10 Star Trek Actors Who Suffered From Typecasting

10. Nichelle Nichols

A gifted actress, a singer with a mesmerising voice, a dancer, and a campaigner whose work took her to NASA, Nichelle Nichols was truly a once-in-a-lifetime talent and extraordinary human being. Her example has been an inspiration to countless many across the generations. Her legacy is one for the ages.

After Star Trek: The Original Series had come to an end, Nichols just wanted to do what she did best, but like many of her Trek castmates in their respective roles, she suffered from the unfair impositions of having been Uhura. By 1970, Nichols was already feeling the sting of typecasting, having been "defined so narrowly as an actress" by Star Trek and forced into a "saleable stereotype" by producers, as she commented in newspaper The Calgary Herald. Ultimately, Nichols wanted to achieve success by being herself. "My creation comes in reaching out to audiences, swaying them, manipulating them, pleasing them. That's were [sic] I get my creative satisfaction," Nichols told the Herald.

Already on a singing tour of Canada at the time of the Herald article, Nichols was trying to make her mark after Star Trek. It is true, however, that in the years that followed, she was never afforded anywhere close to the range of roles on screen that her talent quite clearly deserved. Nichols did become, in essence, Uhura for the rest of her life and career — a fact she also embraced, returning the love she received from fans through her numerous convention appearances.