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folder-path: rec/arts/star-trek/, rec/arts/
date: 2026-07-11 02:11:52 GMT (22:11:52 NYC)
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# Star Trek: Deep Space Nine — The People

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine assembled one of the most talented and diverse casts in Star Trek history — a group of theater-trained actors, character players, and genre veterans who would push the franchise into territory Gene Roddenberry had forbidden. From a classically trained Shakespearean who became the first Black captain in Trek to a Cardassian tailor who may or may not have been a spy, DS9's people were the engine that powered its moral complexity. The show's behind-the-scenes relationships — real marriages, real friendships, real creative tensions — became inseparable from the characters they portrayed.

## The Cast

**Avery Brooks** as Commander/Captain Benjamin Sisko — Born October 2, 1948, in Evansville, Indiana, Brooks was a classically trained theater actor who had spent decades on the American stage before Star Trek found him. He held two master's degrees in acting and directing from Rutgers University, where he became the institution's first Black MFA graduate and later a tenured professor of theater. His early theater credits included *Spell #7* at the Public/Anspache Theater in New York (1979), and he went on to play Othello at the Folger Shakespeare Festival (1985) and at the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. (1990–1991), Fences at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis (1990), and the title role in *King Lear* at Yale's Repertory Theatre. He originated the one-man show *Paul Robeson* — portraying the singer, actor, and civil-rights activist — performing it at the Westwood Playhouse in Los Angeles, the Kennedy Center, and the Longacre Theater on Broadway. In 1994, he was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. He later appeared in the title role of *The Oedipus Plays* at the 2003 Athens Festival in Greece [1][2].

Brooks won the role of Sisko by beating **100 other actors from all racial backgrounds** — becoming the first Black-American captain to lead a Star Trek series. Where Kirk was a cowboy and Picard was a diplomat, Sisko was a father — and a grieving one. His wife Jennifer had been killed at the Battle of Wolf 359, and his barely contained fury at Picard in the pilot's opening scene set the tone for a series that was more personal, more grounded, and more human than anything Star Trek had attempted before [1][2].

Brooks brought a gravitas to Sisko that distinguished him from both Kirk and Picard. He insisted on the character's relationship with baseball as a symbol of Sisko's connection to the past, to human culture, and to his late wife. Brooks also directed **nine episodes** of the series, including "Far Beyond the Stars" — widely regarded as the most powerful episode of Star Trek ever produced — in which he delivered one of the most devastating performances in Trek history as Benny Russell, an African-American science fiction writer facing systemic racism in 1950s New York. The breakdown scene was so intense that when the assistant director called cut, Brooks did not stop. He continued crying for what felt like an eternity [1][3].

Before DS9, Brooks was already known to television audiences as **Hawk** on *Spenser: For Hire* (1985–1988) and its spinoff *A Man Called Hawk* (1989). He received two **NAACP Image Award** nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (1996 and 1997) and a **Saturn Award** nomination for Best Actor on Television — the show's only individual acting nominations at any major awards ceremony [1][2].

**René Auberjonois** as Odo — Born June 1, 1940, in New York City; died December 8, 2019, in Los Angeles. A screen actor with more than 200 credits, Auberjonois was already a veteran of Robert Altman productions — he played Father John Mulcahy in the film version of *M\*A\*S\*H* (1970) and Chef Louis in Disney's *The Little Mermaid* (1989), in which he sang "Les Poissons" — when he was cast as Odo, the shapeshifting head of security who didn't know what species he was or where he came from [4].

Odo's arc — from lonely outsider to reluctant hero to a Changeling who must choose between his people and his adopted home — was one of DS9's most emotionally complex journeys. Auberjonois also directed **eight episodes** of the series, including "Prophet Motive," "Family Business," "Hippocratic Oath," "The Quickening," "Waltz," and "Strange Bedfellows." He was originally scheduled to direct "The Visitor," but actor availability necessitated a swap with director David Livingston — a scheduling change that many fans consider one of the great accidents in Trek directing history [4][5].

Auberjonois was known for insisting on rehearsals — something virtually unheard of in network television production. Juliana Donald, a guest actor in "Prophet Motive," remembered that Auberjonois insisted on rehearsing the episode to maximize the comedy — an approach that paid big dividends [5].

**Alexander Siddig** as Dr. Julian Bashir — Born November 21, 1965, in Omdurman, Sudan. Born Siddig el-Tahir el-Fadil el-Siddig, he was credited as **Siddig El Fadil** for his first three seasons before changing his stage name to Alexander Siddig in 1995. His uncle is actor **Malcolm McDowell**, and his cousin is director **Charlie McDowell** [6][7].

Bashir was DS9's chief medical officer — an overly enthusiastic, self-important young doctor who hid a secret that wouldn't be revealed until Season 5. In "Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" (S5E16), it emerged that Julian had been **genetically enhanced as a child** — his parents, concerned about a learning disability and developmental delays, had taken him to a clinic on Adigeon Prime for illegal DNA re-sequencing treatments. When he was fifteen, he learned what had been done to him and stopped using his birth name, Jules. The revelation threatened his career — Federation law bars genetically enhanced individuals from serving in Starfleet — until his father Richard took full responsibility, pleading guilty and accepting a two-year prison sentence in exchange for Julian keeping his commission [6][7].

Siddig and his co-star **Nana Visitor** began a relationship during production. Their son, **Django El Tahir El Siddig**, was born on September 16, 1996. Visitor's pregnancy was written into the show — Kira served as a **surrogate mother** for a pregnant crewmate injured in an accident, with Dr. Bashir attending the birth. The couple married on June 14, 1997, and divorced in 2001, two years after Deep Space Nine wrapped production [8].

**Nana Visitor** as Major Kira Nerys — Born July 30, 1957, in New York City. Kira was a resistance fighter who had survived the Cardassian occupation of Bajor — a character defined by her anger, her competence, and her refusal to be softened. But soften the producers did try. Visitor was told she **"walked like John Wayne"** when she walked down the Promenade — a confident stride that the producers wanted to change [9].

> Rick Berman said, "Uh, you walk down the Promenade like John Wayne. You've gotta stop that." I did. I looked at footage lately it's like oh my god I do look like John Wayne. So I thought, okay, put me in heels and I can't walk like that.

In Season 2, the outfit got tighter and heels came out. Visitor wasn't crazy about the feminizing of the character, but she recognized it was necessary: *"I know that Ira Steven Behr always says that was me. They talked about the fact that I walked like John Wayne. I said, 'Well, it's my outfit. That's how I feel in that outfit.' So, yes, I was responsible for the change in the costume, but it wasn't really one that I wanted"* [9][10].

**Colm Meaney** as Chief Miles O'Brien — Born May 30, 1953, in Dublin, Ireland. O'Brien is the Star Trek character with the **second most appearances in the franchise** — 225 episodes across TNG and DS9, exceeded only by Michael Dorn's Worf. He is the only actor to appear in two series premieres ("Encounter at Farpoint" and "Emissary") and two series finales ("All Good Things..." and "What You Leave Behind") [11][12].

Meaney first appeared on TNG as an unnamed helm officer in the 1987 pilot, gradually becoming a recurring transporter chief. He was the first character to be transplanted from TNG to DS9, and Michael Piller explained the rationale: *"We've always thought he was a terrific performer and now we're giving him something much more interesting to do as a leading character on the new show. He is pulling hair out from one minute to the next because everything is breaking down"* [11][12].

Meaney initially came to the arrangement of being hired on an episode-by-episode basis and was **hesitant to sign on as a regular** on DS9. But the character became the show's emotional anchor — the everyman in a world of shapeshifters, prophets, and war. As Meaney himself put it: *"Because of that world that we inhabited, with all of these extraordinary characters who could do extraordinary things, there was a terrific kind of Humanity in O'Brien"* [11].

**Michael Dorn** as Lt. Commander Worf — Born December 9, 1952, in Luling, Texas. Dorn had played Worf for seven seasons on TNG and was **glad to leave behind the hours of Klingon prosthetic makeup**. But when Rick Berman asked if he might return for DS9, Dorn surprised himself by saying yes. He spoke with the writers about how Worf could serve as a catalyst for change, bringing a different perspective to the show [13].

Worf's arrival in "The Way of the Warrior" (S4E1–2) was the **most successful character migration in Star Trek history**. With the destruction of the Enterprise-D, Worf's world was gone. Dorn commented: *"Before, he had his comrades around him, at least he was on the best ship in the galaxy, and he had the opportunity to fight and be honorable. But DS9 is like a station in Alaska or something. He doesn't consider it a punishment, but it's not the choicest assignment, either"* [13].

Dorn holds the record for **most appearances in the Star Trek franchise** — 282 episodes across TNG, DS9, and his own projects. Worf's arc on DS9 — killing Chancellor Gowron and installing **Martok** as the new leader of the Klingon Empire — gave the character a political dimension that TNG had never explored [13].

**Terry Farrell** as Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax — Born November 19, 1963, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Farrell played the Trill science officer for **150 episodes** across six seasons before departing at the end of Season 6. Her departure was the result of a contract dispute that left both sides frustrated [14][15].

Farrell's contract had ended after six years, and she wanted to continue — but not at the same pace. She was tired of waking up at four in the morning, tired of the minutiae, tired of her life being on hold. She offered to return as a **recurring character** for the final season, rather than a regular. But Paramount's position was all or nothing. As Farrell later told the official Star Trek site: *"I did not want to die. I would have been so happy if they just would have let me be a recurring character the final season, so I didn't have to be in every episode. I was just really tired"* [14].

> I loved Dax. I didn't not love playing the character. I didn't not love the show. I didn't not love the people. Just the routine of it all, I needed a break. I personally just needed a mental break and, unfortunately, I wasn't mature enough to maybe present it in the way of saying, 'Could I please be a recurring character?'

The writers killed Jadzia Dax in "Tears of the Prophets" (S6E26) — a decision Farrell had not wanted. She died one day on DS9 and the very next day tested for the sitcom *Becker* for the same executives at Paramount [14][15].

**Nicole de Boer** as Lt. Ezri Dax — Born December 20, 1970, in Toronto, Canada. When Farrell didn't return, the writers faced a choice: remove Dax from the show entirely, or introduce a new host. They chose the latter — and created a character who was the opposite of Jadzia in almost every way [16].

Where Jadzia was cool and confident, Ezri was insecure and neurotic — a counselor who was never trained to be the host of a Trill symbiont and was overwhelmed by the memories of multiple past lives. Ronald D. Moore explained the decision: *"It was a shock and a surprise that Terry Farrell didn't come back for the seventh season. We were just in denial about it up until the very end. We didn't think any of us were ready to pull Dax as a character completely out of the show. We just wanted Dax to continue"* [16].

Ira Steven Behr later called bringing in de Boer **"the smartest thing we ever did."** Ezri was seamlessly integrated into the final season, paired with Bashir in the romance many fans had anticipated before Worf swept Jadzia off her feet. The character helped Worf grieve and allowed the audience to move on from the loss of Jadzia without dishonoring her memory [16].

## The Recurring Cast

**Andrew Robinson** as Elim Garak — Born February 14, 1942, in New York City. Robinson originally **auditioned for the role of Odo** — a part that eventually went to René Auberjonois. Weeks later, he was asked to come in for a new role: a Cardassian who ran a tailor shop on the Promenade. He thought it would be a single episode. It became 37 episodes across all seven seasons [17].

Garak was intended as a foil for Bashir — a mysterious figure who might or might not be a spy. Robinson added something the writers hadn't explicitly written: a **sexual ambiguity** that became central to the character's mystique. In their very first scene together, it was clear — by Robinson's choice — that Garak was sexually attracted to the good-looking young Starfleet doctor. The ambiguity remained, even though the show never made it explicit [17].

> I often likened Garak being left behind or remaining on Deep Space Nine after the Cardassians had left as if there was a German Wehrmacht officer in Jerusalem. What is this guy doing here where he is universally hated?

Robinson described Garak's defining quality not as his lies, but as his **refusal to elaborate on himself**. His catchphrase — *"Oh, it's just Garak. Plain, simple Garak"* — was the character's way of deflecting scrutiny while simultaneously revealing nothing. Robinson wrote the novel *A Stitch in Time* (2000), exploring Garak's backstory in the Obsidian Order [17][18].

**Marc Alaimo** as Gul Dukat — Born April 5, 1942. Before DS9, Alaimo had played **four different characters** on TNG. But Dukat — the former Cardassian overseer of Terok Nor — became one of the most complex villains in television history, appearing in **35 of the series' 176 episodes** [19].

Dukat was not a simple villain. At various times, he was the ousted occupier of Bajor, a prime adversary for the Maquis and Klingons, a triumphant Dominion ally, a grieving father, and a rogue Cardassian avenger. Alaimo refused to view him as evil: *"The thing I love about Dukat is that you never know what he's going to do next. He never does anything that's truly unredeemable or completely black. Dukat doesn't eat children, you know what I mean?"* [19].

Nana Visitor's view was sharper: *"To Kira, Dukat is Hitler. She's not ever going to get over that. She can never forgive him, and that is important to me. Kira may have started to see Cardassians as individuals, but she will always hate Dukat."* Ronald D. Moore captured the duality: *"He can be charming. He can be generous. He can do the right thing. All of that somehow makes his 'evil' actions all the more despicable, because we know that there was the potential in there for him to be a better person"* [19][20].

The Season 6 episode "Waltz" — in which Sisko and Dukat are stranded together on a deserted planet — revealed the character's deepest truth: Dukat believed himself to be a hero. He told Sisko that, as leader of the occupying Cardassians on Bajor, he had been benevolent — that the Bajorans lacked the respect to recognize how good they had it under him. A villain who cannot see himself as a villain is the mark of the truly chilling [20].

**James Darren** as Vic Fontaine — Born James William Ercolani on June 8, 1936, in Philadelphia; died September 2, 2024. Darren was a real singer and actor — known for *Gidget* (1959), *The Guns of Navarone* (1961), and the TV series *The Time Tunnel* (1966–1967) — who had spent time with Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack in the 1960s. When Ira Steven Behr offered him the role of a holographic 1960s Las Vegas lounge singer, Darren **turned it down three times** [21].

> I didn't want to play the singer because I am a singer. I wanted to play something a bit different, like a Ferengi or something.

His agent and wife convinced him to read the script. Once he did, he loved the role. Darren crafted Vic as a combination of Sinatra and Dean Martin — *"It was a combination of both of them, and it was written in that style, too. It didn't take much to create the character"* — and brought to the role a lived-in authenticity that no other actor could have provided [21][22].

Vic was unique among Star Trek's holographic characters: he was **aware that he was a hologram**, and he chose to help anyway. His confrontation with Nog in "It's Only a Paper Moon" — *"You stay here, you're gonna die. Not all at once, but little by little. Eventually, you'll become as hollow as I am"* — became one of the show's most emotionally devastating moments. Darren's favorite performance was his duet with Avery Brooks, singing together on screen: *"Every feeling you saw on screen was real. It wasn't our characters, it was Avery and I"* [21][22].

## The Writers and Creators

**Ira Steven Behr** — Showrunner from Season 3 onward, and the driving force behind DS9's darkest and most ambitious years. Behr had joined TNG's writing staff and clashed with Roddenberry over the conflict restriction — the infamous "Roddenberry Box" that forbade meaningful interpersonal conflict among Starfleet officers. When Michael Piller left DS9 during Season 3 to develop *Voyager*, he handed Behr the showrunner reins [23].

Behr's relationship with the show's founding vision was complicated. He had not created DS9, but Piller gave it to him, and he felt a duty to protect it. As he told the documentary *What We Left Behind*: *"Michael created the show. I didn't create the show, but Mike gave it to me. I felt I had a duty to take it and run with it"* [23].

His creative defiance was legendary. Paramount fought the serialization — syndicated episodes could air in any order across different markets, and executives feared ongoing storylines would confuse viewers. Behr was told by executives that he was killing the show. His response: *"I literally, around season five, told the staff we're just writing this now for ourselves. This is for us. We have to like it. I don't care who's watching anymore"* [23].

He also admitted to lying to Berman about how serialized the show would become: he promised two or three connected episodes, then delivered seven. His approach to tone was captured in a single question: *"Is this paradise, or are there, as Harold Pinter supposedly said, 'Weasels under the coffee table'?"* Behr co-wrote "In the Pale Moonlight" and wrote "Far Beyond the Stars" — the two episodes most frequently cited as DS9's finest hours [23][24].

**Ronald D. Moore** — Born July 5, 1964, in Chowchilla, California. Moore joined TNG's writing staff in its sixth season and went on to write 27 episodes, including "Family" (Picard's post-Borg trauma), "The First Duty" (Wesley Crusher's moral crisis), and the series finale "All Good Things..." (co-written with Brannon Braga). When TNG ended, Moore jumped to DS9, where he wrote approximately **30 episodes** across the series' run [25].

Moore's most famous contribution to DS9 was his uncredited rewrite of "In the Pale Moonlight" — born from a late-night drinking session with writer Michael Taylor. The original script centered on Jake; Moore stripped out the son entirely and restructured the episode as Sisko's confessionals, threading a series of escalating compromises. He conceived the framing device — Sisko recording a captain's log, wrestling with his conscience, stripping off his uniform as the episode progresses — and the devastating final line: *"I think I can live with it... And if I had to do it all over again, I would."* He then deletes the log [25].

> I was prepared to have a major battle with Berman over that very un-Roddenberry ending. But Berman approved it without objection.

Moore later said he was the most proud of "In the Pale Moonlight" of all the scripts he worked on: *"I felt like that was the best, most challenging script that challenged the show in a real way, and challenged the characters as far as we'd ever challenged them"* [25].

After DS9, Moore briefly joined *Voyager* but quickly became frustrated with what he saw as a step backward. He went on to co-create the reimagined **Battlestar Galactica** (2004–2009) — which he openly acknowledged was born from his DS9 experience. As he told Empire: *"Being on the writing staff of Deep Space Nine had a huge impact on me and guided my thinking in a lot of ways. It taught me a lot about characters, about making characters more ambiguous. About having complicated moral choices for them, about telling a war story, about trying to tell a war story honestly. Some of them were negative lessons — Star Trek's built in parameters prevented all of us from doing things at Deep Space that we wanted"* [25][26].

Moore brought several DS9 writers with him to BSG, including **Bradley Thompson**, **David Weddle**, **Michael Taylor**, and **Jane Espenson**. The DNA of DS9 — its moral ambiguity, its willingness to let characters do ugly things, its serialized war storytelling — became the foundation of one of the most acclaimed science fiction series of the 21st century [25].

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See also: [DS9 Making](ds9-making.md), [DS9 Milestones](ds9-milestones.md), [DS9 Awards](ds9-awards.md), [TNG People](tng-people.md).

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[1] [Wikipedia - Avery Brooks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avery_Brooks)

[2] [IBDB - Avery Brooks](https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/avery-brooks-33157)

[3] [Wikipedia - Far Beyond the Stars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_Beyond_the_Stars_(DS9_episode))

[4] [Wikipedia - René Auberjonois](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ren%C3%A9_Auberjonois_(actor))

[5] [Screen Rant - Every DS9 Episode Directed By Rene Auberjonois](https://screenrant.com/every-star-trek-ds9-episode-directed-by-rene-auberjonois/)

[6] [Wikipedia - Alexander Siddig](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Siddig)

[7] [Wikipedia - Doctor Bashir, I Presume?](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Bashir,_I_Presume%3F)

[8] [People - A Family Enterprise](https://people.com/archive/a-family-enterprise-vol-46-no-3/)

[9] [TrekMovie - Nana Visitor on Walking Like John Wayne](https://trekmovie.com/2018/04/10/nana-visitor-says-she-wanted-to-be-captain-janeway-explains-why-shes-not-on-the-orville/)

[10] [TrekToday - Visitor: Romance With Siddig Inevitable](https://trektoday.com/content/2011/01/visitor-romance-with-siddig-inevitable/)

[11] [Wikipedia - Miles O'Brien (Star Trek)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_O%27Brien_(Star_Trek))

[12] [Memory Alpha - Colm Meaney](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Colm_Meaney)

[13] [Wikipedia - The Way of the Warrior](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_of_the_Warrior_(DS9_episode))

[14] [TrekMovie - Terry Farrell on Leaving DS9](https://trekmovie.com/2011/08/03/terry-farrell-wanted-recurring-role-for-star-trek-ds9s-final-season/)

[15] [TrekToday - Farrell: The Trials and Tribulations Of Playing Dax](https://trektoday.com/content/2011/08/farrell-the-trials-and-tribulations-of-playing-dax/)

[16] [Screen Rant - Why Ezri Replaced Jadzia](https://screenrant.com/star-trek-ds9-dax-jadzia-ezri-replacement-why/)

[17] [TrekMovie - Andrew Robinson On Falling In Love With Garak's Ambiguity](https://trekmovie.com/2020/07/07/interview-andrew-robinson-on-falling-in-love-with-garaks-ambiguity-in-star-trek-deep-space-nine/)

[18] [Wikipedia - Elim Garak](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elim_Garak)

[19] [StarTrek.com - Gul Dukat Down Under](https://www.startrek.com/news/gul-dukat-down-under)

[20] [Collider - No Star Trek Villain Has Ever Topped DS9's Gul Dukat](https://collider.com/star-trek-deep-space-nine-gul-dukat-villain-most-sinister/)

[21] [StarTrek.com - Celebrating Badda-Bing, Badda-Bang with James Darren](https://www.startrek.com/news/exclusive-celebrating-badda-bing-badda-bang-with-james-darren)

[22] [Hollywood Soapbox - James Darren Interview](https://www.hollywoodsoapbox.com/interview-james-darren-of-star-trek-deep-space-nine-in-his-own-words/)

[23] [Gizmodo - Ira Steven Behr Looks Back on DS9](https://gizmodo.com/star-treks-ira-steven-behr-looks-back-on-the-complex-le-1834401786)

[24] [CBR - DS9 Broke Trek's Formula](https://www.cbr.com/star-trek-ds9-sci-fi-masterpiece-broke-treks-formula/)

[25] [Wikipedia - In the Pale Moonlight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Pale_Moonlight)

[26] [TrekMovie - Ron Moore: Battlestar Galactica Born From DS9](https://trekmovie.com/2010/06/01/ron-moore-battlestar-galactica-born-from-star-trek-deep-space-nine/)