Entertainment
The Very Real Fistfight Star Trek Hid On Screen
By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
For a franchise that’s all about peaceful exploration, Star Trek has always placed a special emphasis on fighting. From the infamous “Kirk-fu” of The Original Series to the Vulcan martial arts in Discovery, it never takes too long for an away team mission to lead to fisticuffs. Of course, we all know that the fisticuffs in question are just as fake as the special effects that bring these sci-fi series to life.
On one occasion, though, Star Trek ended up hiding a real fistfight in plain sight. In the Deep Space Nine episode “Invasive Procedures,” future Voyager star Tim Russ accidentally really punched Nana Visitor’s stunt double during a fight scene. While everyone else freaked out, she urged Russ to keep going because of how real the fight was going to look onscreen!
A Star Trek Icon Returns
“Invasive Procedures” is a Deep Space Nine episode in which the station has to be mostly evacuated thanks to a plasma storm. The command staff stays on as a skeleton crew, but it doesn’t take long before they are invaded and overpowered by a ragtag group of bad guys. One of the invaders is an unjoined Trill, and her goal is horrifyingly simple: she wants the symbiont inside Dax’s body, but without it, the perky science officer will soon die.
Among the bad guys is a Klingon mercenary played by Tim Russ, who would later famously play the Vulcan Tuvok on Star Trek: Voyager. This was actually his second appearance in the franchise, as he had previously appeared as a different kind of mercenary in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Starship Mine.” He would later make a memorable appearance in Star Trek: Generations before joining the lead cast of Voyager.
Deep Space Nine’s Strongest Fighter
Obviously, Russ made a major impact on the Star Trek producers early on, which is why they kept bringing him back for future appearances. In “Invasive Procedures,” however, he made an impact of an entirely different kind: with his fist. During the occupation of Deep Space Nine, Major Kira put up a fight, and she was scripted to scrap with the Klingon played by Russ.
According to Star Trek Monthly (issue 52), the fight went sideways when Tim Russ accidentally landed a punch. At the time, Patricia Tallman (who also played Lyta on Babylon 5) was Nana Visitor’s stunt double, so she was the one engaging in the onscreen fistfight. After Russ landed an actual punch, Tallman said that “everyone on the set freaked out, but I said, ‘No, don’t stop! That was really good – it looked very authentic!”
When Stunts Get Real
The stuntwoman had her way, and “we finished the fight there and then.” To her credit, it was a good call: while “Invasive Procedures” isn’t the best Star Trek episode, it does feature one of the most memorable fights in the entire franchise. That wouldn’t have happened if Patricia Tallman hadn’t been willing to take a punch and keep on filming.
While Tim Russ was horrified at accidentally punching a fellow actor, everything worked out. The onscreen fight looked excellent, and he went on to later have a thriving career as Star Trek’s second most-famous Vulcan. As for his Tuvok character, we can only assume he would declare that Tallman made the right call: after all, making their onscreen battle look as authentic as possible was only logical!
