Watch: 10 greatest second chances in Star Trek

TrekCulture covers the greatest chances for Star Trek actors and characters

Unfortunately, over the course of 55 years, there were numerous actors and characters in Star Trek history that were ousted or eliminated due to behind-the-scenes issues or they simply didn’t work for the series any longer. But sometimes, as we saw in the death of Mr. Spock on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, the end is not always permanent, and TrekCulture shares ten of those second chances in its latest video.

One of the best on this list is Grace Lee Whitney who was fired from Star Trek: The Original Series after suffering an alleged sexual assault by a producer. This led to her falling deep into alcoholism, but there was light at the end of the tunnel. Whitney fought her way back to sobriety and, after DeForest Kelley encouraged her to start attending conventions, she was rehired to join the franchise, going on to appear in The Motion Picture, The Search for Spock, The Voyage Home, The Undiscoverd Country, and even Voyager.

Star Trek almost lost out on one of its best characters on Voyager

When Star Trek: The Next Generation was casting for Geordi LaForge, Tim Russ was close to being cast. Instead, LeVar Burton got the part (thankfully), and Russ was brought back to play both a villain on The Next Generation and a bridge officer on Star Trek: Generations. After that, he was cast in Voyager as the Vulcan head of security and close friend to Captain Janeway, Lt. Commander Tuvok.

And these are just two of the second chance actors revealed in TrekCulture’s video. You’ll also find Gates McFadden, Thomas Riker, and a few more that might surprise you, including the actors behind a particularly evil Queen.