Victor Garber played a Klingon for Star Trek (2009) but then his scene was cut.
Fans of The Orville: New Horizons will recognize Victor Garber as Admiral Halsey on the series, but long before that, he appeared on Alias as Jack Bristow, a no-nonsene agent of the CIA. That series was created by J.J. Abrams who, as we know, was behind Star Trek (2009) and the other movies that followed. When Abrams took the reins of Star Trek, he contacted Garber for what he considered “a fun role to play.”
In an interview with CinemaBlend, Garber discussed that role Abrams asked him to play, that of a Klingon interrogator who tries to intimidate Nero inside Rura Penthe. But his scene and those of other Klingons was deleted because of time. Garber was disappointed because the role was hard work, and he even learned Klingon, something the actor called a labor of love. But it’s also something he wouldn’t do again.
"I was disappointed because it would’ve been fun to be a part of it, and it was hard work. And learning Klingon was something I’ll never, never do again. it wasn’t fun. It was a labor of love because I would do anything J.J. asked."
J.J. Abrams regrets having to cut the scene because Victor Garber is one of his favorite actors.
When the film released back in 2009, Abrams told Gizmodo that he hated to cut the scene for a number of reasons.
"It’s one of those things I hated to cut for a number of reasons. One of them was I loved the design, I love the world, I love the story — in that moment it was really cool, and I’m excited for people to see this scene. But also, Victor Garber, who’s one of my favorite actors, played a Klingon in the movie. [He] had a ton of makeup, a very heavy, hot costume [that] we shot with him. And I had to call and tell him that his scene wasn’t in the film and a huge consolation for me was, it will live forever on the DVD and Blu-Ray. I’m psyched for people to see that."
The scene, which you can watch above, was short, a little over three minutes, and while it wasn’t absolutely necessary to the film, I think it would have added a little something extra to the movie. With a fourth Star Trek movie in the works, perhaps it’s not too late for Garber to join the Star Trek family.