10 Actors Who Turned Down Star Trek

10. Michelle Forbes - Ro Laren

For those of you confused about the image: yes, this actress was, indeed, in Star Trek. After appearing as a one-time character in the fourth season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Forbes landed the role of Ensign Ro Laren, a previously court-martialled Bajoran with a distrust of the Federation and its personnel. The character proved popular among fans, and Ro became a recurring character on the show from its fifth season through to the seventh.

But it's this very popularity that leads to her inclusion on this list, as Ro Laren was originally groomed to be a major character on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a TV series that first aired in 1993. However, Forbes was unwilling to commit to a permanent role on the series, so the show went ahead without her involvement. In her last appearance on The Next Generation, Ro Laren defects from the Federation when she joins the Maquis, a group of Bajoran freedom fighters, and has not been seen on screen since.

Thankfully, Forbes's intended role on Deep Space Nine was subsequently reworked into the character of Kira Nerys, the Bajoran First Officer of the station played by Nana Visitor. Even so, Ro's prickly and no-nonsense nature could have been fun to see developed further.