10 Things We Learned From The Star Trek Voyager Cast Reunion
6. Tim Russ Struggled With Being A Vulcan
Tim Russ was another actor who was no stranger at all to Star Trek when he was cast as the Vulcan head of security, Tuvok. He had originally auditioned for Geordi La Forge back when The Next Generation was beginning.
Although he wouldn't secure this role, he did appear on the show. In the sixth season episode Starship Mine, he plays a hijacker who gets on the wrong side of Captain Picard. He then went on to appear as a Klingon in Deep Space Nine and appeared alongside Kirk, Scotty and Chekov in Star Trek Generations.
With his casting on Voyager, Russ then found himself with a paradox - he was a lead actor in a series, yet he was forced to lock down much of his expressive nature. As an actor, he related that he enjoyed getting to show his range and work through the difficulties of each character.
As Tuvok, he was faced with the challenge of his Vulcan nature. He had to deal with everything in a stoic manner, limiting his emotions in all cases. He said that he did get to enjoy the few episodes where Tuvok gets to break out of character and express something, even if it was only for a short time.
Episodes like Meld, Riddles and Workforce allowed him this opportunity and, while he doesn't regret any of his time on the show, he clearly wished that episodes like this weren't so few and far between.