Star Trek: TNG Would’ve Been So Different if Gene Roddenberry Got to Pick the Cast

When Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered in 1987, audiences met a crew that would eventually become just as iconic as Kirk, Spock, and the original Enterprise crew. Patrick Stewart was Picard. Jonathan Frakes was Riker. Brent Spiner was Data. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine anyone else in those roles. But the cast didn’t come together quite that easily. The casting process reveals just how different The Next Generation might have looked before its iconic crew finally took shape.They offer glimpses of how different the Enterprise crew might have looked — and how those casting choices could have affected the look, chemistry, and identity of the series in ways we’ll never know.

Before cameras started rolling, Gene Roddenberry and the show’s producers considered a surprisingly different group of actors for the Enterprise crew. Some actors were producers’ favorites, others were Roddenberry’s choices, and some simply won the role after competing against names that might seem strange to modern Star Trek fans. Others could have sent the series in a completely different direction. And perhaps most surprisingly, Roddenberry himself didn’t initially want Patrick Stewart to play Captain Jean-Luc Picard. Unthinkable, right?

Gene Roddenberry Didn’t Originally Want Patrick Stewart as Picard

Patrick Stewart’s casting as Jean-Luc Picard is one of the most surprising parts of The Next Generation’s early history. Today, Stewart seems almost inseparable from the character, but Gene Roddenberry wasn’t initially convinced that the British Shakespearean actor was the person to sit in the captain’s chair. Imagine all the great Picard quotes we would have never heard.

Robert H. Justman, one of the producers behind The Next Generation, had seen Stewart perform Shakespeare at UCLA and immediately thought he could be right for Picard. Roddenberry, however, initially wanted a French actor for the role and wasn’t sold on Stewart. In fact, Stewart was even considered to play Data at one point. The casting process included several notable actors. They included Mitch Ryan, Roy Thinnes, Yaphet Kotto, Patrick Bauchau, and Stewart. Patrick Bauchau was a serious contender. He and Stewart were considered the two frontrunners to play Picard.

Justman and Rick Berman continued to advocate for Stewart, and Roddenberry eventually came around. Stewart ultimately won the role, with Stephen Macht later remembered as the runner-up. This decision would change television history for Star Trek. Roddenberry hadn’t originally envisioned his French starship captain to be an English actor leading the new Enterprise. At least Federation Standard solved the problem of the French captain’s largely British accent. He played the role with full commitment, even though there was one episode Stewart particularly disliked. It’s a fascinating reminder that even the people creating Star Trek couldn’t always see the finished picture at the beginning.

The Original TNG Casting Choices Look Like an Alternate Universe

Patrick Stewart wasn’t the only actor who had to win over unexpected talent. Early casting documents for The Next Generation reveal just how different the Enterprise crew could have looked. For Riker, Billy Campbell was actually the production’s first choice. The studio ultimately passed on Campbell and asked the producers to consider other actors. Jonathan Frakes was their second choice, and the rest is history.

Geordi La Forge had an even more unusual list of possibilities. The names in early casting documents included LeVar Burton, Tim Russ, Clarence Gilyard Jr., Kevin Peter Hall, Victor Love, and others. The list even included baseball star Reggie Jackson and a young Wesley Snipes, although producer Rick Berman later said he had no recollection of Snipes ever auditioning or being seriously considered. LeVar Burton eventually became the production’s first choice for Geordi.

Data’s casting was similarly wide-ranging, with actors such as Mark Lindsay Chapman, Eric Menyuk, and Kevin Peter Hall among those considered. Patrick Stewart himself had even been discussed for the role before ultimately becoming Picard. And Wesley Crusher had his own surprising contender. J.D. Roth auditioned for the part, while Wil Wheaton wasn’t even on the earliest casting memo. Wheaton eventually auditioned with Gates McFadden and won the role audiences came to know, and unfortunately Wesley Crusher became the most hated character on the series.

What makes these early casting lists so fascinating is that they don’t simply show a slightly different version of The Next Generation. They offer glimpses of how different the Enterprise crew might have looked — and how those casting choices could have affected the look, chemistry, and identity of the series in ways we’ll never know.In the end, the familiar faces won out. But looking back at the names that almost became Picard’s crew makes the finished cast feel less inevitable than it does today.

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