Today in Star Trek history: actor and contortionist Bonnie Morgan is born

Contortionist Bonnie Morgan played a Crepusculan in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Discovery

APRIL 27, 2022 - Bonnie Morgan was the third person ever to appear on Star Trek: Discovery. In her alien makeup she was unrecognizable, she had no lines, and a minimum of screen time, but she’s part of the Star Trek family, as her father was before her. She was born on this date in 1981.

Lots of people have dreamt of running away with the circus. Morgan didn’t have to; she was born into it. Her family were circus performers and the “Special Abilities” section of her resume reads like an entire Big Top-worth of talents: Wire Work, Acrobatics, Aerialist, Horse Riding, Aerial Hoop, Single Trapeze, Stilt Walking, and Trampoline, to name a few. She has also performed as a clown. But she has some even more unique skills, as well.

Morgan is an expert at bird calls, she can write with her toes, she’s a mime who’s skilled in physical comedy, and, her real bread-and-butter talent: contortionism. It’s this talent that has won her a number of roles, particularly in horror films like Piranha 3D and as Colette in Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events.

All these talents have led to a career not just as an actor, but a stuntwoman as well. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for her stunt work in Hellboy II: The Golden Army and also provided stunt work for the film The Devil Inside. Her father, Gary Morgan, is also a stunt performer, and was the stunt double for one of the Ferengi in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “The Last Outpost.”

As an actor, Morgan is probably best known as Samara Morgan, stepping into the role for Rings, after having performed stunts in The Ring Too. Morgan has worked with a number of Trek alumni, including Scott Bakula, Dean Stockwell, and John Anderson in an episode of Quantum Leap, and TNG’s Moriarty himself, Daniel Davis, in The Nanny.

In the first episode of Discovery, “The Vulcan Hello,” we find Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Georgiou (Michelle Yeoh) on a desert planet, trying to save a race known as the Crepusculans, who are facing extinction because of a drought. As they make their way through the heat and sandy terrain, we see hints of a Crepusculan shadowing them. Once they locate and repair the well that will provide a water source for the mysterious aliens, they go on their way to escape the planet. As they walk off toward a brewing storm, a tentacle-like appendage ending in three tendril-like fingers appears, followed by a two-eyed head sporting more tendrils. This Crepusculan, played by Morgan, watches the humans’ departure with gratitude, before more of her race thirstily join her in a drink.

You can learn more about Bonnie Morgan at Wikipedia and check out her full resume on her website. Please join us here at Daily Star Trek News in wishing her a truly wonderful 41st birthday.