Star Trek is all about exploring new worlds, which is a great way to meet new characters. From 1966 all the way through today, the Star Trek franchise has brought in some of the most exciting guest stars on television. Let’s take a look back at 50 guest stars you may have not known were on Star Trek. Trust us, some of these will surprise you.

Star Trek: Discovery streams exclusively on CBS All Access in the United States and is distributed concurrently by CBS Studios International on Netflix in 188 countries and in Canada on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and OTT service Crave.

Star Trek: Picard streams on CBS All Access in the United States,  in Canada on Bell Media’s CTV Sci-Fi Channel and OTT service Crave, and on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories.

Ted Knight is most fondly remembered as the Judge Smails in Caddyshack, or as Ted Baxter in The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also lent his voice to the role of Carter Winston, a famous Federation philanthropist who was lost for 5 years before the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise discovered him. 

You may know O’Quinn as John Locke in the ABC series Lost, but did you know he played Riker’s superior office in The Next Generation’s “The Pegasus”?

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson probably didn’t have to spend too much time getting into character when he went from being a WWE champion to playing a Tsunkatse champion in the Voyager episode “Tsunkatse.”

The “Godfather of Punk” appeared as Yelgrum the Vorta in the Deep Space Nine episode “The Magnificent Ferengi.”

Before she was in 10 Things I Hate About You and Bring It On, Gabrielle Union played N’Garen. She was one of the Klingon officers that teased Worf’s son, Alexander, in the Deep Space Nine episode “Sons and Daughters.”

Remember Tank Girl? The titular girl (Lori Petty) appeared as Noss, a humanoid who falls for Tuvok, in the Voyager episode “Gravity.”

The theoretical physicist had the rare honor of appearing as… himself! He is seen participating in a holodeck card game alongside Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein in The Next Generation episode “Descent.”

Silverman took time off from being comedy’s “it girl” to play Rain Robinson, a 20th-century astronomer searching for extraterrestrials. She gets more than she bargained for when she picks up the U.S.S. Voyager’s warp signal in “Future’s End: Parts 1-2.”

Kelsey Grammer is best known for his Emmy-award winning role as Frasier Crane. But Star Trek fans may recognize him as Captain Morgan Bateson, the Bozeman’s captain who helps the Enterprise out of a life or death temporal causality loop in The Next Generation episode “Cause and Effect.”

Teri Garr received an Academy Award nomination for her supporting role in Tootsie. She also starred in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Young Frankenstein. However, one of her foundational roles was as Roberta Lincoln in The Original Series episode “Assignment: Earth.”

Three years before she was Xenia Onatopp in GoldenEye, Famke Janssen appeared as Kamala, the daughter of an ambassador destined for an arranged marriage in The Next Generation episode “The Perfect Mate.”

Alexander Rozhenko isn’t a guest appearance per say, as Worf’s son appears in ten episodes across two different series. But did you know that in seven of those episodes the child actor underneath the makeup is Brian Bonsall aka Andy Keaton from Family Ties?

Jason Alexander is known for playing the luckless George Constanza on Seinfeld. In reality, he always wanted to be on Star Trek. He got his chance during the Voyager episode “Think Tank” where he plays Kurros, the spokesperson for a group of alien scholars. 

Ashley Judd would go on to become a major film star, but one of her first roles was as the Ensign Robin Lefler in The Next Generation. She appeared in the episodes “Darmok” and “The Game.”

Before she kissed an upside-down Spider-Man, Kirsten Dunst appeared as Hedril, a telepathic girl with no concept of spoken language. Find her in The Next Generation episode “Dark Page.” 

Rebecca Romijn gets a lot of sci-fi cred for playing Mystique in the X-Men film series, so she knew Captain Picard himself before landing her the role of Una, aka Number One, on Star Trek: Discovery. She will reprise her role alongside Captain Pike in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

You think if you score a guest spot like Mick Fleetwood you would want to show him off right? That was not the mindset of The Next Generation writers when they transformed the Fleetwood Mac drummer into an Antedian Dignitary for the episode “Manhunt.”

Gary Lockwood played Frank Poole in the groundbreaking Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Before that, he appeared in another groundbreaking science fiction project when he played Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell in the Star Trek pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before.”

Teri Hatcher was working in television for a decade before she became a household name as Lois Lane in Lois and Clark. One of her roles was B.G. Robinson, a Starfleet Lieutenant in The Next Generation episode “The Outrageous Okona.”

Known for his height and vocal gravitas, Ted Cassidy rose to fame as Lurch in The Addams Family. For Star Trek: The Original Series, he played the intimidating Ruk in the episode “What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

Ken Jenkins is best known for portraying Dr. Bob Kelso in Scrubs. He probably had no trouble nailing that audition after portraying Dr. Paul Stubbs in The Next Generation episode “Evolution.”

Tom Morello, the world-class guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, is also a Star Trek fan. He appeared as Crewman Mitchell in the Voyager episode “Good Shepherd.”

Not to be outdone by her TV husband Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer), Bebe Neuwirth from Cheers and Frasier appeared in The Next Generation episode “First Contact” as Nurse Lanel. 

Abdullah II bin al-Hussein is the king of Jordan and also a total Trekkie. He cameoed as an uncredited extra in the Voyager episode “Investigations.”

Jonathan Banks recently had a resurgence in the spotlight when he played Mike, the hitman on Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. One of his earlier roles was as Golin Shel-la, the Leader of the Ennis. Catch him in action on the Deep Space Nine episode “Battle Lines.”

Dean Stockwell starred alongside Scott Bakula in Quantum Leap for five years, which probably made his guest-starring role in the first season of Enterprise much easier! You can see him as the Tandaran Colonel Grat in the episode “Detained.”

Joan Collins, best known for playing Alexis Carrington in Dynasty, already had a successful Hollywood career before she appeared on Star Trek in 1967. She plays Edith Collins in one of the most-beloved Star Trek episodes of all time, “City on the Edge of Forever.”

RoboCop himself has appeared in a number of Star Trek properties. Most may remember him for his two-episode arc (“Demons” and “Terra Prime”) on Enterprise. He plays John Frederick Paxton, the leader of Terra Prime. 

Rekha Sharma appeared for three years as Tory Foster in the critically-acclaimed series Battlestar Galactica. She crossed over to the Star Trek universe, playing Commander Ellen Landry in three episodes of Star Trek: Discovery.

Michael McKean is the hilarious actor who plays Lenny Kosnowski on Laverne & Shirley and David St. Hubbins, the lead vocalist of Spinal Tap. So maybe it’s a bit too on the nose when they cast him as a character called The Clown in the Voyager episode “The Thaw.”

Mark A. Shepard is known for playing Crowley, the King of Hell on Supernatural.  He also appeared as the lawyer Romo Lampkin in Battlestar Galactica. One of his earlier roles was as Leucon in the Voyager episode “Child’s Play.” His father, W. Morgan Sheppard, has also made guest appearances on the show. 

Kevin Peter Hall knew a thing or two about sitting in a makeup chair for hours after his phenomenal physical performance as the titular Predator. So it was no problem for him to appear as the Caldonian Leyor in The Next Generation episode “The Price.”

Joe Piscopo starred on Saturday Night Live from 1980-84, but is perhaps best known for being a stand-up comic. He appeared in The Next Generation episode “The Outrageous Okona” as… a stand-up comedian. 

Max Headroom was ahead of its time, so it’s fitting the actor behind him portrays someone from the future in The Next Generation. See him as Berlinghoff Rasmussen in the episode “A Matter of Time.”

Before he was steaming up the screen as Jin-Soo Kwon in Lost, Daniel Dae Kim made several appearances as Gotana-Retz and then Corporal D. Chang in Voyager and Enterprise respectively.

Vanessa Williams is known for her successful singing and acting careers, starring on TV series like Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. She puts her moral fiber and diplomacy skills to good use as Arandis, the Chief facilitator of the Temtibi lagoon in the Deep Space Nine episode “Let He Who Is Without Sin…”

Frank Gorshin turned in one of the most iconic villain roles when he portrayed The Riddler in the 1960s Batman series. He also had a memorable role in The Original Series as Commissioner Bele in the episode “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield.”

Okay, it’s no secret Whoopi was on The Next Generation, but how can we not mention this generational talent appearing in Star Trek? Whoopi Goldberg is one of the few artists to ever achieve an EGOT (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award). She appeared in over 30 episodes as Guinan, the wise bartender of Ten Forward.

Ed Begley, Jr. was nominated for six Emmy awards as Dr. Victor Ehrlich on St. Elsewhere. He plays Henry Starling in the two-episode “Futures End” Voyager arc. Henry is a pioneer who advanced 20th-century computing after discovering an abandoned federation timeship in 1967.

It may take a while for us to see Rainn Wilson without thinking of The Office’s Dwight Schrute, but disappearing into the role of swindler extraordinaire Harry Mudd was a great start. See him show his range in the Discovery episodes “Choose Your Pain” and “Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad.”

The three-time Los Angeles Laker champion also has the distinction of appearing as the tallest Klingon on screen. He plays Koral in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Gambit, Part II.”

Star Trek: Picard pulls the rug out under you when the safehouse he visits on Nepenthe belongs to none other than his former First Officer and Lieutenant Commander. The two, who were married at the beginning of Star Trek: Nemesis, live a peaceful life raising their daughter. 

Ronny Cox was also on St. Elsewhere, but he’s most known for Deliverance, Beverly Hills Cop I&II, Robocop and Total Recall. He appeared as Captain Edward Jellico in The Next Generation’s “Chain of Command, Part I” and “Chain of Command, Part 2.”

Before becoming Blacula, William Marshall appeared as computer genius Dr. Richard Daystrom in The Original Series episode “The Ultimate Computer.”

Did you know King of the Hill’s Bobby Hill was voiced by a woman? Yes, that’s Pamela Adlon from Califonication and Better Things. You can see her transformation into Oji the Mintakan in The Next Generation’s “Who Watches the Watchers.”

Another sci-fi/fantasy legend making an appearance on this list is John Rhys-Davis, who will forever be remembered for his portrayal of Gimli the Dwarf in The Lord of the Rings films. You can see him as Leonardo da Vinci in the Voyager episodes “Concerning Flight” and “Scorpion.” 

Whenever Enterprise had to cast a big mean alien, it seems they had no trouble walking down the hall of the UPN building to get WWE wrestlers. This hypothetically happened when they cast Paul “Big Show” Wight II as an Orion slave trader in the episode “Borderland.”

Maybe you don’t know Melissa George by name, but you might recognize her face from such films as Dark City, Mulholland Drive, or The Amityville Horror remake. She also appeared in Alias, Grey’s Anatomy, The Good Wife, In Treatment, and as Vina in the Discovery episode “If Memory Serves.”

Jim O’Heir is unforgettable as the hapless but good-natured Jerry on Parks and Rec, but that’s not where his bad luck started. He appeared in the Voyager episode “Critical Care” as the Jye husband whose wife left him for Gar. 

Jane Wyatt is most cherished for playing Margaret Anderson in the show Father Knows Best. But Star Trek fans remember her as Amanda Grayson, the human mother of Spock in The Original Series episode “Journey to Babel.”

You won't believe who is under the Antedian fish suit...

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50 Surprising Star Trek Guest Stars

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