http://scyfilove.com/3791/the-predator- ... eneration/
For starters, Captain Picard could have been played by Yaphet Kotto (he would have been awesome) or Roy Thinnes – that’s David Vincent from The Invaders, classic sci-fi from back in the 1960s.
It gets better. Kevin Peter Hall – the Predator himself – was up for the roles of Data and Geordi La Forge, where he was competing against a young actor called Wesley Snipes, as well as the eventual choice, Levar Burton.
It’s for damn sure nobody would have poked fun at Geordi’s visor with Snipes wearing it!
Other interesting names include Jenny Agutter who was in the running for Beverley Crusher and Tim Russ as Geordi, who would later go on from missing out here to Trek success as Tuvok in Voyager.
Denice Crosby was down to play Troi – not Tasha Yar which she would go on to play and then leave just before the show got super-popular. Meanwhile Jonathan Frakes did well to get past the favourite for Riker, Michael O’Gorman.
http://www.lettersofnote.com/2010/08/st ... sting.html
It could have been so different. From the archives of Paramount we have a memo - written in April of 1987 to the studio's Head of Network TV - detailing the acting talent then being considered for various roles in Star Trek: The Next Generation; a programme that would begin to grace the small screen just five months later. A few observations: at this juncture, Patrick Stewart was already a favourite for Picard, alongside Patrick Bauchau; Brent Spiner wasn't even being considered for the role he eventually took, as Data; a young man by the name of Wesley Snipes was in the running for the part of Geordi, a role ultimately filled by LeVar Burton but seemingly close to being taken by Reggie Jackson; Jenny Agutter at least read for the part of Beverly, and there was, as of yet, no sign of a certain Wil Wheaton, the youngster who eventually played her son, Wesley Crusher.
