Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Reveals The Real Reason Behind Riker's TNG Beard
As far as memorable "Star Trek" faces go, it's tough to beat Jonathan Frakes' William T. Riker and his impressive beard. The actor's appearance is an iconic part of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in particular, which is why it makes revisiting the show's earliest days a bit strange. As fans may recall, Riker doesn't actually grow his trademark beard until the second season of the series — a rather unexpected turn from the fresh-faced first officer in the inaugural season.
In an interview included in the "Star Trek" oral history "The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years," Frakes explained the real-life reason that Riker grows a beard in "The Next Generation" Season 2. According to the actor, production on the show's second season was impacted by the 1988 writers' strike, and he made the decision to grow out his beard out of a contempt for shaving. "During the strike we had a meeting with [Gene] Roddenberry and [Rick] Berman and [Maurice] Hurley, who was the producer at the time, and Roddenberry kept looking at me and said, 'I really like this, it looks nautical,'" Frakes said.
The show's creatives then decided to integrate Frakes' beard into the design of Riker. "What ensued was this bizarre executive beard trimming contest," Frakes explained. "It became absurd in terms of the length and the shape and everything else. Gene wanted the beard to be decorative and it stuck and I'm very glad to have it. Fortunately, my wife liked it, or else I'd have had real problems."
Riker's beard has become a pop culture staple
Despite the humble real-life origin of Riker's beard on "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the character's facial hair has grown into a defining element of the series as a whole, as well as a major piece of pop culture iconography. In the decades since the sci-fi show's original run, the phrase "Riker's beard" has become a shorthand term used to refer to a show coming into its own — just as many fans feel "The Next Generation" did after its first season.
For Jonathan Frakes' part, the actor has indicated on multiple occasions his happiness regarding the way the "Riker's beard" phrase has transcended the show it was born from — as well as its hallowed place in the Urban Dictionary. "There are few people who understand the importance in the Urban Dictionary of 'Riker's beard,'" he once said in an interview with TrekMovie.com. "I have had to explain it to some people and I am so proud of it."
As the "Star Trek" franchise continues to boldly go where no one has gone before, Frakes is happy to see newer series like "Star Trek: Discovery" undergoing the "Riker's beard" process of growth. "I think 'Discovery' has done it and I think a lot of it has to do [with] the settling in of both sides of the camera: the writing and the actors," he said. "The show feels to me like it is very much on the tracks now and running with real strength."