Welcome back to Character Insight! This week, we continue our series on actors who played multiple roles in Star Trek, with a look at guest star James Sloyan, who played four different background characters on 3 different series of Trek.
James Sloyan was born in Indianapolis in 1940 but moved to Europe when he was a young boy. As that was an interesting time in world and European history with World War II, his family moved around to many different places including Rome, Capri, Milan, Switzerland, and Ireland. Thus, when the family moved back to the United States in 1957, James had a wealth of different cultural experiences to draw upon.
Because they lived in upstate New York, he quickly involved himself in the theater by managing a local theater and then attending the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He was drafted into the Army and after 4 years of service, returned to his Shakespearean theater where he then performed in 28 plays and choreographed all onstage fight scenes. He eventually moved his talents to some small roles in television, including serving as the voice of Lexus advertisements from 1989 to 2009.
In Star Trek, his first appearance was as the traitorous Romulan Admiral Alidar Jarok in the episode The Defector. He returns a few seasons later to play an adult version of Worf's son Alexander Rozhenko in the episode Firstborn. His performance as the Romulan Jarok was so well done that it led to these many other roles in the Trek series of the time. Although Jarok did unknowingly lead the Enterprise into a Romulan trap, his desire to make a better future for his family was a relatable story that repeats itself in many works of fiction and stage plays.
QUOTE (from The Defector)
"There comes a time in a man's life that you cannot know... when he looks down at the first smile of his baby girl and realizes he must change the world for her... for all children."
James Sloyan then played Doctor Mora Pol in several episodes of Deep Space 9. Pol was a Bajoran scientist who studied the changeling who became Odo over the many years of the Cardassian Occupation. Pol therefore becomes a bit of a mentor figure for Odo, who adopts the same hairstyle when he takes humanoid form. The relationship between these two characters is complicated as Pol used certain methods like shock therapy to train Odo, who did not agree with such practices.
However, Pol and Odo put their differences behind them when they train an infant changeling in the episode The Begotten. Pol also serves an important role in providing research information and help to Dr. Bashir and others when Odo suffers from unknown ailments in a couple episodes. Dr. Pol's work is the foundation which helps the Starfleet crew understand and manage their relationship with changelings, later to be the key players behind the adversary known as The Dominion.
QUOTE (from The Alternate)
Dr. Pol was originally to be played by Odo actor Rene Auberjonois, much like Brent Spiner and Robert Picardo played their mentor or creator figures, but the constant switching and heavy makeup differences between the two characters was too much for one actor to manage. Thus, Sloyan was brought on and gives us more memorable performances in this recurring role. James Sloyan reappeared once in Voyager, this time playing a Haakonian scientist in the episode Jetrel.
James Sloyan has been mostly retired from TV and movie acting since 2000. In addition to Trek and on stage, he can be found in a ton of different shows like The Young and the Restless, Party of Five, MagGyver, Matlock, and Baywatch.
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