10 Surprising Star Trek Guest Appearances By Celebrities Who Weren't Actors
The kings, sports stars, wrestlers, comedians and musicians who boldly went...
Stacey Abrams' appearance in Star Trek: Discovery as the President of Earth is the latest in a long line of cameos by people who aren't necessarily known for their acting abilities.
Star Trek has regularly attracted all manner of politicians, scientists, and celebrities to guest roles in the series. Stephen Hawking played himself in an episode of The Next Generation that found him playing poker with Data, Einstein, and Isaac Newton. To date, Hawking holds the honour of being the only famous face in Star Trek to play themselves, albeit as a hologram.
This list collects the many celebrities, musicians, sports personalities, astronauts, and even kings to appear in Star Trek over the years. Some are hidden underneath heavy layers of make-up, while others make passing, blink and you'll miss it cameos. Some of the people in this list have gone on from Star Trek to appear in other series and even become huge Hollywood stars.
10. The Big Show - Enterprise, 'Borderland'
During the 90s, there were a number of cameos by WWE stars in the various Star Trek shows. Paul Donald Wight II, AKA The Big Show appeared in the Enterprise episode Borderland. While he'd made appearances in films like Adam Sandler's The Waterboy and the Arnold Schwarzenegger Christmas classic Jingle All The Way, Wight was still best known as a wrestler when he played an Orion slaver.
Wight's character captures members of the Enterprise crew including T'Pol when they enter an area of space between Klingon and Orion space. It was part of the ongoing Soong/Augments arc that was conceived to boost flagging ratings. Promoting bigger links with the mythology of The Original Series was deemed to be a way to entice viewers over to the series, but it failed to save the show from cancellation.
The Orions were another link to TOS, although Wight doesn't get much to do other than lift up actress Jolene Blalock and laugh menacingly. It's little wonder that he was overshadowed by the return of Brent Spiner to Star Trek as one of Data's ancestors, the eugenicist Arik Soong. Wight has gone on to star in The Big Show Show and voice a character in the Fast and Furious animated series.