Summary
- Michelle Forbes excels at portraying complex, vulnerable characters in iconic TV shows, showcasing her acting prowess and emotional depth.
- Forbes turned down a lead role in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine to pursue diverse acting opportunities, proving her versatility and commitment to her craft.
- Ro Laren's impactful return in Star Trek: Picard season 3 highlights Forbes' ability to embody older characters with experience and weariness, adding depth to the narrative.
Michelle Forbes played one of Star Trek: The Next Generation's best-loved recurring characters, but Ensign Ro Laren is just one entry on an impressive list of film and TV credits. The character of Ensign Ro in TNG was so popular that Michelle Forbes was offered the chance to join Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as one of the leads. However, Forbes turned this down to pursue other acting roles, which in retrospect feels like the right choice for her as an actress and for DS9 in general.
Ro Laren later returned in Star Trek: Picard season 3, and Michelle Forbes gave an incredible performance as an older version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation character. In the time between Ro Laren's final appearance in TNG and her return in Picard, Michelle Forbes has appeared in some of the biggest TV shows of the past three decades. While Michelle Forbes rarely plays the protagonist in these big shows, the characters that she portrays often have complex layers that Forbes excels at peeling back to reveal vulnerability and nuance.
I Remembered Michelle Forbes Was In Star Trek: TNG Before She Was Ro Laren
Ro Laren shook things up when she joined Star Trek: The Next Generation in season 5, however this was actually Michelle Forbes' second TNG role.10 Susan Metcalfe in Messiah 1 to 3
6 episodes (2001 - 2004)
Michelle Forbes played Susan Metcalfe in three seasons of the BBC's UK serial killer series, Messiah between 2001 and 2004. It's an interesting performance from Forbes, who plays the deaf wife of Detective Chief Inspector Red Metcalfe (Ken Stott). Throughout all three Messiah seasons, Forbes communicates solely through British Sign Language, meaning that it's an incredibly physical performance. While Red and Susan's marriage rests on the slightly offensive idea that the detective who sees unspeakable evil can only be married to a woman who physically can't hear him discuss those crimes. Thankfully, Michelle Forbes grounds this with her nuanced and affecting performance.
9 Dawn Lockard in Swimming With Sharks (1994)
Released April 21, 1995
Swimming with Sharks is all about the tense confrontation between Kevin Spacey and Frank Whalley's despicable characters, but Michelle Forbes provides a great deal of heart as Dawn Lockard. Swimming with Sharks is an industry satire about the toxic culture in Hollywood studios that has taken on an even darker tone due to Kevin Spacey's public downfall. Forbes plays a producer at the studio, who is really the only sympathetic character in the whole movie, and the horrendous treatment of Dawn grimly emphasizes the cutthroat nature of career progression in Hollywood.
8 Lieutenant Jackson in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two (2015)
Released November 20, 2015
Michelle Forbes played Lieutenant Jackson in part two of The Hunger Games' big finale. Jackson was one of the resistance fighters that joined the Battle of the Capitol in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part Two. Distrustful of Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), Jackson met a grisly end at the hands of the lizard mutts. Although never likely to overshadow the superstar talent that is Jennifer Lawrence, Michelle Forbes brought the cold steel of characters like Star Trek: The Next Generation's Ro Laren to the character of Lieutenant Jackson in Mockingjay Part Two.
7 Mitch Larsen in The Killing
Seasons 1 and 2, 2011 - 2012
The American remake of the Scandi-Noir classic The Killing featured Michelle Forbes in the role of grieving mother, Mitch Larsen. Michelle Forbes' portrayal of Mitch was utterly devastating, conveying the nuance of grief as a mother struggles to cope with the murder of her daughter. Michelle Forbes brought some subtlety to the performance that ensured Mitch's grief was never overwrought or melodramatic. While the American version of The Killing never quite matched up to the Scandinavian original, Michelle Forbes and Brent Sexton as Mitch and Stan Larsen had a hugely compelling arc as their marriage crumbled at the center of a sprawling murder investigation.
6 Lynne Kresge in 24
Season 2, 18 episodes (2002 - 2003)
Michelle Forbes played Lynne Kresge, a crisis management advisor to President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) in 24 season 2. Kresge was at the heart of 24 season 2's political intrigue, as she uncovered a plot to depose President Palmer, whom radical members of his cabinet felt was unfit to handle the ongoing situation. Michelle Forbes also got to play some tense phone calls between Kresge and maverick counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) and was able to hold her own against his righteous fury. Sadly, Lynne's tragic fate meant that Forbes didn't return for 24 season 3.
Lynne's main rival in 24 season 2 was the President's ex-wife, Sherry Palmer, played by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Penny Johnson Jerald.
5 Maryann Forrester in True Blood
Seasons 1 and 2 (15 episodes)
Michelle Forbes played Maryann Forester, one of True Blood's villains, and the main antagonist of season 2. Maryann was a Maenad, an incredibly powerful and immortal supernatural being that could morph their hands into giant poisonous talons. It was an incredibly outlandish character for Michelle Forbes to play, even with her history in Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, Michelle Forbes imbued Maryann with a degree of authenticity and sexiness that made her a compelling antagonist in True Blood season 2.
All 7 Seasons Of True Blood, Ranked Worst To Best
True Blood featured seven seasons worth of vampire lore that started out fresh, but slowly began to decline in quality as the years progressed.4 Carrie Laughlin in Kalifornia (1993)
Released September 3, 1993
Kalifornia is a road movie thriller with an impressive cast that includes Michelle Forbes, Brad Pitt, The X-Files' David Duchovny, and Yellowjackets' Juliette Lewis. Forbes plays Carrie Laughlin, the photographer girlfriend of David Duchovny's true crime journalist. Relocating to California, they plot a road trip that takes them to various murder sites. However, it gets too real when the true crime tourists pick up two hitchhikers; a real-life serial killer and his girlfriend. Hugely influential film critic Roger Ebert praised the film and its cast, noting that he watched it as if he were "observing the lives of real people."