Star Trek Actor Recalls Stunt That Gave Them Permanent Scars
One Star Trek actor is sharing their scars from the set.
Alfre Woodard (The Lion King) has had a long-lasting, tremendously strong career. She had some time to reflect during a recent interview with Collider (seen below). Upon this reflection, she recalled a stunt in the 1996 Star Trek movie First Contact that left her with scars.
The scars can be seen on the actress’ forearms of both of her arms. She talked about how director Jonathan Frakes (Star Trek: Next Generation, Insurrection, Discovery) planned for a major explosion that the stars would need to rehearse to get right. She and James Cromwell (The Young Pope) had to practice for hours to jump from the explosion. It happened to be “so intense” that they got knocked down. It was so powerful that it tore her costume and ripped up her arms. To the director, when he was informed about her injury, he happily told her that all worked out and the shot was complete, then walked away.
To few’s surprise, that was the only appearance the actress made in anything remotely related to Star Trek. It did look brutal enough, especially when the scars are so visible on her arms through her webcam during the video call for the interview. But as the franchise is bringing back old characters for its plethora of Paramount+ series, then anything is possible for a live-action or animated return.
The accident has not kept Alfre Woodard away from the action. Most recently, she has had roles in the Jason Momoa (Justice League) Apple TV+ series See and the now-deceased Netflix series Luke Cage.
Star Trek: First Contact was a huge hit for the franchise hitting the big screen. Starring Patrick Stewart (Picard), Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner (Penny Dreadful: City of Angels), LeVar Burton (The Next Generation, Voyager, Insurrection, Nemesis), and Michael Dorn (Generations, Insurrection). Even in Giant Freakin Robot’s ranking of all things related to the franchise, First Contact was number six, sitting right above The Search for Spock and below The Next Generation.
The interview goes beyond the intense shooting of the Star Trek movie. The star talked about trying to make a living, See, and the making of The Gray Man with the Russo brothers (Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame).
The Oscar-nominated actress has plenty of work ahead of herself. The action-thriller The Gray Man has a mighty cast with Ana de Armas (Knives Out), Chris Evans (Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame), Ryan Gosling (La La Land), Jessica Henwick (Iron Fist), Rege-Jean Page (Bridgerton), Billy Bob Thorton (Fargo), Wagner Moura (Narcos), and Julia Butters (Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood). The 12 Years a Slave star will also be in Viral with actor and director Blair Underwood (Love Life), Sarah Silverman (Wreck-It Ralph), and Connor Paolo (Gossip Girl). Morgan Freeman (Seven), Bill Burr (The Mandalorian), and Common (John Wick: Chapter 2) will join her in Hate to See You Go. She will also lend her voice to the animated series Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur with Libe Barer (Sneaky Pete) and Laurence Fishburne (Black-ish).
