10 Star Trek Actors Who Suffered From Typecasting

During his time as Doctor (Phil) Phlox, and if you'll allow us the crossing of the sci-fi streams, John Billingsley also played the geeky, Star Trek-loving Dr. Simon Coombs (PhD) in the Stargate SG-1 episode The Other Guys. That character went to Star Trek conventions as a Vulcan, not a Denobulan, and chided fellow scientist Dr. Jay Felger for not "worship[ping] at the altar of Roddenberry."

Forever self-aware of his career to the point of parody, Billingsley has always managed to play against type by playing towards it. Nevertheless, the Star Trek actor has suffered from a form of typecasting — one not related to being on a "genre show," but specific to Enterprise. As Billingsley told TrekMovie in 2020:

I felt like I was in dry dock for about a year after Star Trek ended. […] Much of it was because we were on UPN and a low-rated show, so in the eyes of the community, I just disappeared for a number of years. […] And if you are not on a show on a particular network, or not on a prestige drama or not doing film, they [certain casting directors] aren't really paying attention.

Billingsley has not been hemmed in by sci-fi post-Enterprise, but he's not abandoned it either. His credits since have included everything from Prison Break to The Orville to Shameless.