Star Trek has found great success in recasting many of its iconic characters with different actors. Due to real-world issues such as actor availability, contract negotiations, and advanced age, various characters have been recast across the various Star Trek movies and TV shows. For example, a salary dispute led to Kirstie Alley's Saavik from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan being recast with Robin Curtis for Star Trek III: The Search For Spock. Other supporting or minor characters had been recast, such as casting James Cromwell to play the Star Trek: The Original Series character Zefram Cochrane in Star Trek: First Contact.
It wasn't until J.J. Abrams' 2009 Star Trek movie, however, that the franchise proved it was possible to recast the original crew from Star Trek: The Original Series, which seemed previously blasphemous to longtime Trekkers. The poor reception to Star Trek: Nemesis in 2002 led Paramount to seek a bold new direction by rebooting the universe and recasting the entire TOS Enterprise crew. This quickly set a precedent that has led to further hugely successful recasts in both Star Trek: Discoveryand Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. Here are the major Star Trek characters who have been played by multiple actors across the franchise's history.
