Wesley Snipes Almost Played An Iconic Star Trek Character
Before the Starship Enterprise began its voyage to strange new worlds with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in 1987, Wesley Snipes was among the actors who auditioned to join Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) on deck.
Letters of Note drew attention to Snipes' audition, reporting on a casting memo from Paramount Television — the studio that produced the series for its seven-season run from 1987 to 1984. The memo listed him among the actors who were under consideration to play Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge. All actors were expected to read for "Star Trek" creator Gene Roddenberry.
Of course, LeVar Burton, whose Hollywood breakthrough came in 1977 with his Emmy-nominated performance as Kunta Kinte in "Roots," eventually won the role. He later reprised it in "The Next Generation" theatrical films and the spinoff series, "Star Trek: Picard."
In a 2021 interview with Collider about his movie "Coming 2 America," Snipes said he wasn't as disappointed about not landing the Geordi role as he was missing out on the chance to star in the original "Coming to America" film. "Because I think if I had gotten the role [of Geordi] I would have been in television more than film, and maybe would have... never got a chance to do everything else I've done," Snipes said.
In a gracious nod to Burton, Snipes added in the Den of Geek interview, "It was close. But yeah, a greater actor than I went on to make it famous. I applaud him, my friend, great and wonderful."
Some of the eventual stars of The Next Generation weren't on the series casting memo
According to the Paramount Television casting memo for "Star Trek: The Next Generation," Wesley Snipes and LeVar Burton weren't the only notable names on the potential list of actors the studio was looking at to play Geordi La Forge. In addition, Major League Baseball legend Reggie Jackson was up for the role, as well as actors Tim Russ, Victor Love, Chip McCallister Jr., and Kevin Peter Hall.
Jackson, who mostly played himself in such TV series as "The Love Boat," "Archie Bunker's Place," and "The Jeffersons," seemed to be the favorite for "The Next Generation" role, the Paramount memo said.
Other interesting potential casting notes appeared on the Paramount memo, including how Belgian actor Patrick Bauchau appeared to be in close contention with Patrick Stewart for the role of Captain Jean-Luc Picard. In addition, Denise Crosby's name was the only one on the list to read for Counselor Deanna Troi, even though Marina Sirtis was cast in the role, and Crosby was tapped to play Lieutenant Tasha Yar. Crosby wasn't even mentioned among the actors being considered to play Tasha, as Rosalind Chao was listed as the favorite to play the role.
Also surprisingly absent from Paramount's list of actors to read for various roles was Brent Spiner, who was not among those being considered for Lieutenant Commander Data. In addition, J.D. Roth was the only actor listed on the memo to read for Wesley Crusher, but Wil Wheaton eventually was cast in the role.