"If you didn’t know I was in it, you’d miss me." When Rage Against The Machine legend Tom Morello turned up in Star Trek (twice!)

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By ( Metal Hammer ) published

Were you sure you recognised Crewman Mitchell from somewhere? Well, there's a reason for that...

Tom Morello in Star Trek: Voyager
(Image credit: YouTube (Netflix))

Across his career, Tom Morello has often boldly gone where no guitarist has gone before but amongst what he would count as his coolest achievements, there can’t be much that beats the Rage Against The Machine six-stringer’s two cameo Star Trek appearances. If you’re a Trekkie, that’s the Holy Grail – you can go home, your work is done.

Morello first appeared disguised by make-up in a non-speaking part in the 1998 film Star Trek: Insurrection, but in the TV show Star Trek: Voyager, he even got a speaking part and a name – Crewman Mitchell. “I’m a huge fan of Star Trek, and through knowing one of two people, got the chance to appear in one episode of Star Trek: Voyager and was a bad guy in the film Star Trek: Insurrection,” Morello told Metal Hammer’s Malcolm Dome in 2006. “I did have some lines in the former, but none in the latter. In fact, if you didn’t know I was in it, then you’d miss me. I was so heavily made up. Am I serious about acting? Not really. My criteria are: is it Star Trek, or do I know someone involved? The actor Vince Vaughn is a friend of mine, which is how I got a part in the movie Made. I would never audition for a role.”

You might see Star Trek as a bit of frivolous sci-fi fun, but Morello sees it as something more than that. “The original Star Trek series was a social experiment on film,” he told Loudwire. “it was a harmonious picture of what the world could be.” He didn’t grow up a Trekkie, he said, rather he discovered it whilst living unemployed in Hollywood in the mid-80s. He obviously made up for lost time, and then some. Live long and prosper, Crewman Mitchell.

You can watch all things Star Trek on Paramount+ - including Star Trek: Insurrection and Star Trek: Voyager.

Niall Doherty
Niall Doherty

Niall Doherty is a writer and editor whose work can be found in Classic Rock, The Guardian, Music Week, FourFourTwo, Champions Journal, on Apple Music and more. Formerly the Deputy Editor of Q magazine, he co-runs the music Substack letter The New Cue with fellow former Q colleague Ted Kessler. He is also Reviews Editor at Record Collector. Over the years, he's interviewed some of the world's biggest stars, including Elton John, Coldplay, Radiohead, Liam and Noel Gallagher, Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Muse, Pearl Jam, Depeche Mode, Robert Plant and more.