10 MORE Notorious Star Trek Urban Legends
4. Dr Soran Hated Kirk, Trek And Everything In Between
Malcolm McDowell was a successful, established actor long before Star Trek ever came knocking at his doors. He turned down the role of Dr Soran four times before they finally made him an offer he couldn't refuse - financially, they made it worth his while. That left him in the role as the man who killed Captain Kirk, which is symbolically a huge part to play in the franchise. However, McDowell was never much interested in anything beyond the paycheque.
McDowell stated in an interview with E! that it didn't really matter what the film was about or whether it was good, but that the Trekkies would hop on the Trek treadmill and keep going. While recent reactions to Discovery and Picard have proved this statement false, it is interesting to note that some of his beliefs did end up getting proved, at least partially, correct.
Angry fans began sending him death threats for killing Kirk. William Shatner later interviewed him for a book, during which he asked McDowell what it felt like to kill an American TV Icon. Incredulous to all of this, he told his nephew, Alexander Siddig, that he had thought the script was sh*t anyway!