10 Star Trek Actors Who Suffered From Typecasting

Four years into the run of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Los Angeles Times ran a piece on the continuing success of the franchise. Even at that stage, the article touched on the question that concerns us here, pointing out that "the actors themselves may grow weary of their roles, especially if they perceive a danger of being as terminally typecast as their predecessors." However, Michael Dorn already had a different interpretation of the subject:

If what happened to the first cast is called being typecast then I want to be typecast. […] They are making their sixth movie. Name me someone else in television who has made six movies!

Dorn was cast in Star Trek quite a few more times, 283 times in total as Worf — episodes and movies combined — to be precise. He also appeared in the franchise as other characters, including one in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country that would have the grandfather paradox wondering what to do with itself. It is little surprise, therefore, that Worf is the character with which the actor is most associated. In Ted 2, Dorn even played 'Rick,' a man cosplaying as Worf at Comic-Con to "f**k with the nerds." His deadpan humour in Star Trek: Picard was then one of the highlights of an outstanding third season.

Dorn has spoken further about pigeonholing in the industry. In a video for a kickstarter campaign in 2012, the actor opened up about being restricted not to the character of Worf or Star Trek, but as a 'science-fiction actor'. To that end, Dorn had written the script for, and was planning to direct and act in, his own movie Through the Fire — a romantic comedy. Other Trek actors were attached, but sadly the kickstarter was cancelled part way through.