While Starfleet crew members boldly go where no man has gone before — or, in Deep Space Nine’s case, boldly stay put in a wormhole-adjacent space station — Star Trek’s crew members are arguably the unsung heroes of the franchise. And one of those heroes is Michael Westmore, the makeup designer who crafted alien looks for the franchise for nearly 20 years.
Westmore earned two Emmy Awards and another five nominations for his work on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The syndicated series, created by Rick Berman and Michael Piller, followed Starfleet Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and his crew as they manned the titular space station and contended with exploration, trade, politics, and conflict between two quadrants of the galaxy.
And with a cast of characters stocked with Bajorans, Cardassians, Changelings, Ferengi, Trill, and other alien species, Westmore and the other makeup artists certainly had their work cut out for them. “Challenges on Deep Space Nine were the same as Next Generation, same as Voyager, same as Enterprise,” Westmore said in a 2004 Television Academy interview. “It’s like, you’re given a concept, figure it out, build it, paint it, and have it ready on the day they’ve requested.”
DS9 ran for seven seasons before coming to an end 25 years ago, when “What You Leave Behind” aired on June 2, 1999. A quarter-century on, check out the photo gallery below to see cast members in and out of their alien characters — and to hear what they said about the makeup magic.
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