For the first time in 34 years, Billy Campbell reprises his role as Thadiun Okona in Star Trek: Prodigy, which he originally played in the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 episode, "The Outrageous Okona."
Although Okona was seen in a Star Trek: Lower Decks season 2 cameo, Campbell actually voices the lovable space rogue once more in Star Trek: Prodigy. Okona finds himself on the run with the young teenage heroes of the USS Protostar as they're pursued by Vice Admiral Kathryn Janeway (also voiced by the original actor, Kate Mulgrew).
Screen Rant had the pleasure of interviewing Billy Campbell about his comeback as Okona in Star Trek: Prodigy, his Star Trek: The Next Generation memories, and whether he would reprise his other iconic role of Jordan Collier if there's a revival of The 4400.
Billy Campbell Discusses His Comeback As Okona In Star Trek: Prodigy
Screen Rant: I'd like to start by asking what you think about Star Trek: Prodigy? Have you been watching the show? What are your thoughts on it?
Billy Campbell: I haven't; I haven't had time. I have two kids under the age of eight, and I live on a farm in Norway. I have no time to watch anything these days, but I hope to get around to it. I did watch this episode where we make our escape from the trading station, and I found it highly amusing.
What was your reaction when you found out that you get to play Okona again after 34 years?
Billy Campbell: I was thrilled. I was thrilled. I tell everybody who will listen that I was not terribly pleased with my original performance. And in fairness, the dialogue wasn't great. Also, in fairness to the show, I was not nearly a good enough actor to make the not-great dialogue any better. I was terribly, terribly self-conscious when I did that episode. To be asked to come back and play the character again 30 years later is just a thrill. It's a real thrill for me.
Do you have any memories of being on the set of The Next Generation back then?
Billy Campbell: Oh, tons of memories! Yeah, absolutely. Patrick [Stewart] was super, super helpful. Because I think he could tell how self-conscious I was. I remember one time I had this scene where I walk into his quarter. He says, "Come!" and I walk in. And I had to laugh in the scene. And I remember asking for his advice.
I was like, "Patrick, Sometimes I can laugh. Sometimes I can't. Give me a trick. Tell me what to do." And he said, "Well, here's what I do. I expel all of my air before I have to laugh. Try to laugh with a lung full of air. It doesn't work, right? But if you blow it all out, it works." And so I'll never forget that he was just a real gentleman, and he was a big help to me.
I rewatched your episode recently, and I totally forgot Joe Piscopo and Teri Hatcher were in it. Okona romanced Teri Hatcher before she was Lois Lane or a Desperate Housewife.
Billy Campbell: That's right. I remember Teri Hatcher very well. I ran into her years later on the street in New York City, in Times Square. Oh, my God, how many years ago was that? That would have been like '93, '94, or '95. And I don't even think she remembered me, to tell you the truth.
You starred as Okona just once very early in The Next Generation, but your character was never forgotten. And now you're back. Why do you think Okona's popularity endured for 30 years?
Billy Campbell: Oh, why? I don't know. He's a lovable rogue. What's not to endure about a lovable rogue? I worked at the Renaissance Fair for years in Southern California, playing Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew. And he's like Petruchio. He's a lovable rogue. You hate them and you love them at the same time.
I think also you came on in an era when the show was still a little dull and a little straight-laced. You brought some needed irreverence to it, I think.
Billy Campbell: Yeah, that's a good point. That's a good point. I think that's a good theory.
Did you know Okona also had a cameo in Star Trek: Lower Decks?
Billy Campbell: Yes. They told me about that. I popped in as a DJ or something. Hilarious. I really hope that the audience reaction is good enough that it parlays into them asking me back at some point for live-action.
Okona is a little older now in Prodigy. What did you think of his redesign? Did you have any say in it?
Billy Campbell: I did have a say in it. In fact, when they first approached me, I was terribly excited. I wrote back and said I would love to do it. And if you were to ask me what I think, [Okona] ought to have lost an eye somewhere along the way. Maybe have a beer gut and be scruffy. So they did it!
Is there a backstory to the eyepatch?
Billy Campbell: No. No backstory. I think I wrote something on Twitter. You know that beautiful monologue that Rutger Hauer has in Blade Runner about seeing something happen off the shoulder of Orion? I think I jerry-rigged that into something about watching c-beams from the Tannhauser Gate. And I got one of them in my eye.
It was just a funny thing. I have no real theory for how it happened. I just thought it would be funny if it had. It's probably something stupid like he was underneath the dashboard of his spaceship. And he poked himself in the eye with a wire or something. But then he has some story about how he was at the Tannhauser Gate. You know, something heroic.
You just pitched the perfect Star Trek and Blade Runner crossover, I think you should run with this. I was also a huge fan of The 4400. There was a reboot on The CW recently, but would you come back for a revival of the original if that happened?
Billy Campbell: I would think about it for sure. As long as it was happening in Vancouver. I'm too old to spend too much time working 14-hour days somewhere I don't want to be. And if it was in Vancouver or some other attractive place, then I absolutely would think about coming back. I miss my cast mates to this day, and I enjoyed the hell out of the show.
You probably didn't know, but when they asked me to do that show, I had a sailing trip lined up. I was going to sail around the world on Picton Castle, which is an old-timey sailing ship, and it was going to take a year. My agent called and said they had an offer to be on this show, The 4400. I said, "Do they know I'm gonna sail around the world for a year?" And he's like, "Yeah, I'll tell them." And he called me back and said they were okay with it. Therefore, Jordan Collier was the only one of the 4400 to be abducted twice. He came back a year later with long hair and a beard because he actually had been sailing around the world.
New episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy season 1 premiere Thursdays on Paramount+.