James Kirk and Chang did not first meet on the set of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, at least their actors didn’t.
While they didn’t share a huge amount of time together, James Kirk and Chang stole some scenery during the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. The two had undeniable chemistry between one another, and it helped send the original Star Trek franchise off with a stellar sixth and final film.
Yet, the actors of James Kirk and Chang, William Shatner, and Christopher Plummer, were not just meeting one another for the first time. In fact, the two men knew of one another for a long time, dating back to their days in the Canadian Shakespear playgroup, the Stratford Festival troupe.
Plummer had landed the role of Hamlet in the play bearing the same name, yet due to kidney stones, he had to miss the performance, and Shatner, who was Plummer’s understudy took the stage instead. Shatner had such a performance, he was given a standing ovation, and Plummer begrudgingly admitted that he knew Shatner would be a star due to his shining moment.
No wonder Change threw Kirk’s butt on Rura Penthe.
Christopher Plummer has worked with other Star Trek alums in non-Star Trek properties
It’s a neat little piece of history, knowing that Plummer worked with Shatner in Toronto all those years ago, what’s even less spoken about is one of his films from 2000 when he worked with Voyager’s Jeri Ryan.
Ryan of course played Seven of Nine, and while she never worked with Plummer in Trek, she did in the 2000 film Dracula 2000. The two, to the best of memory, never share a scene together but each play a huge role in the film; with Ryan playing a bride of Dracula, and Plummer playing the iconic Abraham Van Helsing.
Feel free to avoid his film.