Published Jul 14, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT
John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises.
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*The Hunt for Red October *surprisingly unites two famous faces from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Released in 1990, The Hunt for Red October was directed by John McTiernan and stars Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Sam Neill, and James Earl Jones. Adapted from Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel, *The Hunt for Red October *was the first Jack Ryan movie that kicked off an enduring franchise.
A submarine techno-thriller, *The Hunt for Red October *echoes a few classic Star Trek adventures. Star Trek: The Original Series’ classic episode “Balance of Terror” was essentially an outer space version of the submarine movie *Run Silent, Run Deep. Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan *also hinged on a submarine battle-like encounter between the USS Enterprise and the hijacked USS Reliant.
As a production of Paramount Pictures, it’s not surprising that the studio dipped into the well of talent on Star Trek: The Next Generation to fill some roles in The Hunt for Red October. At that time, Star Trek: The Next Generation was filming on the Paramount lot and finding its stride. TNG was in season 3 when *The Hunt for Red October *premiered on March 2, 1990.
In the opening minutes of The Hunt for Red October, Gates McFadden appears as Dr. Cathy Ryan. McFadden, of course, played Dr. Beverly Crusher in Star Trek: The Next Generation, the four TNG movies, and Star Trek: Picard season 3. Unfortunately, The Hunt for Red October was Gates’ only appearance as Cathy Ryan, and she explained why to ScreenRant in 2023:
Gates McFadden: “[The reason] was Alec Baldwin. He asked for too much money, and they said no. But I was supposed to [return]. I would have gone on and done the second movie. That’s why it was a tiny part in the first one, but it was going to be a bigger part in the second one. But then they just said [to Alec], “Nope, we’re not paying you that money.” And they went and they cast Harrison Ford, so they couldn’t have the same woman playing his wife. That hurt.”
Harrison Ford replaced Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan in the sequel, 1992’s Patriot Games, with Anne Archer taking over the role of Dr. Cathy Ryan. Ford and Archer returned in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger as well before the Jack Ryan movies were rebooted (in the first of three times) in 2002’s The Sum of All Fears, with Ben Affleck as Jack and Bridget Moynahan as Cathy.
Given McFadden’s pedigree playing a surgeon in Star Trek: The Next Generation, it was a no-brainer for her to play another doctor in The Hunt for Red October. Disappointingly, McFadden only has a couple of lines as Cathy (speaking in a British accent, to boot, because the Ryans lived in London), and Gates speaks to Alec Baldwin’s Jack Ryan but doesn’t actually appear on camera with him.
Jack and Cathy Ryan have two young children in The Hunt for Red October, just as Dr. Beverly Crusher was mother to Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) in* Star Trek: The Next Generation*. Gates McFadden was ideally cast as Cathy Ryan in many ways, and it is indeed disappointing that her brief outing became Gates’ only chance to play Cathy in the Jack Ryan movies.
Daniel Davis plays Captain Charlie Davenport in The Hunt for Red October. As holographic Sherlock Holmes super villain Professor James Moriarty, Davis played one of the most memorable and popular antagonists on Star Trek: The Next Generation. The diabolical Moriarty was designed to outsmart Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) and matched wits with Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart).
Ronald Guttman appears as Lieutenant Melekhin, the Chief Engineer of the Red October. Guttman later played Emile Calvet, the father of Megan Draper (Jessica Pare) on Mad Men, which also cast two Star Trek actors, Vaughn Armstrong and Mark Moses.
Ironically, Davis’ Charlie Davenport is the Captain of the Enterprise in The Hunt for Red October. Davenport is the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise CVN-65 aircraft carrier. For *Star Trek *fans, it’s a trip to see Daniel Davis as the CO of one of the namesakes of the Starship Enterprise.
Daniel Davis only made two appearances as Professor Moriarty in Star Trek: The Next Generation, but he was so impactful that Davis endures as a fan favorite. Daniel returned as Moriarty in Star Trek: Picard season 3. However, it wasn’t the same version of Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis. Instead, this Moriarty was a holographic manifestation by Data.
The USS Enterprise CVN-65 makes an appearance in 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but it wasn’t the actual aircraft carrier bearing that iconic name. Because the Enterprise was on active duty, the USS Ranger CV-61 was substituted as the Enterprise in Star Trek IV. The Enterprise does appear in 1986’s Top Gun, all of which were productions by Paramount Pictures.
Gates McFadden and Daniel Davis’ characters never cross paths in The Hunt for Red October, but Star Trek: The Next Generation fans can’t miss that Dr. Beverly Crusher and Professor James Moriarty play significant roles in the first Jack Ryan feature film.
Star Trek: The Next Generation ](/db/tv-show/star-trek-the-next-generation/)
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1987 - 1994-00-00
Gene Roddenberry
Cliff Bole, Les Landau, Winrich Kolbe, Rob Bowman, Robert Scheerer, Jonathan Frakes, Robert Wiemer, Gabrielle Beaumont, Alexander Singer, David Carson, Paul Lynch, Corey Allen, Patrick Stewart, Chip Chalmers, Joseph L. Scanlan, James L. Conway, Robert Lederman, Tom Benko, Timothy Bond, Robert Legato, Adam Nimoy, Robert Becker, David Livingston, LeVar Burton
René Echevarria, Maurice Hurley, Richard Manning, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Tracy Tormé, Hannah Louise Shearer, Stuart Charno, Ira Steven Behr, Sara B. Cooper, Peter Allan Fields, Herbert Wright, Frank Abatemarco, Burton Armus, Hilary Bader, Morgan Gendel, David Kemper, Michael I. Wagner, Philip LaZebnik, Robert McCullough, Susan Sackett, Nick Sagan, Fred Bronson, Robert Hewitt Wolfe, Sam Rolfe
Commander William T. Riker