Scott Bakula's Star Trek: Enterprise Casting Almost Didn't Happen

The artistic team behind "Star Trek: Enterprise" always knew they wanted Scott Bakula to portray Captain Jonathan Archer. The "Quantum Leap" star was unquestionably their man — their only man — and director James L. Conway said as much during a late 2023 interview with "The Shuttlepod Show." Despite their confidence, however, "Enterprise" came dangerously close to entering production without him. 

As chronicled in "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams," the second volume of Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross' self-described "complete, uncensored, and unauthorized oral history" book, Bakula signed his contract a mere handful of days before filming began. "Scott Bakula was the only actor ever discussed for Archer. Problem was, his deal wasn't closed until the table read of the script three days before production began," said Conway. "In fact, there were rumors he was going to a CBS comedy pilot and we got very worried. We had never met him, talked to him, or heard him do the material. All during the casting process the casting director was the only one to read Archer's dialogue." 

Conway went on to say that the actor quickly proved himself worthy of their efforts at the first table read. Sure, Bakula's hair created a huge problem for "Enterprise" during the pilot episode, but Conway regrets nothing, and neither does Bakula. 

Although there's a small asterisk for the "Star Trek: Enterprise" finale, Scott Bakula looks back on his time filming "Enterprise" with fervent pride. During an early 2023 interview with TrekMovie.com, he expressed deep admiration for Captain Jonathan Archer, whom he considers to be a positive representation of humanity in a fictional world. Bakula also shared how the artistic team behind "Enterprise" banded together in a way that honored the core philosophy of "Star Trek."

"When we were in the midst of making the show ... we all talked about hoping that the show would be more appreciated as time went on. Because I felt like we achieved something pretty wonderful in those four years," said Bakula, "especially, in my opinion, in the last two and a half years ... with the 9/11 component fusing the writers' brains and minds and hearts. We were always hopeful, all of us. We had done a lot of good work and [we hoped] that we would be appreciated as time marched on. I'm thrilled."

In the years since "Enterprise" ended in 2005, Bakula has returned to the "Star Trek" franchise only once — in 2006 for the video game "Star Trek: Legacy." The actor told TrekMovie.com that he would be open to returning if executive producer Alex Kurtzman ever asked. Should that ever come to fruition, Bakula's "Star Trek" return could happen in "Strange New Worlds." If not, it's not like the franchise is going anywhere anytime soon.