Brent Spiner

Brent Spiner’s long acting career is indelibly linked with the role of Data in Star Trek. But that’s no bad thing. Since first playing the iconic sentient android in 1987, as part of seminal Next Generation TV series, he has appeared in over 170 episodes and several films in the StarTrek franchise, including Generations, First Contact, and most recently, Picard. He also played Data’s creator, Dr Noonien Soong and Noonien’s ancestor, Dr Arik Soong in Star Trek: Enterprise and Data’s android brother Lore in The Next Generation and his brother B4 in Nemesis. His acting in First Contact won him the 1997 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor.

But to reduce Spiner’s career to Star Wars is disingenuous. He was also nominated for a Saturn Award for his role as Dr Brackish Okun in the hit 1990s film Independence Day and was a joint-winner of the Ensemble of the Universe Award at CinemaCon USA for his reprisal of the role in the sequel, Independence Day: Resurgence. He has also had recurring roles in diverse television series such as Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, Fresh Hell, and Outcast. His other film credits include The Aviator, Phenomenon, and a voice role in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.

Away from the screen, Spiner is also an established stage actor. His theatre credits include appearing in a Tony-nominated Broadway revival of 1776. He also once released an album of standards. More recently, he has also turned author, publishing Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir in 2021. The book is an inspired mix of autobiography and detective fiction.