The cast and crew of any given Star Trek property are almost guaranteed to spend a lot of time together.
Whether they’re working on a television episode or a movie, it takes a long time to create the world that’s become a favorite for so many people. So, naturally, there are bound to be some relationships that form between cast and crew.
Over the years, the actors especially have been the subject of a lot of rumors about their dating lives, especially if their characters were together on the show.
We see it time and time again every time there are two super popular romantic leads in a big movie or show – people want to know if that chemistry comes from the actors being together in real life, too.
In some cases, there were a few Star Trek members who did get together in real life. The length of the relationships varied, though. Some only casually dated for a short time, while others were married for decades.
In others, the rumors were just that – rumors – and the actors in question have only ever been friends. Since they spend so much time together, some of the casts have gotten really close.
The cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation really stands out for that. They got along so well that they would come to set on their days off just to see their friends and watch them work.
So which Star Trek cast members found love and great friendships onboard the Enterprise? Read on for the 8 Star Trek Actors Who Got Together (And 8 Who Are Just Close Friends).
16. Close Friends: Terry Farrell and Michael Dorn
Terry Farrell and Michael Dorn were both part of the cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which aired from 1993-1999. Terry Farrell played the character Jadzia Dax, a Trill science officer, while Michael Dorn played Worf, a Klingon Strategic Operations Officer. ‘Dax and Worf eventually married.
While Farrell and Dorn were not romantically linked in real life, they were good friends during and after filming.
Farrell has said that some of her favorite episodes were when she got to work with Dorn and that they really built up a friendship while working together.
When producers of the show were engineering Farrell’s exit from the show after her character’s death, Dorn was the one who supported her during the transition.
In fact, their characters only married on the show because Farrell and Dorn wanted more scenes together.
15. Together In Real Life: Alexander Siddig and Nana Visitor
Two of Farrell and Dorn’s Deep Space Nine castmates did get together in real life. Alexander Siddig, who played Julian Bashir, and Nana Visitor, who played Major Kira Nerys, were married from 1997 to 2001 before eventually separating.
Before getting married, they also had a son together named Django.
The two were very close friends both before and during their marriage, and although they’re no longer married, they still seem as though they make an effort to stay in each other’s lives.
They still see each other at least twice a year. According to Visitor, they also talk constantly and were jointly involved in raising their son when he was still a child.
No enmity here.
14. Close Friends: Gates McFadden and Brent Spiner
Star Trek fans first met both Gates McFadden and Brent Spiner on Star Trek: The Next Generation and were able to spend much more time with them in the four movies that followed.
McFadden played Dr. Beverly Crusher, while Spiner portrayed Lieutenant Commander Data.
While their characters weren’t together on the show (Crusher is a widow, and Data is… well, an android), McFadden and Spiner were and are quite close off-set.
Thankfully, in real life, McFadden is not a widow. When she and her partner welcomed their first child back in 1991, The Next Generation was still ongoing.
She named Spiner the godfather of her child, a huge responsibility and a sign of a true friend.
13. Together In Real Life: Roxann Dawson and Casey Biggs
If you’ve noticed Roxann Dawson’s various stage names over the years, you might have been able to guess this one already.
She’s alternately been known as Roxann Dawson, Roxann Biggs, and Roxann Biggs-Dawson. However, fans know her as B’Elanna Torres on Star Trek: Voyager.
Casey Biggs, on the other hand, starred as Damar on Deep Space Nine. Unlike some of the other couples on this list, Dawson and Biggs didn’t meet because of their roles on Star Trek.
They were actually married for a time before either actor was cast in a Star Trek property, from 1985 until their divorce in 1987.
They’re not asked about each other often in interviews, but when the topic does come up, they have nothing but praise for one another. Both have since moved on and married other people.
12. Close Friends: Rosalind Chao and Colm Meaney
Both Chao and Meaney appeared in two Star Trek series: The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Chao is known for playing Professor Keiko O’Brien, while Meaney is known for his portrayal of Chief Petty Officer Miles O’Brien, who of course eventually becomes Keiko’s husband.
In the Trek universe, the characters are married with one daughter. In real life, the actors are quite close, but they’ve never been in a relationship.
Fans might be happy to know, though, that when Meaney got married for real in 2007, Chao attended his wedding. Meaney was apparently thrilled his TV wife could attend.
Chao herself is married to Simon Templeman, who appeared in one episode of The Next Generation as John Bates.
11. Together In Real Life: Patrick Stewart and Jennifer Hetrick
Younger movie-goers probably know Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier from the X-Men movies, but to Trek fans, he will always be Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Stewart played Picard in The Next Generation and each of the four movies. Jennifer Hetrick played Vash, who appeared in The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine. Her character falls in love with Picard in the episode “Qpid”.
It appears that the chemistry on-screen continued off-screen, since the two dated during the third and fourth seasons of The Next Generation after Stewart’s divorce from his first wife.
During the filming of “Qpid”, Stewart and Hetrick were engaged, though they never actually made it down the aisle.
Stewart would later marry one of the co-producers of The Next Generations, which lasted until their divorce in 2003.
10. Close Friends: Michael Dorn and Marina Sirtis
Before he was on Deep Space Nine, Michael Dorn played Worf on almost every episode of The Next Generation.
While he was filming that series, he became very close with Marina Sirtis, who played Counselor Troi. The two have also worked together multiple times after their respective runs on Star Trek ended.
Their friendship has lasted more than thirty years, though as Sirtis admits, they hated each other on the first season of the show. Their chemistry eventually won out, though, leading to speculation that they were secretly dating.
They weren’t in a relationship then and aren’t now, but Dorn will be the first one to tell you that they’re “just crazy about each other.”
9. Together In Real Life: Linda Park and Tom Hardy
What about the actors in more recent Star Trek properties, you might ask?
Linda Park played Ensign Hoshi Sato in Star Trek: Enterprise from 2001 to 2005. During that time, she also began dating Tom Hardy, who starred as Shinzon in the 2002 movie Star Trek: Nemesis.
The two of them dated from 2003 to 2004, and Park moved to England to live with Hardy in South London. The relationship was apparently serious enough that they even considered opening up their own theater company together.
However, the relationship ended before that could occur, and Park moved back to California. She married fellow actor Daniel Bess in 2011, while Hardy officially divorced his wife in 2004 and remarried Charlotte Riley in 2014.
8. Close Friends: Zoe Saldana and Chris Pine
Zoe Saldana is lucky enough to have starred in movies with all of the actors who have been dubbed Hollywood’s “Chrises” – Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, and Chris Pine.
Saldana and Pine worked together on the three Star Trek reboot movies: Star Trek (2009), Star Trek Beyond (2013) and Star Trek Into Darkness (2016).
They obviously spent a lot of time together to film the three movies, and like many of the other Star Trek actors on this list, became friends in the process.
Their friendship was clear in each promotional interview they did to help create buzz for the movie, but nothing could top their incredible Lip Sync Battle. It’s clear that they have a lot of fun together on and off set.
7. Together In Real Life: Marina Sirtis and Michael Lamper
It’s probably funny for Sirtis to see that so many people think she either was or is dating Michael Dorn since she’s married to a different Michael – Michael Lamper.
Lamper isn’t known for being an actor, but rather for being a musician and rock guitarist. He’s toured with people like the Allman Brothers and Los Lobos, and most recently as a member of the Eagles tribute band Desperado.
What you might not know, though, is that Lamper appeared in one episode of The Next Generation, “The Vengeance Factor,” as an Acamarian Gatherer.
He was already dating Sirtis at the time and made an appearance as a perk.
They married later that year.
6. Close Friends: George Takei and Nichelle Nichols
George Takei and Nichelle Nichols both appeared in the original Star Trek series from 1966 to 1969 along with six subsequent films.
Both of them added some needed diversity to 1960s television, but Nichols’ role was especially groundbreaking – she was one of the first black female characters on television that wasn’t in a servile role. (The fact that her character later became Commander Uhura makes it that much sweeter.)
Takei and Nichols became friends during filming and remained so over the decades.
When Takei married his partner in 2008, they made Nichols Best Lady.
Both actors seem to have a deep respect for one another as people, which has probably helped sustain their friendship for over half a century.
5. Together In Real Life: Leonard Nimoy and Susan Bay
Leonard Nimoy is one of the most famous actors to have appeared in a Star Trek film. Nimoy, of course, played Spock and helped to create the character.
You can thank Nimoy for the signature Vulcan salute and famous greeting, “Live long and prosper.”
It seems kind of fitting that the man who was arguably one of the faces of the franchise also ended up marrying an actress who appeared on the show.
Susan Bay played Admiral Rollman in two episodes of Deep Space Nine: “Past Prologue” and “Whispers”. Her appearances in the show came after her marriage to Nimoy, which took place in 1989.
The two were happily married until Nimoy’s passing in 2015.
4. Close Friends: Nana Visitor and Rene Auberjonois
Nana Visitor may have married Alexander Siddig, but she was also very close with another one of her co-stars, Rene Auberjonois.
Auberjonois played Odo, the head of security, on Deep Space Nine. On the show, Odo and Visitor’s character, Kira Nerys, are romantic partners. This offered a lot of story possibilities since Odo was a changeling who was definitely not supposed to be dating humans.
Visitor and Auberjonois had great chemistry on-screen and a fantastic friendship off-screen as well.
Although both of them have stayed busy in their post-Trek careers, they still stay in touch and find ways to see each other when they’re in the same place.
Visitor calls Auberjonois one of her favorite people, and the happiness on their faces in joint interviews just proves her point.
3. Together In Real Life: Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry
In case the hyphenated last name didn’t tip you off, Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett-Roddenberry married in 1969, the same year that the third and last season of the original series aired.
Roddenberry is best known for creating Star Trek. He both wrote and produced the show, along with occasionally doing some voice acting when the script needed it.
Barrett-Roddenberry got her big break from starring in the show as Nurse Christine Chapel in the original series, and later Lwaxana Troi on The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine.
Roddenberry was married when he met Barrett-Roddenberry, and the two started seeing each other.
He wrote her character with her in mind and didn’t consider any other actresses for the part. The two were married after he divorced his first wife.
2. Close Friends: John Cho and Anton Yelchin
The Star Trek fan community was hit with a huge loss in 2016, when Anton Yelchin lost his life in a freak accident. Yelchin had played Chekov in the reboot movies before his death. The entire cast adored him and mourned his death, but it seemed to hit Cho especially hard.
The two were great friends while filming and had a ton of fun during their downtime on set, which fans could follow through their hilarious Dubsmash videos.
Cho and Yelchin were also paired together pretty often for press interviews. Cho tweeted out a message of love and support after Yelchin’s passing, but continued to honor his memory publicly and privately in the following months.
Cho also participated in an event to honor Yelchin’s memory in November of 2016.
1. Together In Real Life: Gene Roddenberry and Nichelle Nichols
If you’re going through dates in your head, trying to figure out when Roddenberry would have dated Nichols, you probably won’t figure it out if you’re trying to come up with consecutive dates.
Roddenberry began a relationship with Nichols at the same time that he was dating Majel Barrett.
Their relationship wasn’t revealed until Nichols wrote about it in her biography, published after Roddenberry’s passing.
It turns out that Roddenberry had wanted to pursue an open relationship with both women, while still legally married to his first wife.
Nichols figured out how in love Barrett was and ended her relationship with Roddenberry, saying she didn’t want to be “the other woman to the other woman.” Smart move.
–
What did you think? Did we leave out your favorite Star Trek pair? Let us know in the comments!
