Former Star Trek actor Colm Meaney doesn’t do much with the franchise these days (nor does he want to), but fans will always remember his memorable stints as a cast member on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Meaney is still good for a story or two about his time in the franchise, and recently recalled the time he had to play a Klingon and how co-star Michael Dorn’s hilariously reacted to him.
In the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode “Apocalypse Rising,” Colm Meaney’s Miles O’Brien and other characters underwent medical procedures in order to look like Klingons, all for a high-stakes mission. While speaking with BigIssue.com, Meaney shared Michael Dorn’s reaction to learning that his co-stars had to get in the makeup chair to become Klingons. And understandably, he was ecstatic:
Michael read this and was thrilled absolutely thrilled, ‘Oh, they’re going to make you a Klingon – great!’ He was relishing this. The first day into makeup, I’m sitting there. Fuck, it’s awful. They put this piece on my forehead, and I’m like, ‘I can’t close my eyes, I can’t close my eyes!’ Everything they put on I complained about. By the third day, Michael was saying, ‘Get him out of that makeup and never put him in it again, I can’t stand listening to him!’ It was the funniest thing. He was such a great character.
Colm Meaney only had to wear Klingon prosthetics for a few days of filming, which is a drop in the pot for Worf actor Michael Dorn. Dorn is one of Star Trek’s most prolific actors of all time and, so far, he’s appeared in 272 episodes and five movies. Suffice to say, he wore Klingon makeup for a period far longer than three days and wasn’t about to hear his co-star, Meaney, complain about a few uncomfortable moments. I totally agree, and I think it’s hilarious that Meaney might’ve realized that as well when making the episode.
Like Colm Meaney, Michael Dorn is also not currently involved in a recent Trek show, though he’s made efforts to make that happen. Dorn pitched an idea to Alex Kurtzman and others for a Klingon-based series, though he hasn’t had much luck getting the project off the ground. Meaney learned about the series during his recent interview and said the following about Dorn’s idea for his television return:
Oh, absolutely, I’d go for that. I love Michael.
Star Trek has a lot of projects that have either been released or are in the pipeline, though it’s not known if Michael Dorn is involved in any of them. Obviously, there are opportunities for him to return in shows like Picard, Lower Decks, and even possibly Prodigy, though it’s a question if he’ll participate. In past interviews, Dorn expressed doubts about appearing in the first of those three shows and questioned whether a role would be worth getting back in his makeup for Worf. We’ll just have to wait and see if the stars align for him to make his long-hoped-for return.
While the actor isn’t in new Star Trek projects yet, all of his classic episodes are available to stream with a Paramount+ subscription. There are a lot of great Worf stories to choose from, though after hearing this story from Colm Meaney, I’m definitely in the mood for some Deep Space Nine.