Fallout Trek: Actors in both Fallout and Star Trek

Quick, make a ballpark guess at how many actors have worked on both a Fallout game and a live-action Star Trek TV or movie.

Ready?

The answer is exactly forty-nine. Yes, 49!  Star Trek actors have worked on every Fallout, and Fallout actors have worked on every live-action Star Trek TV or movie except for I, II, and IV.

Here are some highlights, or you can skip to the full list.

In the most Fallout games

At least three appearances in a wasteland.

Ron Perlman

6

wastelands

1

Trek
ron_perlman_february_2015
Dude, it’s Ron Perlman.

He’s the voice of Fallout (tsk, except BoS).
viceroy07
He was just in Nemesis.

Alan Oppenheimer

3

wastelands

3

Treks
alan_oppenheimer_by_gage_skidmore
He was Skeletor and Man-at-Arms!
paladin-brandis
FOT, BoS, and Paladin Brandis in 4.
keogh
He popped up in TNG, DS9, and VOY.

Dwight Schultz

3

wastelands

3

Treks
dwight_schultz_2
It’s Howling Mad Murdock!
fo02_npc_hakunin_n
He was Hakunin in FO2, plus voices in FOT and 4.
reginald_barclay_2366
He is Reginald Barclay.

Jason Marsden

3

wastelands

2

Treks
jason-marsden
He’s done tons of cartoons.
boone
He was Myron and Boone, plus was in FOT.
grimp
He was a Ferengi in DS9, plus a voice in TNG.

In the most live-action Star Trek

At least three appearances in Star Trek.

 Michael Dorn

2

wastelands

7

Treks
michael_dorn_by_gage_skidmore_2
One of the hardest-working actors in Trek.
fo02_npc_marcus_b
He’s Marcus, super mutant extraordinaire from FO2 & NV.
worf_and_martok
He is Worf, Son of Mogh.

James Horan

1

wasteland

4

Treks
james-horan
He’s all over cartoons and video games.
4018_original
He was The King in NV, y’hear?
ikatika
He was in TNG, DS9, VOY, and ENT!  He even fought Worf in the very scene above.

Tim Russ

1

wasteland

4

Treks
tim-russ
He ain’t found shit!
fallout-4-cpt-kells-1
He was Captain Kells in FO4, plus Zealot Ware.
tuvok_2371
He is Tuvok. He also appeared in TNG, DS9, and Generations.

Alan Oppenheimer

3

wastelands

3

Treks
alan_oppenheimer_by_gage_skidmore
This guy is everywhere!
paladin-brandis
FOT, BoS, and Paladin Brandis in 4.
keogh
He popped up in TNG, DS9, and VOY.

Dwight Schultz

3

wastelands

3

Treks
dwight_schultz_2
He breathed some character into VOY.
fo02_npc_hakunin_n
He was Hakunin in FO2, plus voices in FOT and 4.
reginald_barclay_2366
He is Reginald Barclay.

David Warner

1

wasteland

3

Treks
David Warner by Rory Lewis, glossy C-type colour print, 2013
He’s a great British sourpuss.
fo01_npc_morpheus_n
He was Morpheus in FO.
madred
He appeared in V and VI, plus TNG: “How many lights do you see there?”

Kurtwood Smith

1

wasteland

3

Treks
kurtwood_smith_by_gage_skidmore
Remember that TV show, dumbass?
fot_dekker_portrait
He was General Dekker in FOT.
annorax
He was in VI and DS9, plus the stand-out “Year of Hell” from VOY.

Larry Cedar

1

wasteland

3

Treks
larry-cedar
He was on Square One!

?

He was a “voice” in FOT.

nydrom
He was in DS9, VOY, and ENT (this is not Todd Howard).

Rene Auberjoinois

1

wasteland

3

Treks
rene_auberjonois
I saw him once on Charlie’s Angels.  It was odd after DS9.
fnv_mr_house_screen
He was Robert House in NV.
kira_odo_shakaar_crossfire
He is Odo. He also appeared in VI and ENT.

Robert Picardo

1

wasteland

3

Treks
robert_picardo_by_gage_skidmore
“Welcome to Johnny Cab!”
screenshotv3-1154
He voiced Alan Binet in 4.
the_doctor_2371
He is the Emergency Medical Hologram, a.k.a. The Doctor.

Wil Wheaton

1

wasteland

3

Treks
wil_wheaton_wootstock_2-4_04
He turned out all right!
armyrobobrain
He voiced the Robobrains in NV.
wesley_crusher_2368
He is Wesley Crusher.

Even the original Star Trek!

Iona Morris

1

WASTELAND

2

TREKS
iona
She makes the TV list truly complete!
daisy_fallout_4
She was Daisy and a few others in 4.
girl_with_hat_miri
She was in “Miri” from Star Trek, 1966, plus VOY.

The Fallout Trek Redemption

OK, now we’re getting deep:  at least four actors have been in a Fallout game, Star Trek, and The Shawshank Redemption.  (No, I didn’t go looking for this, I just noticed it.)

Clancy Brown

1

WASTELAND

1

TREK
shawshank-hadley
He played Guard Captain Hadley.
fo01_npc_rhombus_n
He voiced Rhombus in FO.
zobral
He was Zobral in ENT.

Don McManus

1

WASTELAND

1

TREK
shawshank-wiley
He was Guard Wiley.
john_fallout_4
He voiced John and T.S. Wallace in 4.
zio
He was Zio in VOY.

Jude Ciccolella

1

WASTELAND

1

TREK
shawshank-mert
He was Guard Mert.
enb-2015_08_08-20_07_03_05
He was Dr. Hildern and a bunch of other voices in NV.
suran
He was Commander Suran in Nemesis.

William Sadler

1

WASTELAND

1

TREK
shawshank-heywood
Last, but certainly not least, he’s Heywood!
enb-2015_08_16-12_20_05_34
Plus he’s Victor from NV!
sloaninquarters
And he’s Luther Sloan from DS9, one of the best guest roles!

But, really, forty-nine actors?!

Why so many?  Because casting…  Casting never changes.

“Here’s the thing though, casting all those actors wasn’t intentional; I discovered through the process of casting that Star Trek is to Los Angeles what Law and Order is to New York. If you’re in New York and you go to a Broadway show and open the playbill every actor in there has appeared on Law and Order, and it’s because there’s such a need for actors on those shows. At its peak, most of those actors in LA appeared on Star Trek.”

Jason Bergman
Behind the Scenes: The Many Voices of New Vegas

Forty-nine still sounds like a lot of overlap, even with seven Fallout games, five Star Trek TV shows, and thirteen Trek movies.  Sure, you’ve got your familiar faces like Michael Dorn or a big name like Malcolm McDowell, but four dozen actors overlap?

Star Trek doesn’t just cast for a lot of roles, though, it’s casts for a lot of weird roles:  aliens.  Trek needs actors that apply precise performance to create truly foreign characters with strange appearances and distinct voices.  They need to have the talent to act through heavy makeup, and the discipline to listen when the effects people say “don’t move your head more than five inches or you’ll ruin three hours of prep.”  It’s also important that they be consistent, so when the editor strings together eight takes from two days the alien sounds coherent, not disjointed.

These talents would apply well to video game voice acting:  creating distinct voices, imparting emotion despite the limitations of game graphics, and the ability to deliver consistent performances across script variations or re-recordings.

There’s also the path that careers take.  The heyday of Trek production was in the 90’s, when the numerous weekly shows had booming casting calls, and a lot of these actors played small roles (“Stairway Guard”) that would be a step up on the path of paying their dues. With enough experience and good reputation you can transition into voice acting, which can be good work;  it’s still challenging, but the hours tend to be more defined and the work less stressful than live-action productions – much better for the working actor with a family.  When the Fallout series started in the late 90’s several of these Trek alumni were expanding into busy careers voicing cartoons and video games.

The full list of all 49 actors, complete with IMDB links.

Wait, do you make video games?

If you’ve enjoyed this and you make video games, let me ask you a favor:  please give me quick feedback on my portfolio.  Do I sound hire-able?  Are there red flags?  Be brutal.  You can find my email there or DM me @EmiliosEyes.

For the love of the Nine

The most Fallout actors came from Deep Space Nine, and New Vegas had the most DS9 actors.

ds9-actors-in-fallout

Honorable Mentions: Crew

Why should the Fallout-Star Trek employment bonanza be limited to actors?  At least 4 crew members have overlapped:

  • David Lee Fein is a very experienced foley artist.
    • Foley for FOT.
    • Foley for V, VI, Generations, First Contact, and Beyond.
  • Justin Bertges does SFX and props.
    • Worked for Quantum Creation FX on 4’s videos.
    • Also worked for Quantum Creation FX on Beyond.
  • Pete Kelley is a set and prop builder.
    • Props for 4’s videos.
    • SFX technician on Into Darkness.
  • Ryan J. Frias is an experienced sound editor.
    • Dialogue editor for NV.
    • Digital editing for Into Darkness.
Corrections?

If you have any corrections, please let me know!  Especially if you can clarify credits for Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel (they seem spotty), or if you can fill in any of the people just credited as “voice” in Fallout Tactics.

Methodology
  • Data collected from IMDB overlap searches.
  • Some clarification from MobyGames.  The Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel data may still be unreliable.
  • Only official live-action Star Trek TV shows and movies were included; no cartoons, DVD extras, fan films, theme park videos, or video games were included (though I do list some games in the spreadsheet).
  • All official Fallout games were included, except Fallout Shelter (which has no voiced roles).

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