Summary

• "Duet" in DS9 season 1 tackles complex themes, introducing Cardassian war criminal Marritza to challenge Major Kira's prejudices.
• Actor Harris Yulin faced memory troubles due to lengthy Cardassian makeup process, needing lines fed by director Jim Conway.
• Nana Visitor also struggled with Cardassian makeup in DS9 season 3, but delivered a fantastic performance in "Second Skin".

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Harris Yulin had one problem with playing Cardassian war criminal Aamin Marritza in DS9 season 1, episode 19, "Duet". Widely regarded as a highlight of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, "Duet" is DS9 season 1's best episode, acting as an early indicator of the complex political themes that Star Trek: DS9 would come to be known for. Yulin's Marritza is a Cardassian war criminal who forces Major Kira Nerys (Nana Visitor) to reckon with her own prejudices against Cardassians by seeking punishment for his complicity in the atrocities committed at a labor camp during the Cardassian occupation of Bajor.

Harris Yulin was an accomplished actor even before guest starring on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Marritza, with a long list of credits in film, television, and theater. After co-starring with Stacy Keach in 1971's Doc as Wyatt Earp, Yulin took on supporting roles in films, with some of his most notable credits including Scarface, Ghostbusters II, and Clear and Present Danger. Genre fans may also recognize him from a 3-episode stint as Quentin Travers in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Yulin's Shakespearean influences are clear in "Duet", but none of Yulin's earlier roles could have prepared him for the one thing that makes Star Trek a unique challenge.

Cardassian Makeup Affected DS9 Guest Star Harris Yulin's Memory

Director Jim Conway fed Yulin's lines as Aamin Marritza in "Duet".

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Harris Yulin had problems wearing the heavy makeup required to play Cardassian Aamin Marritza in DS9 season 1, episode 19, "Duet", says Quark actor Armin Shimerman. Armin spoke to Star Trek: DS9 director Jim Conway prior to discussing "Duet" on The Delta Flyers podcast with Major Kira Nerys actor Nana Visitor. According to Conway, Yulin was unprepared for the lengthy process of being made up as Marritza, with similarly long days on the set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine contributing to Yulin's trouble recalling lines. Read Shimerman and Visitor's quotes below, and listen to The Delta Flyers starting at the 1:30:50 time stamp.

Armin Shimerman: "The amount of time [Harris Yulin] had to spend in [Cardassian makeup] affected his memory, in the sense that Harris had a real problem remembering lines, and Jim Conway had to feed Harris lines on multiple occasions. ... Even being given the lines, he still gave that brilliant performance."

Nana Visitor: "...That makeup! I mean, I was Cardassian once, and I remember at the end of about fourteen hours, I was like, "I can't," and I started ripping it off. I can't do it."

Armin Shimerman: "Try it for seven years."

Nana Visitor: "I don't know how you did it. You and Rene, in particular, I don't know how you did it."

Major Kira Actor Nana Visitor Says Cardassian Makeup Posed an Acting Challenge

Visitor got to play Kira as a Cardassian in DS9 season 3.

The Cardassian makeup that posed a challenge for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Harris Yulin gave series regular Nana Visitor similar problems when Star Trek: DS9 season 3, episode 5, "Second Skin" required Visitor to portray a Cardassian version of Kira. In "Second Skin", Kira is made to believe that she is a Cardassian named Iliana Ghemor, an operative of the Obsidian Order so deep undercover that she believed she was Bajoran freedom fighter Kira Nerys. The true target in the scheme of Kira's kidnapping and transformation is Iliana's father, Tekeny Ghemor (Lawrence Pressman), a suspected defector.

"Second Skin" marks another step in Kira's personal journey towards reckoning with her own past and prejudices against Cardassians.

Kira herself is appalled at her Cardassian transformation, clawing at her face in the same way Visitor describes feeling at the end of 14 hours on set. Yet you'd never guess that Nana Visitor is having any trouble with Cardassian makeup while the cameras are rolling. Instead, "Second Skin" marks another step in Kira's personal journey towards reckoning with her own past and prejudices against Cardassians, which started with "Duet" just a few years earlier. In Ghemor, Kira sees the same contrition that Harris Yulin's Marritza showed, with Visitor's fantastic performance covering any problem with Cardassian makeup, just like Harris Yulin's earlier guest role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Source: The Delta Flyers, season 9, episode 18, "Duet"

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is streaming on Paramount+.