h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

...played by Rene Auberjonois (Odo)...

You get a glimpse of his face at the end of the standard TV cut of the movie, and someone gasps a Starfleet rank and name , but it's never explained.

The moment I posted this it became obvious why - the movie was released 13 months before DS9 premiered, and with the lead time on this sort of series they must have known by then that Rene Auberjonois would become a well-known face in "Trek", so would have had no other option than to edit him out of the final cut of the movie...

Actually, the reason that whole bit was cut was just the usual reason - time. With the assassination subplot in, the film could have been shown, say, five times a day on a given screen. Cut out the subplot, and you get to show it six times = that much more cash in the till. Money rules, as usual.

I doubt that Rene Auberjonois' impending presence on DS9 was considered a problem, particularly as the character he played in the film was human and as Odo he's under quite a lot of latex.

Many actors have played multiple roles in Trek, but the most relevant examples here are:

David Warner - played a human in ST 5, and a Klingon in the very next movie ST 6, as well as a Cardassian in "Chain of Command" (TNG season 6)

Mark Lenard - played a Romulan commander in the old series, and returned later as Spock's father, a Vulcan. Played a Klingon in The Motionless Picture, then returned again as Spock's father is ST 3 and The Next Gen on TV.

Fionnula Flanagan - played Data's mother (an android who thinks she's human) on TNG and only a week or two later played an old flame of Dax's in DS9.

So repetition of actors is really not a problem. (there are LOADS of other examples, but I can sense the audience drifting off... )

H.

Don't forget Jeffrey Combs! He once managed to play two aliens of different races in the same episode of DS9! (Brunt the Ferrengi liquidator and Weyoun the Vorta)

He's appeared as Shran the Andoorian commando in a couple of episodes of "Enterprise", and as Penk the pilot in an episode of "ST: Voyager"

Oops, "Andorian"... >blush>

Oops,