10 Actors You Didn't Know Were In Star Trek Twice
3. Paul Winfield
Paul Winfield played the ill-fated Captain Terrell in Star Trek 2, who eventually shot himself to save Kirk and the Enterprise from Khan's scheme. He has one of the more gruesome Star Trek fates, after being infected by the Ceti eels he vaporised himself rather than Kirk. It's no surprise, therefore, that his second appearance in Star Trek had to be from behind the prosthetic make-up of Dathon, the Tamarian captain in Darmok.
Because of the Tamarian's unique speech-patterns (they essentially speak in memes) it's even harder to recognise Paul Winfield in the role. It's just as well, as Darmok is a Star Trek episode all about finding common ground, and being able to communicate with those we don't understand.
Realising that Paul Winfield from one of the most beloved Star Trek movies of all time was playing Dathon would have shattered the illusion a little. And it's to Winfield's credit that he gets to have played such an integral role in two of the very best Star Trek stories.
Again, Winfield heroically gives his life to save another Enterprise captain, which is arguably typecasting, but when the two characters are so richly drawn and diverse it hardly matters.