Star Trek: Voyager Star Turned Down Picard Role

By Jamie Lovett

While Star Trek: Picard has featured all of the main cast from Star Trek: The Next Generation, only Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine has brought their character from Star Trek: Voyager into the story. It turns out that Robert Beltran was considered to revive Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager for Star Trek: Picard before he committed to voicing the character in Paramount+'s Star Trek: Prodigy animated series. Beltran himself revealed via Twitter that he had passed on the offer because he wasn't happy with what they had planned for Chakotay once he returned to Star Trek in Star Trek: Picard. 

"I was offered an episode (first 2 then1) in Picard but I simply did not like what they had written for Chakotay so I turned them down," Beltran tweeted. "I won't go into detail but I have no animosity toward the Picard producers at all. ST Prodigy offers a Chakotay that I AM enthusiastic about."

TrekMovie got more information from Terry Matalas, executive producer and showrunner of Star Trek: Picard (co-showrunner in Season 2, solo showrunner in Season 3). Matalas says that they had written Chakotay into the dark alternate timeline of Star Trek: Picard Season 2's early episodes. In that timeline, Chakotay would have been the First Magistrate and husband of President Hansen of the United Confederacy of Planets, Seven of Nine's alternate self in that timeline. Beltran's role would have been a nod to Seven of Nine and Chakotay's romance in the later seasons of Star Trek: Voyager.

After Beltran turned the role down, Star Trek: Picard's writers rewrote the role to be a new character, played by Jon Jon Briones, the real-life father of Star Trek: Picard star Isa Briones. Meanwhile, Beltran went on to voice Chakotay in Star Trek: Prodigy, joining a cast that already included another Star Trek: Voyager alum, Kate Mulgrew, reprising her role as Kathryn Janeway.

How to watch Star Trek: Picard

Star Trek: Picard Season 3 premieres new episodes on Thursdays on Paramount+. Star Trek: Picard's first two seasons are already streaming on Paramount+, as are all seven seasons of Star Trek: Voyager.

Star Trek: Picard streams exclusively on Paramount+ in the U.S. and on Amazon Prime Video in over 200 countries and territories. In Canada, it airs on Bell Media's CTV Sci-Fi Channel and streams on Crave.

Trending Now: