Many actors auditioned for roles in Star Trek they didn’t get.
Dr. Leah Brahms (Susan Gibney) was Geordi LaForge’s holodeck obsession and became one part of the weirdest romances on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Gibney appeared in two episodes of the series both in 1989 and again in 1991. Then Gibney screen tested for the role of the captain in Star Trek: Voyager, but, even though producer Rick Berman liked her for the part, she was deemed too young, being six years younger than Kate Mulgrew.
Berman believed in Gibney so much, though, that he actually had her don a Starfleet uniform and film a scene on the Voyager bridge with Tuvok (Tim Russ) and Lt. Torres (Roxan Dawson). It was still a hard no from the studio. Gibney was understandably disappointed and admitted she couldn’t watch the series for a while, and when she did watch it, she could only watch it by herself.
"“They did four different costumes for me, and four different hair and make-up styles, and they filmed for an entire day, doing all of the scenes that were in the pilot episode. Doing something as extensive as that, which involves a lot of money and people and time, was really unusual, and then I didn’t get it. That was really disappointing.”"
Susan Gibney continued to audition for Star Trek
Gibney wasn’t done with Star Trek, though, and returned in 1996 to Deep Space Nine where she portrayed Captain Erika Benteen. After wrapping those two episodes, she auditioned again for Voyager for the role of Seven of Nine. She lost that one to Jeri Ryan.
Still Gibney continued her auditions, the next one for the part of the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact, a role which went to Alice Krige. After portraying Dr. Brahms, Gibney was surprised she was able to audition for Janeway and to appear as Benteen because she was so recognizable as the one character in The Next Generation. Perhaps that was why she wasn’t chosen for a long-term role on Star Trek.
Losing out on two more major roles in the franchise must have been a hard hit for the actress, but she was determined to be a larger part of Star Trek. Though her wishes didn’t come to fruition, she will always be known as Dr. Leah Brahms, thereby securing her part in Star Trek history.