After Patrick Stewart, she seems to have had the most non Star Trek related success as an actor. Everyone else on TNG seems to be stuck with doing cameo appearances as that guy from TNG or those TNG movies (really extended TNG episodes). Is there anyone else who has been as successful in breaking free into different non-cameo/non-TNG related roles?
shareLeVar Burton seems to be doing well too. Just saw him on "Perception".
"There will be blood. Oh, yes! There will be blood."-Jigsaw; "Saw II"
I wouldn't really consider her as a cast member though, more as a guest star because she was only in 9 epis.
shareReally, the reason Forbes has had success where the others haven't is that she is a fantastic actress and was still young when TNG ended.
Marina Sirtis has not had a bad career considering she is a very limited actress and she was almost 40 when TNG ended. She took a while to find a niche (Middle Eastern characters) and improve her acting though.
Gates McFadden was already in her 40s when TNG ended and initially she was actually doing better than Marina. After TNG she went right into another series (Marker) for UPN and had a memorable recurring role on Mad About You that same year. When that show didn't work out she filmed a pilot for ABC opposite Jane Curtin that actually aired (but didn't go to series). After that I believe she decided to focus on her theatre and only came back for roles if they were directly offered to her (like her guest stint on the Practice or Franklin and Bash)
Denise Crosby is doing pretty well recently also.
No disrespect to Ms Forbes' career but, this side of the Atlantic, with notable exceptions (The Killing, True Blood) most of her series appear on obscure sat/cable channels or not at all. Likely, over in the US, the same applies to UK series and movies featuring Colm Meaney. He's landed loads of lead and major supporting roles in UK movies and regularly guests in series,, as well as appearing in numerous Hollywood movies. So, at least from a UK perspective, Colm Meaney has arguably had more post TNG success,, if success relates only to their acting careers. So long as they're happy in their personal lives and finding fulfilling work, such comparisons are somewhat meaningless.
shareBrent Spiner, John De Lancie. Levar Burton, Jonathan Frakes who is primarily a director now, have all been busy post TNG
sharePatrick Stewart did well in X men.
shareWhile he will always be the Captain to most people Patrick Stewart is just a good actor period Anything he plays in is getting a good performance check out his hilarious voice work on Robot Chicken :)
shareColm Meaney has had the best roles..side note. David E Kelly has had ALL the Trek actors on his shows from The Practice to Boston Legal. He even has Quark and Odo as opposing lawyers.
shareI don't think she has really been typecast. She never really was a star in Star Trek, although they gave her several chances to do so. Including lead roles in both DS9 & Voyager. She turned them all down not wanting to be saddle to a series.
share