Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Julian Bashir

Not unlike Deep Space Nine itself when it first aired, Julian Bashir was an unusual addition to the franchise. Somewhat of an oddity in the pantheon of Star Trek doctors, he was young, inexperienced, and fresh out of Starfleet Medical, but already possessed of enough brash self-assuredness not to have chosen from amongst any of the litany of "cushy" jobs available to him after graduation. Instead, he had decided to grace the frontier, i.e. the Station, with his healing presence, because that's where 'heroes were made'. Even his best friend "hated" him when they first met.

If, as O'Brien also noted in the pair's memorable merry exchange in Explorers, Julian was not "an in-between kind of guy," then everyone grew to love him — and some maybe "a bit more" than others — as time went on, a testament to the writers and producers who were determined not to squander the immense talents, and all-round likeability, of actor Alexander Siddig.

Bashir was always already a gifted doctor, too. He proved that on countless occasions, not the least of which was on the battlefields of two wars — Klingon and Dominion. It was the worst of times; it was the best of times. Even the OG spoiler of a genetic secret couldn't hamper the admiration of his friends and colleagues, and nor could Luther Sloan crash the party for long. Then, there were those stuff-of-legend lunches with the (former) spy… tailor… tinker… let's just settle on Garak. Here, my dear doctor, the lies really are just another way of telling the plain and simple truth.

Not yet on a twenty-six-hour day, Alexander Siddig (aka Siddig El Fadil) already had less time to prepare for his audition. Then, as he related in The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years, the process was even more speedy. His agent had called with a short, but effective, message: "It's Wednesday night, off you go. It's Star Trek, you've got this scene. Do a good job. See you later".

From casting documents released via TrekDocs on Twitter, it would seem that Siddig's first audition for Star Trek was, in fact, on a Thursday morning — 9:30, 23rd July at Twickenham Studios in London. Not knowing there was a new Trek show in the works, Siddig thought he was going up for a part in Star Trek: The Next Generation, perhaps as "Deanna Troi's brother". As Siddig then recalled in The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, he also turned up to the audition sporting a black eye, having been punched in the face by an overzealous, and over-drunk, 'fan' on the London Underground the night before.

That didn't seem to deter producers, however. In fact, as further detailed in The Making of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Rick Berman himself had sought out Siddig in the first place, after being impressed by his performance as King Faisil in A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia. Berman had initially wanted Siddig for the part of Commander Sisko, but upon learning that the actor was only in his mid-twenties (appearing older in A Dangerous Man), Berman asked if he would audition for Doctor Bashir, at that point called 'Doctor Amoros,' instead.