page_title: Encounter at Farpoint
section_title: Casting
hierarchical_section_title: Encounter at Farpoint / Production / Casting
context_page_description: "Encounter at Farpoint" is the pilot episode and series premiere of the American science fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which premiered in syndication on September 28, 1987. It was written by D. C. Fontana and Gene Roddenberry and directed by Corey Allen. Roddenberry was the creator of Star Trek, and Fontana was a writer on the original series. It was originally aired as a two-hour TV movie, and subsequent reruns typically split the episode into two parts.
  Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet crew of the Federation starship Enterprise-D. In this episode, the crew of the newly built Enterprise examine the mysterious Farpoint Station which the Bandi people are offering to the Federation, while under the gaze of a powerful alien entity that calls itself "Q".
  The episode was made as a pilot for the new Star Trek series, and was a double length episode at Paramount Television Group's insistence. After the show was initially announced on October 10, 1986, Roddenberry put together a production team which included staff members from the original series such as Robert H. Justman.
context_section_description: Roddenberry realized early on that a series with the original crew from Star Trek was unlikely to be practical, nor did he want to recast the roles or have a "retread" crew – a series of different characters in very similar roles to the original series. He explained, "I would hate to think our imagination is so slender that there aren't other possibilities to think about." The first casting call was sent out on December 10, 1986. While some characters such as Geordi La Forge and Beverly Crusher remain recognizable from their descriptions in the initial casting call, others have clear differences; "Julien Picard" would lapse into a French accent when he became emotional, and Data was non-Caucasian. Macha Hernandez was a Latino security chief based on Jenette Goldstein's role in Aliens, while Deanna Troi was to appear "foreign" or more specifically of an Icelandic or Scandinavian nature. Leslie Crusher was listed as a fifteen-year-old girl with a photographic memory, although was quickly changed to a male teenager called Wesley. Justman argued for a female teenager but Roddenberry thought that there would be a greater number of storylines available if the character was male.
  Patrick Stewart was cast in the role of Jean-Luc Picard after Justman saw him perform at the University of California, Los Angeles. Roddenberry insisted that he wanted a French actor in the role, but Justman arranged a meeting between Stewart and the production team to introduce the actor, and later Rick Berman supported the casting. Fontana thought that American actor Stephen Macht would be better in the role. Justman wanted Stewart in the show in some capacity, and with Roddenberry still opposing him as Picard, Justman suggested that he might be a good fit instead for Data. Because Roddenberry couldn't find an actor he preferred more for Picard, he relented and changed his concept of Picard to better fit Stewart. Although Stewart was willing to put on an American accent to portray the role of Picard, the producers asked him to use his natural accent instead. They also tested him with a hairpiece but thought that it looked "awful". Stewart was pleased to have received the role, saying that his children were impressed with the new part and praised the mythos of the show saying, "The great strength of Star Trek is its epic, classic feel. For an actor of my background, it has more richness and depth than you might expect on television."
  Roddenberry's favorite for Riker was Jonathan Frakes, who went through seven auditions before claiming the role. Despite being the second choice of the casting team, he was hired after their first choice was unimpressive in his auditions.
  LeVar Burton had worked with Justman on another pilot for a series called Emergency Room and was suggested to apply for the role of La Forge. For US audiences he was the most well-known actor in the cast, due to his role in Roots.
  Gates McFadden and Brent Spiner gained the parts of Beverly Crusher and Data respectively through the normal audition processes. Eric Menyuk had also been considered for the part of Data, and would later be cast as the recurring character of the Traveller in three subsequent episodes. Justman later said that he was the only one out of the production team who preferred Menyuk in the role.
  Marina Sirtis auditioned for the role of Macha Hernandez, while Denise Crosby auditioned for the part of Deanna Troi. They both gained the parts with the approval of Berman and Justman, but Roddenberry switched the roles of the actresses as he thought Sirtis would be better suited for the role of the ship's counselor. Macha Hernandez was re-written to become Tasha Yar to better suit Crosby.
  The role of Worf required a black actor in order to make the Klingon make up easier to apply, and was expected to be only a recurring character, but following the casting of Michael Dorn and his work in "Encounter at Farpoint", the role was expanded.
  Wil Wheaton was cast as Wesley Crusher despite what he perceived as an "awful" first callback.
  The appearance of DeForest Kelley as Leonard McC
caption: DeForest Kelley, who played Leonard McCoy in the original series, reprised his role in a cameo in this episode.
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