The skin-tight Federation jump suit comes for us all.

The weirdest, most far-out Star Trek cameos of the 1990s

The skin-tight Federation jump suit comes for us all.

By Jordan Hoffman

Published on August 14, 2025 11:30AM EDT

Iggy Pop, Patrick Stewart, and Jason Alexander mix things up on 1990s ‘Star Trek’. Credit:

Casting... the final frontier.

For many, the *Star Trek *franchise is synonymous with the 1960s. *The Original Series*, as that first iteration is now called, was in the vanguard in terms of special effects and social commentary, with its irresistible, interventionist space cowboy James T. Kirk clearly modeled on John F. Kennedy.

Over time, however, the *Star Trek *universe expanded — with a groovy movie and a weirdly trippy animated series in the '70s, then a series of successful films in the 1980s. Though the *USS Enterprise* continues to seek out new life and new civilizations to this day, this glorious franchise truly reached its apogee in the 1990s.

*The Next Generation*, which launched in 1987, hit its stride in the '90s, and in 1994 transitioned into feature films with a hand-off from the *Original Series *crew. Then there were two additional series: *Deep Space Nine*, a rich and contoured exploration of the show's paradoxical themes (and a bold step toward serialized storytelling) and *Voyager*, which reveled in some of the most whacked-out sci-fi concepts ever put to a mass audience (note to self: never travel at such superluminal speeds you end up being everywhere at once and evolving into an enormous salamander.)

With such a volume of production happening throughout the decade, the shows kept a lot of dorks happy and a lot of actors busy. A rewatch of 1990s *Trek *is a cavalcade of "oh, no way!" appearances from a great many talented people. With an honorable mention list half a lightyear long (shout-outs to Kirsten Dunst, Lori Petty, Ashley Judd, Michael McKean, Brad Dourif, David Ogden Stiers, Theodore Bikel, Iman, Dick Miller, Christian Slater, Richard Herd, John Rhys-Davis, Oliva D’Abo, Pamela Adlon, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (whose cameo in 2000 came just a smidge too late to be considered the '90s), and so many others), here are the 10 most "warped in from deep space, how did *that *happen" *Star Trek *cameos of the 1990s.

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Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking playing cards with Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Data on 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'.

Important figures from history popped up on *Star Trek *since *The Original Series*, which is how you ended up with Abraham Lincoln testing his wits against rock monsters that one time. (Don't ask.) But it wasn't until *The Next Generation* that someone from history played themself.

In the 1993 episode "Descent Part I," Stephen Hawking joined characters Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Brent Spiner's Data in a game of holodeck poker. While the episode (the season 6 cliffhanger) is a heavy one in which the righteous Data faces down his malevolent brother Lore, the cold opening is one of great geeky jocularity, involving jokes about quantum fluctuations, the relativism of space-time, and climaxes with Hawking zinging Newton for telling "the apple story again."

Hawking's appearance on *TNG *(which was aided by O.G. *Trek *alum Leonard Nimoy) was the great astrophysicist's first step into the world of playful pop culture. His voice and likeness later showed up on *The Simpsons*, *Futurama*, a Pink Floyd album, and, of course, *The Big Bang Theory*.

Iggy Pop as a sick-of-your-nonsense Vorta on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.

There's nothing more punk rock than transforming into an alien.

Iggy Pop, who founded the savage rock group The Stooges in 1967 before launching a sinister solo career, somehow ended up in one of the goofiest of all *Star Trek *episodes — which is certainly saying something.

"The Magnificent Fereng," from *Deep Space Nine*'s season 6 back in 1997, takes the (usually) comic relief characters Quark, Rom, and Nog venturing to a derelict space station to rescue the family matriarch. Pop plays Yelgrun, a Vorta, the corrupt middle management of the worrisome Dominion — an organization it would behoove you to steer clear of. Though the episode's title brings to mind triumphant Westerns like *The Magnificent Seven*, the actual plot more resembles *Weekend at Bernie*'s.

Jason Alexander

"What's the deal with these aliens?".

What's so amazing about the season 5 *Voyager *episode "Think Tank" from 1999 is that when you meet the full slate of characters, Jason Alexander in tons of Michael Westmore's alien makeup isn't the most bizarre.

As Kurros, Alexander is the spokesperson for a group of hyper-intellectual (and also evil!) interstellar busybodies who stuck their noses into other people's problems, offer "solutions," then usually come away with the upper hand. In addition to Kurros, there were four others: a *Lord of the Rings *Nazgul-looking guy, a grouchy bioplasmic organism, an enormous jellyfish-like creature, and an AI that resembled a humongous fountain pen. This wacko crew was one of the greatest things in the history of television.

Sarah Silverman

Sarah Silverman as soda-sipping sci-fi dork, one of her earliest roles, on 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

Though she was already known in standup comedy circles and for a brief stint on *Saturday Night Live*, an appearance in the two-part *Star Trek: Voyager* episode "Future's End" was a big break for the great wisenheimer comedian Sarah Silverman. Don't get too excited at the idea of seeing her as a wacky alien or in some high-tech spacesuit — the story bought Captain Janeway's ship back to "the present," meaning Los Angeles circa 1996.

Silverman's Rain Robinson is an adorkable nerd working on SETI projects at the Griffith Observatory, who works closely with Lt. Tom Paris (a fellow science fiction nerd, even though he *is *science fiction!) in setting the timeline straight. There is, indeed, a scene in which she dodges phaser blasts.

Gabrielle Union

Gabrielle Union honorably serving on the IKS Rotarran on 'Star Trek: Deep Space Nine'.

Before she brought it on, she (briefly) took the helm of the IKS Rotarran, under the stewardship of General Martok and the mighty Worf, Son of Mogh! In other words, Gabrielle Union played a Klingon on the season 6 *Deep Space Nine *episode "Sons and Daughters" from 1997.

This being one of her first roles, she doesn't get too much screen time, but it's an important episode in overall Klingon arc — plus, she is seen having a good time at the mess hall, even though the *gagh *is said to not be very fresh (i.e. it isn't wriggling that much.)

In 2024, Union claimed that she still had her Klingon teeth all these years later.

Michael McKean

Michael McKean as the Clown on 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

If you wanted to cast someone to portray the personification of "fear," you probably wouldn't choose Michael McKean... but that's why *Star Trek: Voyager *is operating in a whole other quadrant of the galaxy.

McKean, best known at the time as Lenny from *Laverne & Shirley*, Mr. Green in *Clue*, and David St. Hubbins from *This Is Spinal Tap*, made his *Trek* cameo as the Clown, a demented jerk who holds dominion over a group of terrorized people in a* Matrix*-like shared cyber-reality. (They are even sleeping in pods and everything, though not as gooey.)

B'Elanna Torres, Harry Kim, the Doctor, and, eventually, Captain Janeway enter the synthetic reality, designed to look like a cross between Ringling Brothers and a Frances Bacon painting. McKean gives his all with the performance, becoming, weirdly, one of the scariest villains in the franchise.

James Worthy

James Worthy, unamused by the crew of the Enterprise.

At six foot, nine inches, James Worthy is the tallest person ever to have played a Klingon on *Star Trek*. (But at that height, he was nowhere near the tallest at his day job: playing in the NBA.)

Worthy is a three-time championship winner with his name in the Hall of Fame, but more importantly, they shall sing songs of his might and drink bloodwine at the mention of his name Sto-vo-kor! Qapla!

Anyhow, the season 7 *Next Generation *episode "Gambit Part II" from 1993 features the fearsome Worthy as Koral, an annoyed shuttlecraft captain who is detained in his duties by Counselor and Data. His scene in the observation lounge is one of great amusement, unless you feel that deceiving a Klingon brings only *dishonor*!

Rage against the engines! Tom Morello on 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

Guitar whiz Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave is such a Trekkie that he managed to get *two *appearances in.

The first is a blink-and-you'll-miss-him background role (read: extra) in *Star Trek: Insurrection*, the 1998 feature film with the *Next Generation *crew. (He did get the full alien makeover, however, playing a Son'a.) But in the season 6 *Voyager *episode "Good Shepherd," the multi-platinum artist actually gets a name (Crewman Mitchell). He's an upbeat lower decker who helps Captain Janeway find her way through the corridors of a part of her ship she rarely visits.

Abdullah II of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

King Abdullah II of Jordan on (wait, really?) 'Star Trek: Voyager'.

One of the greatest head-scratchers not just of 1990s *Star Trek*, but all of pop culture, comes in the form of King Abdullah of Jordan showing up in one of the Sciences Division uniforms on the season 2 episode of *Voyager*, "Investigations."

He doesn't have a line, but you can see him having a conversation with Harry Kim before Neelix comes by to pull Kim away. Abdullah, who was merely Prince Abdullah at the time, was visiting Los Angeles, and was such an enormous Trekkie he used his considerable clout to get a visit to the set. When he arrived, he discovered he'd be getting in uniform and shooting a scene.

According to SlashFilm, the Prince offered free trips to Jordan to members of the cast, and Ethan Philips and Robert Picardo took him up on it. For years, the coastal city of Aqaba was planning a billion dollar theme park that was to include fully a licensed *Star Trek *section. Alas, it never came to be, but you can look at plans and daydream.

Kelsey Grammer and Bebe Neuwirth

Bebe Neuwirth and Kelsey Grammer both had one of the best 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' cameos (but, alas, at different times).

No, the former Frasier and Lillith Crane did *not *appear on *Star Trek *together, but by grouping them like this we've managed to outsmart the parameters of this list — pretty Kobayashi Maru of us, wouldn't you say?

Kelsey Grammer's appearance was in the *Next Generation *mind-scrambler episode "Cause and Effect," in which the Enterprise is caught in a series of deadly time loops, but luckily Data is able to piece things together. It's already an unusual episode, but it to warps into "What???" dimensions when, at the end, Grammer's mug appears on the viewscreen. He plays Captain Bateson of the USS Bozeman, who is unaware that he, too, has been caught in a time loop, though his chrono-shenanigans lasted 90 years.

Bebe Neuwirth's appearance is even better. In the 1991 season 4 *TNG *episode "First Contact" (not to be confused with the film *Star Trek: First Contact*) she plays a Malcorian nurse named Lanel whose most secret desire was to one day make love to an alien. (Doesn't she know *she *is an alien??!) Anyway, when the very handsome Commander Riker gets trapped on her world, he doesn't seem too upset about making her dreams come true if it means getting back to the ship. All hail *Star Trek*!

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Source: “AOL TV”