Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About Quark
How much do you know about Alpha Quadrant's most famous bartender?
Ah yes, Quark. Everyone’s favourite Ferengi. One of Star Trek’s most iconic aliens and one who single-handedly changed the perception of his species. Played brilliantly by Armin Shimerman, Quark was something of a lynchpin character, whose bar served as a forum for all the other characters on Deep Space Nine.
It’s the place where O’Brien and Bashir’s friendship first developed, where Jadzia came to unwind (and take everyone’s latinum at the Dabo tables), and where most of the station’s visitors first came after arriving. At the heart of it all was Quark, the not-so-trusty bartender always looking to make a quick profit. At least that’s what he started as, but perhaps no other Deep Space Nine character had quite the same development arc as him.
He would go on to become a much more layered, complex, and sympathetic character, but more on that later. Since he was such a prominent part of the show, you might think we know almost everything there is to know about him, but there are actually many interesting tidbits that went under the radar. Some of them are in-universe details, others are more behind-the-scenes, and in this list we look into ten of the most fascinating.
10. Armin Shimerman was the first to be cast
Even though Armin Shimerman had already played a Ferengi on Star Trek: The Next Generation, his audition process for the role of Quark wasn't exactly smooth.
In an interview with Gamespot, he says that he auditioned for the role three times in total and that he was getting very anxious about the whole ordeal and that his confidence was drained. After the first audition, he had to wait for six weeks before he got a callback.
The second time around, he auditioned alongside his friend Max Grodenchik who was aiming for the same role, but, of course, ended up getting cast as Quark's brother, Rom. Only the third time did Shimerman get the chance to do it in front of the show's creators, Rick Berman and Michael Piller.
During that audition, the waiting room in front was filled with people who would go on to become the series' main cast, without any of them, including himself, knowing it at the time. According to Shimerman, he was the first of the lot to get the call from the producers. A mere twenty-four hours later, Deep Space Nine got its Quark.