Dr. Julian Bashir was a star of the Starfleet Medical Academy racquetball team. Engineer Miles O'Brien was forced to take him on, in a tournament arranged by Quark. Major Kira loved Springball, so much so that she had a court built. And, of course, Commander Sisko and his son loved the classic Earth game of baseball. Despite it being considered a sci-fi show for '90s "nerds," the classic series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine featured a fair number of jocks. And in real life, the cast maintains their fitness. Read to see how Terry Farrell and more stay well into the future.
1. Terry Farrell
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Terry Farrell played science officer Jadzia Dax on the first six seasons. She opened up about negotiating contracts in Hollywood to WomenAtWarp.com. “When it first happens and you’re speaking up for yourself, I think a lot of the drive comes from how you’re afraid to speak out. So you can sound passive-aggressive, you build up anger, and you’re afraid to say how you’re feeling because you’re afraid how someone will react to you. At least for me, I would be afraid of how someone would react to me. And then, when you find your voice, and you trust that its going to be heard, then you can find a safe place, you can start that dialogue of sticking up for yourself before you get to the angry. It can feel really scary, and you can feel yourself being brave, but the more you do that, the more you practice that, the more your voice can come out and be heard. The more you feel your own strength, the more you find your own voice. You do have to learn it if you haven’t had it to begin with.”
2. Rosalind Chao
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Rosalind Chao reprised her The Next Generation role of Keiko O’Brien on the show. Chao shared some advice for actors with Backstage.com. “If I had one piece of advice for young actors now, it’s train train train, and then train some more. [And] don’t sweat the small stuff. Debra Zane, who cast ‘Mulan,’ brought me in to read. I was about to leave for London. I wasn’t actually going to go in because I was about to leave to be on stage. I thought, you know what, I haven’t met Debra Zane so I’m just going to go in anyway. When I went in, I explained to her, ‘I don’t think I can do this because I’m going to be in London for six months and it doesn’t work with the ‘Mulan’ schedule.’ She said, ‘This schedule is in constant transition. I really want to put you down for us, just in case.’ I really didn’t think I had the audition prepared as if I was going to be able to do the role. She really encouraged me to read for her anyway.”
3. Alexander Siddig
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Alexander Siddig played medical officer, Julian Bashir, for all seven seasons. In an interview with Bidoun.com, he talked about the roles he wants to play. “I am looking for solid characters, more in the old-fashioned way that books and films are very similar, rather than segmented films with uneven time. The great narratives, the great stories, have been appealing to all cultures, whether they are written by Tolstoy, or Garcia Marquez, or Mahfouz, and they are usually very simple stories.”
4. Cirroc Lofton
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Cirroc Lofton played Jake Sisko on the show. He talked about feeling supported by the show’s fans to TrekMovie.com. “The expansion of the fans has also been a wonderful thing. To meet all these new people that are getting brought back into the fold, to meet fans of my show that weren’t even born when the show went off the air… doing this podcast has been also an exceptional gift that keeps on giving. Thanks to the late great Aron Eisenberg, thanks to my partner Ryan T. Husk. This has been the thing that has kept me attached to Star Trek and helped me nurture and grow relationships that I’ve already had. Those are the wonderful things, the opportunity that this podcast has been for me.”
5. Nicole De Boer
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Nicole De Boer played Ezri Dax on season seven of the show. She talked about going to conventions with Heavy.com. “It is an absolute gift… there’s so much love there from the fans. You get to be with your other actor friends as well, you get to really engage with your fans and meet them. And meet families who brought ‘Star Trek’ to their kids and then watched it with their kids. Then their kids grew up and then they had kids and they introduced them to ‘Star Trek.’ And I get to meet these people at conventions. And it’s just so incredibly heartwarming. And so fun! It’s a huge part of my life.”
6. Andrea Martin
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Andrea Martin played the recurring role of Ishka on the show. She previously struggled with bulimia. She opened up about how she handles these feelings with CBC.ca. “Not feeling was the only purpose food ever held for me. If I have any feelings, happy or sad, my intention is to stuff them down. But instead, I sit with them. I feel what I’m feeling until it passes.”
