbed over for the 2004 DVD release, replaced with
the voice of Ian McDiarmid, who took over as the Emperor with Return of the Jedi.
Revill was humble about the change, however, conceding that continuity was important and
saying that the filmmakers "made a good choice with McDiarmid."
Considering that the original 1980 emperor was played by a woman with superimposed chimp
eyes, pretty much anything was an improvement.
Greg Grunberg
As a self-proclaimed geek, Greg Grunberg couldn't have asked for a better friend than the man
who rebooted Star Trek and kick-started the third Star Wars trilogy.
Grunberg has worked with J.J. Abrams almost exclusively, so when Abrams began his cinematic
reinvention of Star Trek, he called on Grunberg again, drafting his friend to overdub the
dialogue for James Kirk's step-dad.
"Hey, are you out of your mind?
That car’s an antique.
You think you can get away with this just because your mother’s off-planet?
You get your ass back home, now!”
He appeared in person as Commander Finnegan in 2016's Star Trek Beyond, though by that
point he had already crossed the franchise divide.
Grunberg played Resistance pilot Snap Wexley in 2015's The Force Awakens, though he later
told StarTrek.com that he's on the fence about which franchise is his favorite.
Olivia D'Abo
"DABO!
Hahahaha!"
Best known to Trekkies as Starfleet Academy intern Amanda Rogers from the Next Generation
episode "True Q," Olivia D'Abo —
“Dabo!”
Ahem.
D'Abo is probably best known for playing Kevin Arnold's hippie sister Karen in The Wonder
Years.
Believe it or not, D'Abo —
“Dabo!”
— considers herself to be a pretty big sci fi nerd, telling the official Star Trek website,
"I considered it a real honor to be working on the continuation of the Star Trek legacy
I'd grown up with.
It had a huge effect on my childhood and not unlike Star Wars it made me more curious about
space, other life forms in our galaxy and the wonder of astronomy in general."
In 2008, she joined a number of her former Star Trek colleagues at Lucasfilm to record
the voice of Luminara Unduli for The Clone Wars animated series.
And, oh yeah…
“Dabo!”
Patty Maloney
Emerging from the darkest day in Star Wars history is Patty Maloney, who played a part
in the infamous and totally bizarre Star Wars Holiday Special.
The 3-foot-eleven actress was hired to play the special's main character, Chewbacca's
son Lumpawaroo, better known as Lumpy.
No, seriously.
[Wookiee sounds]
Maloney's memories of the epically weird program were completely positive, saying,
"We were all very pleased with the outcome of it.
Actually … I was.
I was very pleased with it."
The special aired in 1978 and, because of the sheer shame involved, was never seen again
in any official capacity.
Maloney's role in Star Trek was another one created for a person of her stature.
In the 1996 Voyager episode "The Thaw," she plays one of the many creations of The Clown
— a manifestation of fear born of a linked neural network.
Because, you know, sci-fi.
This time, she's credited as only "Little Woman", which is still a huge improvement
over being a grunting idiot named "Lumpy".
Added bonus, it was even a speaking role!
Oh, boy!
And she got to hang out with Michael McKean.
Point, Star Trek.
“A virus, a virus, he thinks I am a virus!”
Okay.
We're taking that point back.
Thanks for watching!
Click the Looper icon to subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Plus check out all this cool stuff we know you'll love, too!