Karim Diane couldn’t ask for a better mentor than Michael Dorn.
Karim Diane has the extraordinary burden of taking up the mantle of the next great Klingon character in the Star Trek franchise. Whether it’s Kor, Kruge, or Kahless, the young actor stands in an imposing shadow, none larger, though, than that of Michael Dorn’s Worf. However, Diane is carrying the stellar load well as the intriguing cadet Jay-Den Kraag in Starfleet Academy.
In the new Star Trek steaming series, both the bat'leth and the Klingon makeup have been passed on to the next generation. However, Dorn never gave the idea of mentoring a fellow Star Trek actor any consideration, even though no one is more qualified to do so after having played Next Gen’s beloved Worf for the better part of 40 years. Dorn said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly:
“To think that you were gonna be doing something like this was kind of unheard of. I don't know about anything that's happened like this before in the business. 30 or 40 years later, you're talking to the next generation, basically. It just doesn't happen. So, I wasn't prepared for it, but I was happy to be part of it.”
One thing Dorn is undoubtedly happy to pass on is the grueling process of putting on the intricate Klingon makeup that Diane must now endure every day he works on Starfleet Academy. "I would have to wake up at 1 a.m. just to get to work, film like 18-hour days,” Diane said in the same interview. "Some weeks I'm working five days a week."
Diane laid out the process of transforming into Jay-Den Kraag on Instagram (watch the must-see BTS video on the next page). Fortunately, though, it only takes about two hours for the streaming show’s team to do their job now. "I get ready faster than Genesis [Bella Shepard] now.” This is a far cry from the five hours Dorn had to endure when The Next Generation debuted in 1987. The TNG actor added:
"But after two years, that's when I went, 'Guys, I just can't do this anymore.' And they got it down to same thing to where you are, where it's two-and-a-half hours. They got it down to an hour for the full makeup, but they had two people working on me." In addition to all seven seasons of TNG, remember Dorn’s Worf also joined Deep Space Nine and later appeared in the immensely satisfying third season of Star Trek: Picard.