How Many Of Worf's Star Trek Stunts Are Really Done By Michael Dorn
Worf (Michael Dorn), like many of TV's "tough guy" characters, spends more time getting his butt kicked than kicking butt. Through Dorn's imposing performance, fans of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fans understand that Worf is not only ready to step in and protect the Enterprise with only a split-second notice, but that he is also perfectly capable in a fight. Worf is often seen practicing martial arts, engaging in phaser target practice, or honing his skills with a bat'leth.
However, whenever an intruder or villain actually does appear on the Enterprise, the makers of "Next Generation" have to demonstrate how threatening they are by showing them thrashing poor Worf. Oh no, the audience thinks in those moments, this new intruder is so strong, they can just fling Worf aside like a paper doll. The conceit is dramatically satisfying, of course, but it also ensures that there will be more raw footage of Worf being roughed up than footage of Worf actually apprehending miscreants. Sometimes, it seems that he spends more time getting knocked down than standing upright.
This is good news for Worf's stunt doubles, who often get to throw themselves back onto the ground or be pushed aggressively over that attractive wooden swoop-shaped countertop on the Enterprise bridge. In many cases, Dorn did those stunts himself, happy to do some of the light tumbling and less dangerous body work required. Over the years, however, Dorn learned which stunts were more likely to injure him and which ones he was able to do safely. He talked about the balance of stunts in a 2023 interview with TrekMovie, explaining the hard lessons he learned after sustaining minor injuries.
Worf does his own stunts ... sometimes
Dorn was never pressured into doing dangerous stunts, although he does recall that the producers of "Next Generation" were a little miffed, in certain rare instances, that they had to hire a stunt double. Dorn, for his part, lightly insisted, knowing that he wasn't about to risk injury to play Worf. When asked if he did his own stunts, the actor explained:
"I do a lot of them, but not the kind of dangerous stuff. I leave that to the stunt guys, I've done a lot of stunts over the years, and you learn from experience, there are some things that you just say no to, at the consternation of stunt people and producers. They go, 'Well, why not?' and you go, 'Look, I don't want to get hurt.' I got hurt before and so I just say 'No, I'm not going to do that.' I don't have an ego about it. I have no ego about going, 'Okay! Stunt guy!'"
It's refreshing that Dorn isn't putting his body on the line for some misplaced sense of machismo.
This wasn't true, however, of actor Michelle Hurd, who had many one-on-one scenes with Dorn in the third season of "Star Trek: Picard." Notably, there was a scene in "Picard" wherein Hurd's character Raffi and Worf were forced to fight in by a bunch of eager criminals. Hurd is a trained martial artist and devotes a lot of time to her physical fitness. She was equal to the task. This subsequently led to a moment when Dorn swung a sword at Hurd and accidentally cut her on the arm. It was Dorn who insisted that the scene's fight choreography be changed so that he wouldn't hurt Hurd again. Safety first.
Hurd, meanwhile, didn't much care, happy to continue either way.