The Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica connections continue with Discovery’s newest character

Star Trek: Discovery is bringing in Callum Keith Rennie of Battlestar Galactica fame.

When the fifth season of Star Trek: Discovery begins, a huge name from the rebooted Battlestar Galactica series will be joining the show. Callum Keith Rennie, who played Leoben, the sycophantic and zealot Leoben will be joining as a new character, Captain Rayner.

Rayner is described by Michelle Paradise as “gruff”, potentially being an antagonist for the season. That may be a stretch but Rennie is famously known for his impressive roles where he plays a villain or adversary, so it’s not a stretch.

Paradise, at the New York Comic Con (via Trek Movie.com), implied that Rayner is going to be a guy who has some learning to do, whatever that means;

"Captain Rayner is a captain of a different starship. He’s a bit of a gruff captain and he’s got some things to learn and so he will learn those things."

It’s emphasized that he isn’t a villain but he will likely be an obstacle to some degree. Rennie isn’t the first member of the Battlestar Galactica reboot to cross over to Star Trek. In fact, Star Trek actors had a number of cameos on Battlestar Galactica. So who else popped up?

Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek cameos over the years

Michelle Forbes

Michelle Forbes was a fan favorite in Star Trek: The Next Generation as Ro Laren, but when her role was moved over to Deep Space Nine she left the franchise. She wouldn’t stay gone, following former Trek writer Ronald Moore over the SyFy network as part of the BSG’s second season.

Nana Visitor

Nana Visitor obviously played Kira Nerys on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and was incredible on the show. She also played a character on Battlestar Galactica named Emily Kowalski, a sick woman dying when she met President Roslin

Rekha Sharma

Star Trek: Discovery saw Rekha Sharma debut as Ellen Landry, the Commander of the Discovery under Captain Lorca. She died after just two episodes, making her run on the show rather brief. Unlike her turn on Battlestar, where she played Tory Foster for three seasons. Foster was one of the secret Cylons and assistant to President Roslin.

Kate Vernon

Kate Vernon was a major player in Battlestar as Ellen Tigh, a sleeper Cylon in the series. She had a pivotal and dynamic role that evolved throughout the series. In Star Trek, her character shared much of the same subterfuge as her BSG counterpart. She played Admiral Valerie Archer, a member of Species-8472 in disguise.

Rick Worthy

Rick Worthy has maybe the most impact on both series of all the names on this list. Worthy has played multiple characters in Star Trek, but the most obvious was that of Noah Lessing in Star Trek: Voyager’s amazing two-parter, Equinox. On Battlestar Galactic, he played one of the main Cylons in the show, Number 4, often called Simon.

Dean Stockwell

Lastly is arguably the biggest science fiction name on this list, and that’s Dean Stockwell, who had a huge turn in the original Quantum Leap. In Battlestar Galactica, he played Number One, arguably the main antagonist in the show. Yet, in Star Trek, he had just one episode on Enterprise, where he played a soldier named Grat. It was a role written for him to play across from Enterprise star Scott Bakula, who Stockwell starred with on Quantum Leap.