Star Trek Is Crazy About Hiring Actors From One 1970s Classic Movie

The fact that Star Trak featured several actors from an Academy Award-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest only attests to life’s fact that it’s sometimes more about the quality of the recipe rather than the quality of the ingredients. Of course, we’re not saying that Trek is bad; quite the contrary, it is great. It has been nominated for Oscars several times, and it won quite a few awards. But never for Best Picture. However, several Academy Award-winning actors have enriched the franchise by providing some of the richest and most endearing performances.

Louise Fletcher, who played Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s villainous Bajoran religious leader Kai Winn, after she won an Oscar for Best Actress in Leading Role for her portrayal of Nurse Rached in Jack Nicholson’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.

That particular movie was also Brad Dourif’s first credited role in cinema, and his exceptional performance as Billy Bibbit won him a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Brad later portrayed Star Trek: Voyager‘s Betazoid murderer, Lon Suder. First appearing in the Season 2 episode “Meld,” a reformed Suder later sacrifices his life to save the titular ship from a Kazon takeover in the two-parter “Basics.”

Another Star Trek actor who made his film debut One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and later appeared in Trek is Christopher Lloyd. Lloyd played the formidable Klingon Commander Kurge in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, a performance that remains a highlight for the franchise’s fandom. Among other things, it’s Kruge’s confrontation with Captain Kirk that leads to the death of the latter’s son as well as the destruction of the original series Enterprise.

Michael Berryman, known for his distinctive appearance due to Hypohidrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia, had a relatively small role in Cuckoo’s Nest, but his presence in Star Trek perfectly illustrates the franchise’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. In fact, out of all the actors to appear in both Cuckoo’s Nest and Trek, Berryman is the most prolific performer in terms of how many times he worked for the sci-fi franchise.

Berryman’s first appearance in the franchise was as a Starfleet officer in 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. He appears in the sequel, 1989’s Star Trek V: The Final Frontier as one of the followers of the renegade Vulcan Sybok. And in the 1988 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Conspiracy,” Berryman had the distinction of playing Captain Rixx — the very first on-screen member of the Bolian race (though the species’ physical characteristics would be altered later).

Vincent Schiavelli added plenty of humor and intrigue to Star Trek: The Next Generation during his brief performance as The Peddler in “The Arsenal of Freedom,” mostly due to his unique character actor charm.

Finally Peter Brocco, who portrayed Colonel Matterson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, also played Claymare, an Organian, in the original Star Trek series. His performance was crucial to the show’s exploration of themes such as power, peace, and war in an episode that introduced the Oragnian’s Peace Treaty. This plays an important part in the relationship between the Federation and the Klingon Empire.

The list of successful actors who have honored audiences by starring in one of the biggest sci-fi franchises goes on, but it’s always interesting to see them providing vastly different performances. What’s even more interesting is that the newer Star Trek releases often have a way of nodding to the past, and it’s not outside the realm of possibilities to see some of these actors on the small screens again, considering just how vast the franchise has become—Star Trek: Picard just ended, Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 is scheduled to release in Spring 2024, and plenty of other releases are in development.