10 Star Trek Cameos You (Probably) Missed

7. Mark Lenard - Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Star Trek Mark Lenard
CBS

Mark Lenard has the honour of playing a Vulcan, a Romulan, and a Klingon, all in the Original Series era of Star Trek. His first appearance was as the Romulan Commander in Balance of Terror before he was brought back to play Sarek, Spock's father, in Journey To Babel. While he would be best known for this role, he also managed to snag one more important spot in his time.

In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, the massive entity V'Ger kicks off the film by responding to the attacks from three Klingon K'T'inga-class battlecruisers. One of these ships is commanded by a Klingon who, underneath the new make-up that was designed for the big screen, was strikingly familiar to those who paid attention to Spock's family line.

Lenard appeared as this commander, which would be the first of four Star Trek films he guest-starred in, though the other three were all as his more familiar role of Sarek. He gets to speak the first Klingonese ever heard on-screen, a language that was devised by James Doohan and producer Jon Povill. While he wouldn't get an awful lot to do in the film, he was one of the first 'modern' look Klingons ever seen, making another momentous occasion that belonged to this actor.

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Seán is the host and head writer/presenter for TrekCulture, as well as a writer/presenter on WhoCulture and WhatCulture Horror. He has authored two novels, dozens of short stories, and hundreds of articles for WhatCulture. He holds a Master of Arts in Creative Writing from University College Dublin. As part of his work with TrekCulture, Seán has been invited to participate in collaborations with Roddenberry Entertainment, as well as contributing to several Star Trek community projects. An avid fan of Star Trek, Doctor Who, and the horror genre at large, Seán's expertise has helped develop these channels to the successes they are today. As host of the Ups & Downs series on TrekCulture, Seán has become internationally recognised for his positive yet critically informed approach to reviewing every episode of modern Star Trek, ensuring he is one of the go-to voices in the Trek community. Favourite Quote to describe himself: "I'm serious about what I do, just not always about the way that I do it"