How Star Trek: Enterprise's Dr. Phlox Could Return In Strange New Worlds
"Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" has brought back some classic characters from the franchise by recasting them with new actors. Captain Christopher Pike (Anson Mount) is finally helming his own show, with Spock (Ethan Peck) and Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) serving in his crew. Future Captain Jim Kirk (Paul Wesley) has become a recurring face, while the season 2 finale, "Hegemony," introduced a young Montgomery Scott (Martin Quinn). But if actor John Billingsley has his way, Doctor Phlox could return in "Strange New Worlds" without the need for recasting.
Billingsley played Phlox on "Star Trek: Enterprise" — he was the chief medical officer of the NX-01, the first Starfleet spaceship named "Enterprise." A Denobulan, Phlox looked human-ish (except for the serrated ridges on the side of his head), but his alien anatomy was, well, rather alien indeed (super long tongue, the ability to puff up his face like a blowfish, etc.).
The wisdom of introducing a new alien race in a prequel series aside, Phlox was one of the better parts of "Enterprise" — and Billingsley was the best actor in the main cast. He had plenty of opportunities to showcase this range across the show; Phlox had a whimsical side that stood out next to his more dour castmates, but he was far from a total clown. When the scene called for drama or suspense, Billingsley delivered. Now, TrekMovie.com has published details from their to-be-released interview with Billingsley (for the site's "All-Access Star Trek" podcast), in which he said that the topic of Phlox returning in "Strange New Worlds" cropped up on the picket lines this year.
From Enterprise to Strange New Worlds
Normally, when an actor says they'd love to return to an old role or series, I find it to be artificially inflated news. An actor wants work? In a high-profile production? Stop the presses! However, what makes this different is that Billingsley isn't just being nostalgic. As he told TrekMovie, he met several of the "Strange New Worlds" cast/crew during the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes earlier in 2023:
"I was on the strike line and some of the 'Strange New Worlds' guys were coming up and saying 'How long do you think Denobulans live?' I said 'Long. Long, long, long. Definitely long enough to be on your show if that's what you're getting at.' So who knows? I mean, I would happily come back. And I figure, hell, even if I'm dead, my son Phlox Jr. is still around, and he is the spitting image of his old pop."
Since the people working on "Strange New Worlds" know about his interest, Billingsley has an in to appear on the show. "If they brought me back in a dramatic way, I probably would be a little surprised, but I'd be fine," he added.
As for Billingsley playing Phlox Jr., that has precedence in "Star Trek." In "The Undiscovered Country," Michael Dorn has a small role as Klingon lawyer Worf — implicitly a 23rd-century-era ancestor of the Worf from "The Next Generation," also played by Dorn. Generally, "Star Trek" is also lax about recasting actors for multiple parts. Jeffrey Combs, for instance, has played three different recurring roles on "Trek" (Weyoun and Brunt on "Deep Space Nine," and then Shran on "Enterprise").
Since writing Phlox/Billingsley into "Strange New Worlds" for a cameo wouldn't take much work, I say: make it so.