Star Trek's Michael Dorn Questioned The Direction Of One Klingon Design

Michael Dorn, as of this writing, still holds the record for appearing (on camera) in the greatest number of "Star Trek" episodes across the franchise. Because he was on all seven seasons of "Star Trek: The Next Generation," and on four seasons of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," he is far ahead of even his NextGen co-stars. Thanks to all these appearances, Dorn may also be the wealthiest "Star Trek" actor in history. 

Because Worf is a Klingon, Dorn had to regularly wear a complicated makeup appliance every day on set. Ever since the "Star Trek" movies, Klingons sported large, ridged foreheads, crinkled noses, and crooked teeth. Dorn, like so many other alien and android performers on "Star Trek," had the patience of a saint, sitting in the makeup chair for so long every morning. As Trekkies know, the Klingon makeup was much less pronounced on the original "Star Trek," with Klingon characters looking far more human, and only sporting Fu-Manchu-style facial hair. 

The dramatic change in Klingon makeup has caused some consternation among Trekkies, who are famously sticklers for continuity. How did a species come to look so different so quickly? The showrunners eventually covered for it in a subplot on "Star Trek: Enterprise," but a new wave of consternation arose when "Star Trek: Discovery" debuted in 2017. The Klingons on that show suddenly looked very, very different indeed, with extra nostrils, no hair, and pitch black skin. When Dorn saw those new Klingon designs, he was just as startled as anyone. Indeed, at a recent "Star Trek" convention (covered by TrekMovie), Dorn confessed that the decision to alter the Klingons so dramatically was a mercenary decision by the "Discovery" showrunners. They merely wanted to make something unique to their series, even if it didn't make any sense. 

Anyone who has seen the early episodes of "Discovery" can likely recall the surprise they felt when the new Klingons appeared. The Klingons had, as mentioned, undergone a dramatic change over the course of the "Star Trek" franchise, but they had remained pretty consistent from the events of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" in 1984 through the end of "Star Trek: Enterprise" in 2005. Trekkies had grown accustomed to seeing the Klingons a certain way. Then, all of a sudden, the new Klingons ... didn't look like Klingons. They had even larger cranial ridges that spread across their faces, smoothed out ears, and protruding chins. Klingon actors wore bright blue contact lenses and, as mentioned, they had no hair. Their hands were giant claws.

Dorn sensed that the change in the Klingon designs were only being done so that the makers of "Discovery" — the first "Star Trek" show on TV in 12 years, mind you — could assert their creative dominance over the franchise. It had nothing to do with logic or even Klingons. As Dorn put it: 

"In a general sense, in every iteration of 'Star Trek' — outside of 'Next Generation' and 'Deep Space Nine' and all those Klingons — the producers were trying to make it their own; put their own stamp on the Klingons. So, [the makers of 'Discovery'] decided 'We are going to do something different than everybody else.' And I think that is what they came up with for 'Discovery.' There is no rhyme or reason to it, or to any of the stuff. So, I think it is just a matter that they want to put a stamp." 

Which could very well be true. Because now the makers of "Discovery" have their own Klingons.

Dorn's Klingon makeup took a chunk out of each one of his mornings, so his heart went out to all the new Klingon actors who, he figured, would have to face even more time with the prosthetics department having lumps and rubber protrusions glued all over their faces. He called out actress Mary Chieffo in particular, who played a Klingon warrior named L'Rell in the first two seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery." L'Rell had all the same features as other Disco-era Klingons, but was also painted a shimmering tone of mother-of-pearl. Dorn certainly wouldn't want to have undergone such a dramatic change, saying: 

"I am actually really glad that I am not in that makeup, because if you go online and look up YouTube of Mary Chieffo – just a wonderful, just a sweetheart, but what they do to that poor girl is mind-boggling. There are three makeup artists working the whole time on her ... I mean, it's okay. It's just another iteration."

Dorn's "Next Generation" co-star Gates McFadden was present on the same panel, and she pointed out that the new Klingon makeup was impressive in how transformative it was. Dorn pointed out that, yes, it was transformative, but to a fault. Once Mary Chieffo was in full Klingon regalia, no one could make out the actress' facial features anymore. "Just her eyeballs," Dorn said. And that, of course, has to be incredibly frustrating to an actor who uses their face to emote. Chieffo availed herself well, however. And the makers of "Discovery" likely heard fans' complaints about the Klingons and made them look more traditional in season two. By the time the franchise got to "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," the Klingons were redesigned again to a more recognizable look.