Be careful. That a particular actor or actress landed a role on Star Trek doesn't mean they'd have been collecting food stamps had said role not been offered to them. As it stands, I'm fine with the way Kirk's appearance in Generations was handled. I'd have actually preferred a film that didn't include him at all, but that may have affected the film's ability to draw in non-Trek audiences.
--Sran
You're right. I can't say with total authority that the cast members might not have found another successful role at some point. I'm just going with what the odds would say. Stewart was a successful stage actor, so odds are he'd have been fine. I guess LeVar Burton was known for "Reading Rainbow"
These are understatements. Patrick Stewart was not only a respected 20-year veteran of the Royal Shakespeare Company at that point, but he had an active movie career as well, with significant roles in films like
Dune and
Lifeforce. LeVar Burton was already famous from
Roots long before
Reading Rainbow came along; indeed, he was arguably the most famous cast member pre-TNG, at least for American audiences. Brent Spiner was an active stage and screen performer; he'd been part of the original Broadway cast of
Sunday in the Park with George, and he had a recurring role on
Night Court at the time he was cast in TNG. (In fact, his character on that show, Bob Wheeler, had been set up in a semi-regular role at the end of the '86-'87 season, and then disappeared without explanation once Spiner got the TNG gig.) Jonathan Frakes was a busy TV actor at the time, having a prominent role in the miniseries
North and South and recurring appearances in various other shows (including Terry Farrell's first series,
Paper Dolls).
