Star Trek's Jonathan Frakes Hilariously Channeled Picard When Sharing His Thoughts On Potentially Being Digitally De-Aged If He Returns As Riker

The subject of A.I. being used in Star Trek has been hotly debated over the past year, and the conversation is only escalating in 2025. This is thanks in part to an OTOY short involving Sam Witwer playing William Shatner's Captain Kirk and other de-aging tactics used to make older actors appear as their younger selves. I expect that discussion about it will ramp up once again, after Jonathan Frakes hilariously quoted Jean-Luc Picard with his take on it.

I've had mixed feelings about A.I. being used for upcoming Trek shows, but Jonathan Frakes and Star Trek: Enterprise actor John Billingsley presented a perspective I hadn't considered when they talked to our sister site TrekCulture. The duo was asked about their preference between having their selves digitally de-aged to reprise their roles or having a younger actor play their character, and with zero hesitation, they said this:

• John Billingsley: "Well if the younger actor took the role I wouldn't get the paycheck. So, on that alone I'd say I have to prefer the alternative."
• Jonathan Frakes: "Exactly. 'The line must be drawn here!'"

I doubt any Star Trek fan had to be reminded of where that Picard line came from, and if you did, maybe it's time to fire up First Contact with a Paramount+ subscription. Sure, de-aging technology may have its controversies, but if these two actors had to choose between that and forfeiting the role to a younger actor, they're ready to revisit their younger years with the help of CGI.

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John Billingsley and Jonathan Frakes are not the first to push back against the idea of being recast by younger actors. Michael Dorn told CinemaBlend he hoped he would be dead before Star Trek even considered hiring another actor to play Worf, and the money factor makes sense. Many of these franchise actors built their careers on playing these characters, so it's not a role they'd want to hand off readily.

And yet, it seems that Star Trek is more invested in bringing in new actors to play old characters if the situation calls for it. The cast of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is full of younger faces playing characters of the original series, including Paul Wesley as William Shatner's Kirk.

Of course, some of those casting decisions are unavoidable, considering many of the actors from the original Star Trek cast are no longer with us. The ones who are still around, such as George Takei and Shatner, would likely have a hard time convincing the world they're a spitting image of their younger selves (Shatner just turned 94), even if they had de-aging technology. Sometimes recasting is just the best option, even if actors feel otherwise.

The debate about whether Star Trek should use A.I. or not rages on, as we wait for the return of Strange New Worlds this summer. I'm excited for Season 3 to start, and I hope that will get the online fandom talking about episodes again, rather than focusing on technical decisions related to the franchise.