Michael Dorn loved making Worf an “angry outsider” in the early days of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Dorn set a record for the most Star Trek appearances playing his iconic Klingon hero. Dorn has portrayed Worf in all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation, four TNG movies, four seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and in Star Trek: Picard season 3. Michael Dorn has appeared as Worf in a combined 285 episodes of Star Trek, and he is willing to return for more if the opportunity presents itself.

Worf was originally a minor player who was one of the last actors cast for Star Trek: The Next Generation. Worf was merely supposed to be a Klingon presence on the USS Enterprise-D who had a few lines and did background and support work. However, TNG‘s writers and producers liked Michael Dorn as Worf and gradually began to increase his role. When Denise Crosby quit TNG before season 1 was over, Worf took over her character, Lt. Tasha Yar’s, role as Chief of Security. Worf’s prominence grew throughout Star Trek: TNG as his backstory and relationship with the Klingons were fully developed.

Michael Dorn Made Worf Star Trek: TNG’s Angry Outsider

Worf stood out from the USS Enterprise-D’s happy cast

Michael Dorn was a guest on Inside of You podcast where he and host Michael Rosenbaum delved into his career. Regarding how Worf began on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dorn describes how the series did not create a backstory for the Klingon, and Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry encouraged Michael to just make Worf “your own.” Dorn also explains how he made Worf an “angry outsider” to make him different and to stand out from the rest of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s cast. Read Michael’s quote below:

I have a thing that I do which is I give the character a backstory. No matter that they say. I give the character a backstory unless they say… they give me a backstory. But Gene was very good. He said, ‘You know, Michael, just make the character your own.’ Because I asked him, what do you want from this thing, from this character? And he said, ‘Just make the character your own.’ I go, okay.

And I realized that the other actors were all very comrades, and were going out in space, and they liked each other. Oh, this is funny. I mean, it was this really nice group, and I went, “I’m going to do the opposite. And that’s how Worf came along. He was angry, he was an outsider, and he loved being an outsider because he felt he was better than everybody. And he just didn’t like to be given orders. He would do them, he would carry them out, but he’d bristle at everything.

Lt. Worf did deliver a more combustible element to Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Klingon was stern and intimidating, but Worf could also be a straight man who drew laughs. As TNG continued, Worf’s character opened up as his backstory was revealed, and Worf became the focal point for how the Klingons were fully explored and evolved. Worf also saw the crew of the USS Enterprise-D as his friends and found family, warming up to everyone on Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s (Patrick Stewart) senior staff but never losing his angry edge as a Klingon.

Worf Changed And Became Star Trek’s Greatest Klingon

Worf is still Worf, but he also evolved

Worf is far and away the greatest Klingon character in Star Trek, and this is due to his evolution. Worf learned, grew, and changed as he left Star Trek: The Next Generation and moved onto Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Away from his comfort zone on the USS Enterprise-D, Worf learned to work with a new crew and a new Captain, Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), Worf also fell in love with, married, and tragically lost Lt. Commander Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell).

Star Trek: Picard season 3 presented an older, wiser Worf who claims he has embraced pacifism but is as lethal as ever. Picard season 3 also revealed that Worf succeeded Jean-Luc Picard as Captain of the USS Enterprise-E. However, the Sovereign Class starship was lost under mysterious circumstances that Worf says was not his fault. Captain Worf also made a superb team with another angry outsider, Commander Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). Thanks to Michael Dorn, Worf has always stood out and was something special and unique ever since Star Trek: The Next Generation began.

Source: Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum