Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Bruce Horak on being a blind actor, joining the Star Trek franchise, and painting portraits

Bruce Horak as Hemmer of the Paramount+ original series STAR TREK: STRANGE NEW WORLDS. Photo Cr: Marni Grossman/Paramount+

MAY 15, 2022 - As the first legally blind actor to join a Star Trek production, Bruce Horak is breaking new ground for the franchise as Hemmer, Enterprise’s Chief Engineer on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. In a recent interview with comicsbeat.com, Horak shared his experience with the franchise, from childhood to present day.

A lifelong fan of the franchise, Horak grew up watching Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: The Animated Series. When his agent called with news that “they” were looking for a visually impaired actor to play a blind character (Hemmer, an Aenar), Horak said, “Yes, there’s no question. Are you kidding?” After numerous auditions, Horak secured the role, something that “means everything” to him.

Perhaps, his feelings are best described in Horak’s own words: “The Roddenberry universe, where everyone is welcome and everyone has a place,” he said, “is just one to which I aspire. There’s something about being able to tap into my own lived experience as someone with a disability who has fought against the ideas of impairment and the barriers, sometimes internal, sometimes external preconceptions of what I can and can’t do in abilities and things like that.”

If one thing is certain, Horak is fighting those barriers. For more than 25 years, he has honed his skills as an actor, director, writer, designer, and improviser. As a blind man, he has become an accomplished portrait artist. Horak started painting portraits in 2011 to, as he says, “interpret [his] own vision and share that with friends and family.”

What started out as just a few paintings quickly grew, with Horak deciding to paint a multitude of portraits. “I’m going to try to paint 1,000 of them,” he told The Beat. “I’m going to sit with 1,000 different people and paint and see if I can really capture how it is that I see.” Horak’s painting has led him to have fascinating conversations with new and interesting people from all over the world as they sit as subjects for his art. According to Horak’s personal website, he has completed more than 600 of his 1,000 portraits.

To learn more about Bruce Horak’s journey to the U.S.S. Enterprise, check out the full interview, and head over to brucehorak.com for a comprehensive look at his life and career.

The first season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds is currently airing on Paramount+.