Connor Trinneer: What Happened To Him After Star Trek
Connor Trinneer, for Star Trek fans, was last seen as Charles “Trip” Tucker giving his life in order to save Captain Archer and the Enterprise.
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Connor Trinneer, for Star Trek fans, was last seen as Charles “Trip” Tucker giving his life in order to save Captain Archer and the Enterprise. It ended the show and fans weren’t all that pumped about how things turned out for the popular character.
But Tucker’s death didn’t mean the end of Trinneer’s acting career. Maybe you haven’t seen him but the guy has had his share of roles since and even remains active in the Star Trek community. Let’s take a look at Trinneer’s career, both before and after his time on Enterprise.
Connor Trinneer Getting From There To Here
Born in the town with the maybe best name ever, Walla, Walla Washington, Connor Trinneer started an acting career in college after realizing his dreams of the NFL weren’t going to materialize. He started quietly on the small screen with bit parts on soap operas and other shows like the criminally underrated Sliders and the criminally overrated Touched By an Angel.
After these cameos and unassuming roles, Trinneer landed his big break, entering (like space itself) the nearly infinite and ever-growing Star Trek universe.
Connor Trinneer scored the role of Commander Charles “Trip” Tucker on Star Trek: Enterprise in 2001. It was a much-ballyhooed prequel to the original Star Trek, set about 100 years before Shatner and Nimoy were living long and prospering. Trinneer’s Tucker was Captain Jonathan Archer’s (Scott Bakula) chief engineer and had a prominent role in the show.
Though Connor Trinneer’s series started off strong with critics, it definitely lagged over time and lasted only four seasons from 2001-2004. Enterprise was supposed to be canceled after the third season during a shakeup at Paramount but did make its way back for a fourth season before ultimately heading off the screen.
The series finale “These Are the Voyages” landed like a thud with Connor Trinneer’s the beloved and likable Tucker dying in some of the Star Trek show’s final moments after saving both the ship and the captain. He lures aliens away to save his ship and detonates a junction box to kill them. It costs Trip his own life in the process.
His death wasn’t well-received by critics or fans of the show. Many thought it was a pointless and self-serving way for the character to meet his demise. To his credit, Connor Trinneer doesn’t see it quite the same way, claiming he’s “satisfied” with the way things ended.
It has been speculated in novels based on Enterprise that Connor Trinneer’s Tucker didn’t actually die in that final scene, but rather lived to an older age. I find that a bit hard to believe given how we watched him kick it on screen, but this is science fiction we’re talking about and nearly anything is possible.
Stargate Atlantis
After the cancellation of Enterprise, Connor Trinneer quickly landed another role, one keeping him close to fanboy/girl hearts on Stargate Atlantis. This wasn’t nearly as meaty a role as he had on Enterprise with Trinneer appearing in *only* 10 Stargate episodes (out of 100) over its five seasons.
On Stargate, Trinneer took a villain turn, playing a Wraith who temporarily joins the crew after being captured from his hive. He first appeared in season two, making periodic appearances as the Lastlight/ Kenmore character over the years. It was definitely a departure from what we saw from Connor Trinneer as Tucker on Enterprise. The Kenmore character is evil and manipulating in a way we hadn’t seen from the actor in the past.
The Purge
Connor Trinneer appeared in a number of different shows over the years, after his run on Stargate, mostly as one-offs. But he recently landed a more recurring role on USA’s adaptation of The Purge.
The show is based on the movie franchise of the same name. The Purge sets itself in a world in which the United States has taken a rather grim turn. Now, by way of tamping down violence on the other 364 days, one day a year the floodgates open, and all crimes are deemed legal. You name it, you can do it.
The series follows much the same path as the films, just introducing new characters who work their way through a night of purging. It hasn’t performed all that well with critics though who see it as overly violent and meandering.
Connor Trinneer’s character is Curtis, a government official in charge of overseeing parts of the purge. It’s a bit of a slimier role and Trinneer has said that some of his motivation for the character is that Curtis thinks what he’s doing is right and the purge has greater societal benefits.
Connor Trinneer And Fandom
Star Trek fans can still get up close and personal with Connor Trinneer. He’s a part of the convention circuit and with the show back in the relative limelight with Discovery and Picard fans have wanted to get even more of Tucker when possible.
Connor Trinneer and fellow cast member Dominic Keating, with whom he has a friendship off-screen, often appear together as part of question and answer panels and even fan experiences at Star Trek conventions.
One of his most recent appearances was at the Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas in 2019 where he answered questions and did the general meet and greet with fans.
But fans don’t need to head out to the big conventions. Connor Trinneer has taken his Trip Tucker character to events like the Star Trek Enterprise Live Experience back in June, and even auctioned off a fan meet and greet experience with Keating. This was a virtual meet and greet with the two actors over a zoom call. Is Trinneer banking on these experiences? Doubtful. The winning big for that call was $50.
Connor Trinneer Now
Unfortunately, outside of The Purge Connor Trinneer isn’t getting a lot of work anymore. His last credited role was in the Star Trek parody and the Snoop Dogg-led Unbelievable!!! The film which was released in 2016 but acquired in 2020 features a ton of former Trekky actors and actresses including Garrett Wang, Tim Russ, Nichelle Nichols, and many more.
After that, it doesn’t look like much is on the horizon for Connor Trinneer. To see him more we might just need to head out on the Star Trek circuit or the aforementioned Zoom calls. Maybe he’ll never be the big star that Enterprise fans always thought he could be.
