Casting Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Reboot
5. Dr. Bashir - Riz Ahmed
Dr. Julian Bashir is a character combining both English and Middle-Eastern heritage. Alexander Siddig was a fantastic actor in Deep Space Nine, who's Bashir was an example of a man just doing his job and getting along without his race ever being an issue.
That is exactly what the character needs, yet it would also be exciting to explore something of this heritage as well. As the future has shown that, thankfully, the human race has managed to unify itself (for the most part), there have still been many examples of traditional aspects of culture shown throughout the franchise - although this was never truly explored with Bashir.
Riz Ahmed has shown in Rogue One, Venom and Nightcrawler that he has the range to play with already. That is not to say these are his only (nor even his best) roles - but here is an actor with star quality who would be a fantastic addition to the franchise week to week.
Although there is a definite age gap between the choice for O'Brien and Ahmed....does it really matter??