10 Times When Star Trek Re-Cast Its Actors

JJ Abrams very successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise with his first film in 2009. The characters were back but they were updated to meet the new age. The curmudgeonly Dr. McCoy was now portrayed by the younger but still gruff Karl Urban. John Cho took over the role of Sulu, Simon Pegg stepped into Scotty's engingeering boots. The late Anton Yelchin became Checkov and Zoe Saldana was the new Uhura.

At the time, the roles had belonged to the original cast for forty years. DeForest Kelley, George Takei, James Doohan, Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols WERE these characters. The very idea of seeing someone else in the roles was strange but thankfully, it worked.

Each role is both an homage and a new direction for each character. Yelchin's Checkov plays up the Russian accent to comedic effects, struggling to be understood by the computer when attempting to key in a command code. Koenig's Checkov never had such troubles but then not many would have questioned his accent. At the time, he was setting the standard for what audiences knew of the Russians as he was one of the only depictions (in a positive way) at the time. John Cho's approach to Sulu was a more confident yet at the same time more relaxed take on the character. He was eager but he could carry his own.

There is a nod to the famous topless fencing scene from The Naked Now, made infamous by Takei, when Cho's Sulu pulls out his sword on the Romulan platform. Simon Pegg, a devout Trekkie/er, had his dreams come true when he took over for James Doohan. Doohan had sadly passed away before ever hearing of this reboot. Pegg's performance is very much in honour of Doohan. The first film is full of nods and nostalgia (not to mention that he's 'Giving her all she's got!'. In the sequels he would expand on the role, allowing a greater depth to character.

Karl Urban's take on McCoy is played to comedic effect as well. He hams up the southern drawl, clearly enjoying himself while mouthing off to the others. McCoy walks with the assurance that he can do and say almost whatever he likes around the Apple Store/bridge of the Enterprise. Kelley's McCoy was the original ship's Doctor and it is to his credit that Urban doesn't try to steer too far away from the portrayal. The Doctor is in, and his name is Kelley. But Urban can look after you in the meantime.

Uhura as played by Nichelle Nichols was a groundbreaking character for '60s television. Whoopi Goldberg has gone on record as saying the character inspired her to take up acting and Nichols often speaks of the time when Dr. Martin Luthor King Jnr. stepped in to ensure she didn't quit the show, underlining the importance of her character and the representation that Black people were finally getting. In 2009, the character was vastly different.

She was confident, like Nichols, but she was written in a time of (more) freedom, when the fact that she was a black woman was not one of her defining characteristics. Saldana's performance is excellent and fun, enjoying far more time in the spotlight that the original character enjoyed. In contrast, it is easily argued that it is Nichols' performance that paved the way for the freedom of her character in years to come.