Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was released at the same that Star Trek: The Next Generation was at the height of its popularity, and luckily for Trekkies everywhere, Deep Space Nine had plenty of cross-overs with its sister series. Right from the start, we find out that the main character in Deep Space Nine (Benjamin Sisko) was directly affected by events in one of the best ever episodes of TNG: The Best of Both Worlds!
The show had some fantastic characters and was generally much darker in tone than The Next Generation. In particular, the episodes with Garak and Gul Dukat could be very darkly humorous while really touching a nerve at times. Meanwhile, Jake Sisko was a popular figure in the series – he was Benjamin’s son and yet ended up dramatically choosing not to join Starfleet.
Deep Space Nine was the brainchild of Rick Berman and Michael Piller – the series ran from 1993 through to 1999 and spanned over 176 episodes. It was the fourth series in the Star Trek franchise and definitely has a special place in the heart of every Trekkie.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at the characters of DS9 and see what the actors have been up to since the show departed from our screens. Some of the cast members look very similar, while others have definitely changed a lot. Scroll down to find out where the cast of Deep Space Nine are today. Enjoy!
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1. Captain Benjamin Sisko – Avery Brooks
Sisko had a tragic back story as his wife had been killed in the battle of Wolf 359 in which Picard had been assimilated by The Borg and gave the order to fire. Over the years we see Sisko evolve, especially as he is seen as a spiritual adviser in the shape of The Emissary, a role that he struggles with from the pilot to the final episode!
Avery Brooks went on to star in a few more productions following Deep Space Nine, but he has also broadened his horizons with turns in music and theatre and is also working on documentaries.
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2. Odo – Rene Auberjonois
Odo was the shape shifter that was discovered in the Worm Hole and who became the chief of security on Deep Space Nine, first under the Cardassians and then under Star Fleet. Odo’s character develops massively over the years and he tries to discover his people and to fit in with them, but doesn’t agree with their way of life, realising that they are actually the enemy!
Rene Auberjonois not only has a name that could score a lot of points in Scrabble, but he has gone on to have a prolific acting career, appearing in productions as diverse as Frasier, NCIS, Archer and Madam Secretary.
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3. Dr. Julian Bashir – Alexander Siddig
Dr Bashir was very ego-centric, full of himself and had a poor bedside manner at times as he thought he was above many of those around him, but as the series went on his character softened a lot and had a lot more empathy to go with it making us really care about him by the end of the show’s run.
Alexander Siddig (Siddig El Fadil in the first couple of seasons) has appeared in some big projects since DS9 including Vertical Limit, 24, Primeval and in recurring roles in Gotham and Game of Thrones, so he has certainly been keeping busy!
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4. Chief Miles O’Brien – Colm Meaney
O’Brien was one of the characters to cross over from The Next Generation to Deep Space Nine and he made the character his own once given the bigger role in the latter. O’Brien had some great episodes, one that stood out as being particularly powerful saw him spend a lifetime in jail which were actually implanted memories and he struggled to come to terms with his time there and what he found himself capable of to survive.
Meaney has had a very varied career and has appeared in some big productions over the years including Con Air, Layer Cake, Life on Mars and Hell on Wheels, and he is remaining busy now, too!
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5. Major Kira – Nana Visitor
The Bajoran military leader and tactician who finds herself working alongside the Federation and not always seeing eye to eye with them (an understatement!). Kira’s character evolves massively as she comes to realise that at times she is no better than the Cardassians who committed war crimes against her people.
Nana Visitor has proven herself to be a very versatile actress as she has appeared in dozens of productions since DS9, so certainly showing she’s not one to be type-cast! She has appeared in the likes of the remake of Friday The 13th, Wildfire, Ted 2 and the reboot of Dynasty!
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6. Jake Sisko – Cirroc Lofton
Proving that a child character in Trek does not need to be an annoying little git (I’m looking at you, Wesley Crusher!), Jake is the son of Ben Sisko and is being brought up alone by his dad who also has to share his time being Captain of the station. Over the years we see Jake try to become a journalist and see that he has some serious vulnerabilities as he simply can’t cope when he sees warfare first hand.
Lofton has done a few bits of acting since DS9, but not a lot. He had about 10 years out of acting until he recently reappeared as Jacob in the TV series, Renegades, so maybe he is now starting to reignite his acting career?
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7. Quark – Armin Shimmerman
One of the characters that made the show as good as it was, Quark was the Del Boy of deep space as he would do anything necessary to make a quick buck, and gold-pressed latinum was all he ever thought about.
At times, we saw another side to Quark that suggested he really did care about his family and friends, but these glimpses were fleeting!
Armin Shimmerman was also well-known at the time for playing the principal in Buffy The Vampire Slayer and he has gone on to play parts in many productions but is now best known as a very good and successful voice actor for animated shows and video games.
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8. Jadzia Dax – Terry Farrell
Playing a character that Ben Sisko was meant to have known for years when Dax was Curzon Dax, the symbiote was passed to Jadzia and so she was the same character Ben knew, and yet different. Jadzia was one of the shows more successful characters and a fan favourite so when she was killed off it was very moving and hit fans around the world hard!
Terry Farrell has appeared in a few minor productions since Deep Space Nine, but largely retired from acting to concentrate on her family. In 2017 she got married to Leonard Nimoy’s son, Adam, so has another link to Trek in her personal life, too!
Deep Space Nine proved that Trek could do continuity and a story arc and was very successful, with some preferring it to its “big brother”, The Next Generation.
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