10 Amazing Behind The Scenes Secrets Of Star Trek: Voyager

It's no major secret that as the writing for Voyager progressed into season 4 and beyond, a number of the characters struggled to find anything resembling a compelling arc. With Seven of Nine's arrival on the show, the Tom Paris/B'elanna Torres relationship, and Robert Picardo making the role of The Doctor practically (and literally) sing, old favourites found it harder to get both screentime and storylines.

Principal amongst them was Chakotay. The Starfleet/Maquis tension subplot had long since run its course, and the odd "vision quest" angle had received near-universal derision, leaving him very little to do in the later seasons. Beltran, never hugely happy with his role on a show watched largely by nerds (yes, hello, also a nerd here), decided he would try and use this situation to his advantage and get the producers to remove him.

His plan was simple, just keep asking for more and more money each season until they decided he wasn't worth it. The only problem though was that Paramount weren't exactly hard-up, and were happy to indulge Beltran's increasing demands. In the end, he stayed on the show until its finale, and in the years since has admitted it was never as bad as he thought it was. The big softie.