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Actor LeVar Burton is best known for his role as Geordi La Forge inStar Trek: The Next Generation. A lifelong franchise fan, Burton played the role for all seven seasons of the show and was known for his signature VISOR, which allowed the character to see as he was blind from birth.
Burton also took on the role of director of some series episodes and returned to helm episodes of the spinoff showStar Trek: Voyager. The actor mentioned that he preferred to direct rather than spend hours applying makeup and the VISOR as an actor.
LeVar Burton Despised The GruelingStar TrekFilming Process And Preferred To Direct
LeVar Burton’srole in theStar Trekuniverse has been an irreplaceable part of pop culture. The actor played the chief engineer of the USS Enterprise-D Geordi La Forge. Characterized by his signature VISOR, theRootsstar was appreciated for his performance and even graduated to become a director inThe Next Generation.
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Burton has directed many episodes in multiple spinoff shows and has reportedlyhelmed the most episodesby any former cast member. He has contributed to shows such asStar Trek: Deep Space Nine, Voyager,andEnterprise. While he returned as La Forge in shows such asVoyagerandPicard, he mainly handled things behind the camera.
The star mentioned in an interview while filming the eighth episode of season 1 ofVoyagerthat he preferred to direct over acting. He said to EW (viaTotally Kate),
Do I miss that? Nooooo, sir. I don’t have to get up at 6:00 a.m. I don’t have to get into a space suit. I don’t have to put on that VISOR. Miss it? No. No.
The VISOR was one of his signature costume accessories which allowed the character La Forge to see as he was blind from birth. In the universe, the VISOR is connected to the optic nerves through the temples, allowing the wearer to sense directly.
LeVar Burton Was A Huge Fan Of TheStar TrekFranchise
WhileStar Trekis one of the most popular franchises in the world, it did not start out that way, and it only gained traction years after it aired. The sci-fi franchise broke much ground in representation in mainstream TV and an episode of the original series has even been credited with showing the first interracial kiss on TV (viaNBC News).
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Such ideals of a future without racism and stereotypes reportedly inspired a young LeVar Burton, who mentioned that he was a huge fan of the original series before he was cast inThe Next Generation. He said toForbes,
I started watching Star Trek in the 60s. I’m a big fan of Gene’s vision. It’s very inspiring, Gene’s vision of the future. Growing up Black in America, seeing, having Nichelle Nichols there, seeing that when the future comes, there’s a place for me. That was really important. I think people forget how important it is to see oneself represented in the popular culture growing up. Star Trek was a real positive portrayal of people of color in the future. I was really drawn to it.
The actor also mentioned that he met with Gene Roddenberry for the role of Geordi LaForge partly only because he was a huge fan of the creator and treated him as a God.
Star Trek: VoyagerandThe Next Generationis streaming on Paramount+.
Nishanth A
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2417
Nishanth A is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on TV shows with over 2,000 articles published. He has been an entertainment journalist for the past two years and a scriptwriter at various corporations before that, working on educational content. With a Communications, English Literature, and Psychology triple major, Nishanth usually covers news and analyses on Star Trek, particularly Strange New Worlds and The Next Generation; Doctor Who, the DCU, and more.A Nolan fan, Nishanth spends his time exploring the filmographies of various directors with an auteurial style or can be found making short movies of his own. He has also contributed as a feature writer for Film Companion, focusing on the South division.
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LeVar Burton
