10 Star Trek Re-Shoots That Totally Changed The Ending

British actor David Rappaport had been cast as Kivas Fajo in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode The Most Toys. Rappaport had a smaller stature than many of the other actors in the episode, which had inspired director Timothy Bond to consider building smaller scale sets for his ship, the Jovis. This would have given him a sense of bullying power, as all characters around him would have to stoop.

However, after filming had commenced, but before these sets were built, Rappaport attempted to die by suicide. It was clear that he couldn't continue filming, so the role was recast.

Bond's friend, Saul Rubinek, was quickly cast in the part, mostly as a favour. This eliminated the need for smaller sets, as he was closer in height to Brent Spiner. It also inspired a further change in the character, leading to the infamous final scene. While Rappaport carried his weapon constantly in the early scenes, Rubinek's Fajo was depicted as less trigger happy. This made his brutal murder of Varria all the more shocking, leading directly to Data's decision to fire at him.

Though the reshoots were necessitated by tragic circumstances, they had an undeniably positive effect on the ending overall.