Billy Campbell was thrilled to return to the Okona character

The November 17th episode of Star Trek: Prodigy returns Billy Campbell to a familar role.

In 1988, Billy Campbell portrayed a roguish freighter captain by the name of Captain Thadiun Okona on Star Trek: The Next Generation. It was a one-off role, and we never saw or heard from him again. Star Trek: Prodigy is bringing him back to the universe with a guest-starring role in the November 17th episode. And, in an interview with TV Insider, Campbell said he was thrilled when he was contacted to play the character again.

Surpisingly, Campbell said he didn’t like his performance in The Next Generation as he found the dialogue difficult. It made him self-conscious, and it’s still a painful episode for him to watch. So he was “super, super thrilled to come back to it 30 years later.”

Billy Campbell suggested some changes to the character.

Since thirty-four years have elapsed since anyone has seen Okona, Campbell suggested some changes to his character to show that he’d really been around the universe the hard way.

"I told them I would love to do it and wouldn’t it be funny if he had lost an eyeball somewhere along the way and maybe had a beer gut and was just rough around the edges as if he’d been chewed up and spat out by the universe? And they thought that was great and off we were."

And a little more has changed about Okona since we last saw him as, according to Campbell, he was a “kind of lovable rogue” in “The Outrageous Okona” who had some nobility in him. Things are different now as, this time, he is just out for himself.

After voicing the character again, Campbell would love to return in live-action. He even jokingly suggested that a petition be started.

"I would love to pop up again. I would love that. From your mouth to producers’ ears. Please start the rumor. Start the rumor!"