A former Star Trek: The Original Series star reveals he does not regret leaving the show

Star Trek: The Original Series' former star Walter Koenig recently revealed what it was like working as a supporting character beside the leading cast members, and it wasn't all good. He even accepts that he did not particularly regret the fact that he left the show in Season 3.

Walter Koenig recently discussed his decision to leave in Season 3 when he appeared on The 7th Rule podcast hosted by Cirroc Lofton. Here's what Koenig said regarding his experience on Star Trek: The Original Series.

Walter Koenig on why he left Star Trek: The Original Series in Season 3

Walter Koenig played Ensign Pavel Chekov on Star Trek: The Original Series in Seasons 2 and 3. He also later reprised his role in Star Trek: Generations and 6 other Star Trek movies and voiced Anton Chekov, the President of the United Federation of Planets, in Star Trek: Picard Season 3.

Even though he reprised his role later, it was surprising that Koenig decided to take a break from Star Trek: The Original Series after only two seasons. Recently, on The 7th Rule podcast, hosted by Cirroc Lofton, where Koenig joins him and Ryan T. Husk monthly to discuss Star Trek Episodes, Koenig took an opportunity to explain his decision to leave the series in Season 3.

The podcast was discussing The Trouble with Tribbles, a classic Star Trek episode, when Koenig explained that he left because he wanted to explore his craft more than what he had the opportunity to do on the show. As a supporting actor beside the trio of Captain Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Leonard McCoy, their job mainly comprised agreeing to orders, and he was looking for something more than that when he decided to leave.

He wanted the 'dignity of participation' and went on to participate in a play outside of Chicago with Charlie Chaplin's old sidekick, Jackie Coogan, and had a lot of fun being a part of something where he could contribute something of value. Here's what he said:

"I left Star Trek in the third season. I left the show. Nobody thought it was going to be picked up anyway, so nobody really cared. I left for a month and I did a play outside of Chicago with Jackie Coogan, Charlie Chaplin’s old sidekick, and that was great fun. And I didn’t miss being on the show because, at that point, it was really, ‘Aye aye, sir.’ And I still wanted to perform in my chosen profession with some dignity. Dignity of participation."

Characters such as Walter's Chekov, Lt. Uhura, and Scotty weren't particularly focused on in Star Trek: The Original Series, and it was a rare occurrence, as in Trouble with Tribbles, where the supporting cast got a chance to shine rather than the main cast.

So, it comes as no surprise that supporting actors like Walter considered what is now a pop canon just a job and looked elsewhere for creative fulfillment in their art. Nevertheless, comparing the current Star Trek series to the ones in the 1960s, it is glaringly obvious how much less the supporting characters were focused on in Star Trek: The Original Series.

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