Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Rom

10. Pair Of Quarks

Before Rom, Max Grodénchik had already played two separate Ferengi characters on Star Trek: The Next Generation — Sovak in Captain's Holiday, and Par Lenor in The Perfect Mate. It was during filming of the latter, Grodénchik told StarTrek.com in 2014, that he got wind from make-up artist Michael Westmore that a new Star Trek show with a Ferengi series regular was in development.

Grodénchik went on to audition, not for the brother, but for Quark. At the callback, the actor thought he had completely ruined his chances and went to sit to sulk outside. He was joined by Armin Shimerman, equally unconfident, who had the following observation:

Here's the good news: it's between only you and me for the role.

You might wonder, like Grodénchik, how anyone could be so sure. Shimerman's reply was simple, but savvy — "Well, we were the only two short people there".

Though he didn't get to play Quark, Grodénchik, magnanimous, noted in The Fifty Year Mission: The Next 25 Years that his disappointment was tempered by "knowing that Armin landed the role". "Thrilled" to be offered Rom, Grodénchik also had "no idea that it would turn into such a recurring role".