Seinfeld's Jason Alexander Played Two Completely Different Characters On Star Trek

Jason Alexander's famous role as George Costanza on "Seinfeld" made him a comedy legend, but he added another iconic TV property to his name when he joined the "Star Trek" franchise on two separate occasions.

The actor was first cast in "Star Trek: Voyager," portraying the character Kurros in the Season 5 episode "Think Tank" in 1999. Kurros belongs to a group of intelligent alien strategists that Captain Janeway dubs a "think tank," hence the episode's title. Those who need a problem fixed can pay for the think tank's services, and Kurros negotiates with the "Voyager" crew to save them from the Hazari. But eventually, it's revealed that Kurros has orchestrated their predicament.

In an interview with StarTrek.com, Alexander shared the story of how he, a "Star Trek" fan since childhood, finally joined the genre-defining sci-fi universe. "I had put the word out that I wanted to be part of the 'Trek' world," he said. "Each of the series would come to me and either the dates were not good for me or, more often than not, they wanted me to play a human — and kind of a 'George'-like human. I told them the big departure for me would be to play an alien. I did so much histrionics as George, I was kind of hoping I'd wind up as a Vulcan so that I'd get to play some great intellect. It was finally 'Voyager' that understood that and called with the perfect part."

Twenty-three years passed before Jason Alexander made his return to "Star Trek," but this time, he didn't have to spend hours applying makeup and prosthetics to prepare for his role. The actor instead voiced the character Noum in Season 1 of the animated "Star Trek" series "Star Trek: Prodigy," a role he reprised in Season 2. Appearing in 23 episodes from 2022 to 2024, Alexander's Noum is an experienced Tellarite space traveler with a variety of skills. He serves on the USS Dauntless and the USS Voyager-A as a scientist and medical officer, later becoming the counselor of the Voyager.

Although both Kurros and Noum are extremely cunning aliens, Alexander's "Star Trek" characters differ in their personalities. Kurros' conniving ways contrast with Noum's headstrong nature. Going from playing a clever villain in front of the camera to a dedicated crew member in the voice booth was fun for Alexander, who told StarTrek.com about his exciting return to the franchise. "I was just really thrilled that they invited me to be a part of this, and particularly thrilled that they invited me to be part of it as a character that people don't usually think of me for," he shared. "When I first saw the rendering of Noum, I went, 'You don't want my Duckman voice coming out of this.' It was all a lovely surprise and has continued to be a very sweet thing to be doing."