Summary
Best known for playing Captain Rachel Garrett inStar Trek: The Next Generation, Tricia O’Neill has actually played three characters in theStar Trekfranchise. An actress with a prolific career as a stage performer and TV guest star, Tricia O’Neill has appeared in hit 1980s TV shows likeDynasty,Murder, She Wrote, andThe A-Team. When O’Neill later appeared in two episodes ofTNG, she didn’t have any scenes with her formerA-Teamco-starDwight Schultz as Lt. Reginald Barclay. However, Tricia O’Neill did share scenes with herThe Fall Guyco-star, Marc Alaimo, in her one-and-only appearance inStar Trek: Deep Space Nine.
Interestingly, Tricia O’Neill was considered to play the recurringStar Trek: DS9character, Kai Opaka in season 1, butthe role went to Camille Saviola instead. Perhaps because O’Neill was so recognizable as the captain of the USS Enterprise-C, it was decided that a Bajoran nose ridge wouldn’t be enough to hide Kai Opaka’s physical resemblance to Captain Rachel Garrett. This could also be the reason whyTricia O’Neill’s subsequent roles afterStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”, required heavy alien prosthesis.
Rachel Garrett: Star Trek’s Most Tragic Enterprise Captain Explained
Rachel Garrett was the first female captain of the starship Enterprise, whose tragic fate secured a peaceful future for Star Trek’s Federation.
Captain Rachel Garrett in “Yesterday’s Enterprise”
Star Trek: TNG, Season 3, Episode 15
Tricia O’Neill played the firstfemale captain of the starship EnterpriseinStar Trek: The Next Generationseason 3, episode 15, “Yesterday’s Enterprise”. Captain Rachel Garrett was the captain of the USS Enterprise-C, which was lost in battle defending a Klingon colony from Romulan attack. When the starship fell through a temporal anomaly and caused a dark alternate timeline, Garrett and her crew bravely make the decision to sacrifice themselves by returning to the past to meet their fate. Garrett was briefly honored with the Red Lady statue inStar Trek: Picardseason 3, until it was destroyed by terrorists.
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation follows Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his crew aboard the USS Enterprise NCC-1701D as they embark on interstellar explorations, seeking out new worlds and civilizations.
According to theStar Trek: The Next GenerationCompanion, Tricia O’Neill had been a bigStar Trekfan prior to being cast as Captain Garrett. This is presumably why, in an interview withStarTrek.com,O’Neill states that she’d auditioned for a handful ofTNGroles prior to “Yesterday’s Enterprise”. It was those auditions that ultimately led to theTNGteam calling Tricia O’Neill and outright offering her the role of Captain Rachel Garrett. In the same interview, O’Neill reflected on the experience of being captain of the Enterprise, saying:
“Everything becomes very real and, if you let go of not believing, you may sail right into a whole world. Sitting in that chair as captain of the U.S.S. Enterprise, that’s who I was for a week or so. It was an extraordinary experience.”
Kacey Rohl has been cast as a younger Rachel Garrett in the upcoming streaming-exclusive movie,Star Trek: Section 31.
Kurak in “Suspicions”
Star Trek: TNG, Season 6, Episode 22
Tricia O’Neill returned toStar Trek: The Next Generation, although audiences would be forgiven for not recognizing her. InStar Trek: TNGseason 6, episode 22, “Suspicions”, O’Neill played a Klingon warp field specialist, Kurak, who had been invited aboard the USS Enterprise-D to observe a metaphasic shield test. Kurak is a fascinating character, who provides insight into how Klingon scientists are regarded in the widerStar Trekuniverse. Watching her scenes in “Suspicions”, it’s clear that Tricia O’Neill relishes the chance to play such a complex character;a great scientist that also has the fiery temper of a Klingon warrior.
Discussing the role withStarTrek.comback in 2013, Tricia O’Neill reflected on these conflicting aspects of Kurak’s character. It was clear that the role of a Klingon scientist was something that greatly appealed to O’Neill, despite the hours spent in make-up to become Kurak. Read Tricia O’Neill’s quote below:
“The makeup was difficult, but once I saw it, it was such a support to believe the world, to get into character [….] I knew the difficulty this particular Klingon was involved in because she was advancing. She had the great weight on her shoulders of being intelligent, of being a scientist, and she was crossing barriers. But she was still a Klingon, so she was very… not savage, but physical…”
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Korinas in “Defiant”
Star Trek: DS9, Season 3, Episode 9
Having appeared together in an episode ofThe Fall Guy, Tricia O’Neill reunited withMarc Alaimo inStar Trek: DS9for the season 3 episode, “Defiant”. O’Neill played Korinas, a member of the Obsidian Order, who was assigned to observe Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Gul Dukat (Alaimo) as they led the search for the stolen USS Defiant. It was revealed that Tricia O’Neill’sDS9character had a lot to lose if the rogue Thomas Riker (Jonathan Frakes) unearthed the Obsidian Order’s plans to build a new fleet of Cardassian warships.
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, also known as DS9, is the fourth series in the long-running Sci-Fi franchise, Star Trek. DS9 was created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, and stars Avery Brooks, René Auberjonois, Terry Farrell, and Cirroc Lofton. This particular series follows a group of individuals in a space station near a planet called Bajor.
Having previously played a Klingon inStar Trek,Tricia O’Neill was still surprised by the oppressive feeling of the Cardassian make-uprequired to play Korinas. In herStarTrek.cominterview, O’Neill revealed that it was “hard breathing” in the “rigid” Cardassian costume. However, despite this, Tricia O’Neill turns in an engaging performance as the enigmatic Cardassian spy, further proving the versatility she’s shown as an actor throughout her career before and sinceStar Trek: The Next Generation.
