Halloween is a great time to get dressed up and wear cool costumes and make-up. If done right a person can be completely disguised, And on Star Trek, the aliens created by brilliant artist Michael Westmore give actors the ultimate chance to dive into a character that they could never play in real life, and be totally unrecognizable doing it!
When it comes to Klingons on Star Trek, it’s easy to lose the actor in the make-up and characterization. I mean Klingon’s are animalistic and savage. Well, except for TOS Klingons but that’s a different subject. For instance did yoy know that wqas Mark Lenard aka Sarek as the Klingon at the start of Star Trek-The Motion picture? He is totally unrecognizable! Sometimes an actor will shine through but still do a good job. For instance we all know it’s Christopher Lloyd as Kruge in Star Trek III or James Avery on Star Trek Enterprise, but they did good jobs. Other times the actor will suck, like the awful Klingon Tim Russ played on DS9. So awful I don’t feel like looking up the character’s name.
But some actors do such a cool job that I still can’t believe its as them under all that make-up. Here are five :
John Larroquette
I said we can tell Lloyd is playing Kruge in Star Trek III, but did you know John Larroqiette is the Klingon Maltz? Yeah you probably did, but honestly I am still impressed by that. As many times as I’ve seen the movie I still can’t really see Dan Fielding in there at all. True he doesn’t have much to do, but he manages one of the movies funniest lines near the end.
Robert O’Reilly
I had a tough time deciding who was better, O’Reilly or J.G.Hertzler as Martok. But to be fair, if you see Hertlzer you can tell he is Martok. That isn’t a slam one the amazing work he did, but O’Reilly is a little different. I watched a clip of another show knowing it was him and still couldn’t tell. Mostly because O’Reilly really throws his all into it, especially those damn eyes!
Steven Root
This guy does not get the respect he deserves! He is a brilliant actor, and what he can do is very underappreciated. It’s hard to believe the goofy Jimmy James from NewsRadio played a Klingon. But he did, he was the Klingon Captain K’Vada in “Unification” and he knocks it out of the park. If you look close you can tell it’s him, but that voice he uses is very different. Root is amazing at being silly and weird, and serious and effective all depending on the role he’s playing. I bet he even really owns a red stapler.
Barbara March and Gwynyth Walsh
Yeah Women play Klingons too and Lursa and B’Etor are two of the most popular female Klingons ever. If you saw these ladies in real life would you recognize them? I’d be pretty surprised these ladies have tons of make-up and, er, other appliances which makes them very unrecognizable. Add that to the performance they give in TNG and Generations.
Michael Dorn
I guess this is a no brainer but honestly, can you tell it’s Michael Dorn under that make-up? Not to mention the great acting Dorn does, he’s said himself what a departure Worf is from his normal self. In fact in the episode of DS9 “Far Beyond the Stars” I didn’t realize it was him without makeup at first. Maybe that’s why they do the gag where he does appear in make-up for a fleeting second. Dorn didn’t just make Worf work but he helped make The Klingons work. Taking them from the nothing characters they were on TOS and giving them depth and character.
Lots of actors and actress’s have played Klingons on Trek that I overlooked. From Michael Ansara to Suzie Plakson to Roxanne Dawson. Which one was played so well you still can’t see the actor through the make-up? Comment and let me know.
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