Star Trek: Voyager premiered in 1995 and ran for seven seasons, ultimately ending with the two-parter “Endgame” in 2001. A show that has only grown more beloved in the franchise since its finale, Voyager allowed fans to join Captain Janeway and her crew of officers and rebels for their long journey home. Yet while the ship’s crew may have returned to earth and lived happily ever after, the actors behind the beloved characters faced the end of the series itself.
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Not every cast member achieved the same level of mainstream success, but many went on to have robust careers in film and television. Notably, nearly the entire main cast has since returned to Trek in some capacity in newer titles like Picard, Prodigy, and Lower Decks. From Seven of Nine star Jeri Ryan to The Doctor’s Robert Picardo, we’re looking back at what happened to the stars post-Voyager.
10) Ethan Phillips
Neelix was a Talaxian chef, morale officer, and guide to the Delta Quadrant played by actor Ethan Phillips. He chose to leave Voyager in season 7 to live among a Talaxian colony, saying a tearful farewell to the crew, especially Tuvok, in the episode “Homestead.”
Both before and after the series, Phillips maintained a prolific career. In addition to steady television and theater roles, he appeared in several iconic movies after 2001, including Bad Santa and the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. A Trek veteran with pre-Voyager roles (including in First Contact), his later return to Trek involved voicing the USS Voyager docent in Lower Decks‘ “Twovix” and reprising Neelix in Very Short Treks‘ “Holograms All the Way Down.”
9) Garrett Wang
Voyager star Garrett Wang portrayed Ensign Harry Kim, the operations officer who famously never got promoted despite seven years of service. Fresh from the Academy, earnest and homesick, his friendship with Tom Paris was a highlight of the series. Supposedly, Wang was nearly fired after season 3, but rumor has it that being named one of People Magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People” in 1997 saved his job.
Post-Voyager, Wang has appeared in the Steven Spielberg-produced miniseries Into the West, the fan production Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, with Tim Russ, and a few indie films. Staying close to Trek, Wang has served as director of the Star Trek track for Dragon Con in Atlanta since 2010, and currently co-hosts The Delta Flyers Podcast with Robert Duncan McNeill. Wang officially reprised Kim in the Star Trek Online video game and voiced multiple versions of the character across timelines in Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 5, Episode 9 “Fissure Quest.” One version finally gets promoted to Lieutenant.
8) Jennifer Lien
Jennifer Lien played the Ocampa Kes in the first half of the series, serving as the Doctor’s medical assistant and developing her telepathic abilities until her emotional departure in “The Gift,” which shot Voyager 9,500 light-years closer to home. Behind the scenes, the reason for her departure remains shrouded in rumors, but most accounts point to her personal struggles as the cause of unprofessional on-set behavior and the termination of her contract.
One of the only actors on this list who never returned to Trek, Lien quit acting altogether in 2001, after her final role voicing Agent “L” in Men in Black: The Animated Series. Since then, she has avoided the public eye.
7) Roxann Dawson
B’Elanna Torres, played by Roxann Dawson, was Voyager’s brilliant and volatile half-Klingon Engineer and former Maquis operative. Her series arc was by far one of the most compelling, exploring her internal struggle with her heritage and the romance with Tom.
Dawson successfully transitioned to directing after Voyager, making a name for herself among TV creatives. Her impressive credits include Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., House of Cards, Foundation, Dark Matter, The Americans, Lost, and Bates Motel. While she never returned to Trek as an actor, she did revisit the franchise by directing four episodes of Star Trek: Enterprise, and her Voyager character, B’Elanna Torres, has been referenced in Star Trek: Prodigy.
6) Robert Duncan McNeill
Fans saw Robert McNeill for the first time in The Next Generation episode, “The First Duty,” which provided a template for Lt. Tom Paris, the cocky helmsman he would play on Voyager. Paris was drummed out of Starfleet, joined the Maquis, and was imprisoned before Janeway recruited him. Across Voyager, he evolves from disgraced pilot to devoted husband and dad. Not to mention his holodeck programs, especially Captain Proton, provided much-needed comic relief.
Like Dawson, McNeill transitioned to directing after Voyager. He was Executive Producer/Director on NBC’s Chuck, and more recently served as Executive Producer/Director on SYFY’s Resident Alien, even being nominated for an Astra Award for the Resident Alien Season 3 finale. Other credits include Dawson’s Creek, One Tree Hill, The O.C., Desperate Housewives, and Supernatural. His Trek reunions involve co-hosting The Delta Flyers Podcast with Wang, an appearance in the Lower Decks episode “We’ll Always Have Tom Paris,” and even voicing Nick Locarno (his TNG character) in LD Season 4.
5) Robert Beltran
Robert Beltran portrayed Commander Chakotay, Voyager’s First Officer and former Maquis captain who became Captain Janeway’s trusted #2. However, his vision quests and “Akoocheemoya” prayer (taught by the show’s “Native American consultant”) were later revealed to be fraudulent. Beltran also became infamous for his outspoken criticism of the show, once calling it “punishment for everything in my life up till that point.” Despite this, he won a Golden Eagle Award for Outstanding Actor in 1997.
Since 2001, Beltran’s acting work has been sporadic. His most notable post-Voyager role was as casino promoter Jerry Flute on HBO’s Big Love. To the surprise of fans, he also reprised Chakotay for Star Trek: Prodigy, voicing the character as captain of the USS Protostar. However, he turned down Star Trek: Picard because the storyline would have featured Chakotay as a fascist husband of Seven of Nine in an alternate timeline.
4) Tim Russ
Voyager’s Vulcan Chief of Security and Janeway’s longtime friend, Lt. Commander Tuvok, was played by actor Tim Russ. His logical perspective and the comedic relationship with Neelix made him an easy fan favorite. The dry delivery of his iconic catchphrase “Indeed” was the perfect distillation of Vulcan stoicism, in the lineage of Leonard Nimoy’s Spock. Russ was already a celebrated Trek veteran before Voyager, having appeared in The Next Generation’s “Starship Mine,” as well as Deep Space Nine, and Star Trek Generations.
After Voyager, Russ has had a colorful career. He famously played Principal Franklin on Nickelodeon’s iCarly for six seasons and even pursued a music career, founding his band Tim Russ Crew. In 2014, he won an Emmy Award for FBI public service ads on intellectual property theft and cyberbullying. Trekkies might also remember him for directing and starring in the fan film Star Trek: Of Gods and Men, though his latest official Trek appearance was on Picard Season 3, as Fleet Captain Tuvok. Even more recently, the actor teased a possible role in the upcoming Spaceballs 2 movie.
3) Robert Picardo
Robert Picardo played the Emergency Medical Hologram (EMH), known as “The Doctor,” who somehow turned a temporary backup program into a highly complex individual and one of Trek’s most beloved characters. Masterfully portrayed by Picardo, the Doctor was both a comedic and emotional standout, exploring humanity through hobbies like opera, romance, and writing, and advocating for holographic rights. “Please state the nature of the medical emergency” is still quoted at Trek conventions worldwide.
Famously, Picardo originally auditioned for Neelix (which went to Phillips), and joked that losing that role “saved [him] 6,000 hours in a makeup chair.” Pre-Voyager, he had played the Doctor’s creator in DS9 and First Contact. Yet even after Voyager, Picardo remained consistently active in TV, film, and theater, even becoming a real-life advocate for science and space exploration, often working with NASA. He reprised the Doctor for Prodigy Season 2 in 2024, marking his first return to the franchise since Voyager ended in 2001, and the Doctor is set to return once again in Starfleet Academy.
2) Jeri Ryan
Jeri Ryan played Seven of Nine, a human woman assimilated by the Borg as a child and freed by Voyager’s crew. When she joined in season 4, ratings increased by 60%, and though Ryan reportedly turned down the role four times before accepting. Having barely seen Star Trek, she needed convincing she wouldn’t be reduced to “an intergalactic Barbie.” However, despite her concerns, the actor still felt the character was overly sexualized, and later expressed regret about Seven of Nine’s debut.
Ryan has since had steady television work, including roles in Boston Public as Veronica Cooke, Body of Proof as Dr. Kate Murphy, and Bosch as Veronica Allen. Her film credits include Dracula (2000) and Down with Love. To fans’ delight, Ryan reprised Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Picard, first as a recurring character before joining the main cast. Her character joined the Fenris Rangers as a vigilante, then returned to Starfleet. By the series finale, Seven was promoted to Captain of the USS Enterprise-G. Ryan said she thought she was “done” with the character but was “pleasantly surprised” by the reprisal.
1) Kate Mulgrew
Kate Mulgrew’s Captain Kathryn Janeway was Star Trek’s first female Captain to lead a series. A no-nonsense leader who made hard choices, she earned her place among Trek’s most legendary captains. In the series finale “Endgame,” she gave one of her best performances as both present-day Captain Janeway and future Admiral Janeway.
Though she’s most known for Trek, Mulgrew gained a new generation of fans in 2013 as Red (Galina Reznikov) in Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black. The role earned her an Emmy nomination and revitalized her mainstream career. In addition to Orange is the New Black, Mulgrew has had a prolific theater career and published a New York Times bestselling memoir about her life. Mulgrew also made several later appearances in Star Trek, first as Vice Admiral Janeway in Nemesis, and later earning an Emmy nomination for voicing both a holographic training version and the real Vice Admiral Janeway in Prodigy.
In a 50-year career, when asked if she ever considered giving up, Mulgrew stated: “Not for a second.” You can catch her most recent performance on Apple TV’s Dope Thief.
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