The Pitt Star Isa Briones Played Multiple Star Trek Characters Before Dr. Santos

Before she was hunting for patients to cut up, threatening sexual predators, and exposing medicine-stealing doctors on Max's high-octane medical drama "The Pitt," the actor behind certified wild child Dr. Santos had a hugely important role — or, rather, four roles — in the "Star Trek" universe.

Isa Briones has had a major moment with "The Pitt," playing one of the most love-her-or-hate-her characters on the new, fantastic, and Stephen King-approved HBO series. Her Dr. Trinity Santos is one of a batch of interns trying to get through their first day on the job in the emergency medical department of a Pittsburgh hospital, but where the other young doctors-in-training are nervous or hesitant, she's brash and ambitious.

It's hard not to empathize with Santos, but it's also difficult not to scream at the television when she makes truly mind-boggling decisions. Briones plays her character's many shades well, and you'd be forgiven for thinking "The Pitt" is a breakout role for her. But the child of a musical theater family (her dad is the Olivier-nominated stage actor Jon Jon Briones) started acting early in life, and already has a number of major performances under her belt. Among them: roles in "Hadestown" on Broadway and the traveling tour of "Hamilton," a starring turn on the Disney+ "Goosebumps" series, and a part as the android "daughters" of Brent Spiner's Data on "Star Trek: Picard."

Briones was a major part of "Picard" from the very beginning, appearing first as a young woman named Dahj who seeks out Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), now resigned after years spent as a Starfleet leader in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and its accompanying movies. Much of the show's pilot episode revolves around Dahj, who has super-strength she doesn't understand and visions of Picard clouding her brain. The former Admiral quickly realizes that Dahj is a subject of fractal neuronic cloning, and that her "dad," genetically, is his old pal Data. The series would find numerous ways to bring fan favorite Spiner back over its three seasons, but it kicked off with the shocking assassination of Dahj, which in turn began a clone plot of "Orphan Black" proportions.

As Dr. Santos, Briones embodies hot-headedness and a brash attitude, but her "Picard" clones, by virtue of being androids, were typically a lot less emotional. Interestingly, as the plot unfolded it became clear that most of the clones didn't actually know they weren't human, and Soji — the clone Briones played longest, as well as the one that joined Picard's crew for a time — had memories of an artificially constructed life implanted in her mind. The plight of the clones, who were created in twin pairs, has real implications for "Star Trek" on the whole, as synthetics (or "synths") are banned, forcing their identities to be a secret — even to themselves. Picard even becomes a sort of synth himself after dying in the season 1 finale.

In addition to Dahj and Soji, Briones played a classic evil twin role in the season 1 "Picard" finale, appearing as a rogue android experiment who disobeyed orders and worked against "organics" like Picard and his crew. This twin, Sutra, was only around briefly, as her creator (Altan Soong, played by Spiner himself) shut her off after discovering how radical she had become. She may have been misguided, but she was definitely the coolest of the clones; Sutra had golden skin, unnerving pale eyes, and a semi-inexplicable ability to do Vulcan mind melds.

Her twin, Jana, was killed offscreen before audiences ever met her, though she does appear in a sketch that's clearly based on a photo of Briones. Finally, the actor played Kore Soong, who was raised as the sheltered daughter of Dr. Adam Soong (Spiner again, naturally). Appearing in a handful of season 2 episodes, Kore's storyline felt like a coda to the Data-adjacent synths plot, and she got the happy ending some of her siblings didn't when "The Next Generation" holdover Wesley (Wil Wheaton) invited her to join his squad of trippy time-travelers.

Until "The Pitt," "Star Trek: Picard" was the most involved TV role Briones had done, and the actor appeared across 14 total episodes. The two shows resist comparison, though, and Briones has assured interviewers that she's enjoyed playing a more morally murky character than she's used to on "The Pitt." In February 2025, she told TVLine it's "an actor's dream to play someone that the audience loves to hate." She continued: 

"It's also fun to take a break from trying to be likable. When I see people have strong reactions, and some people are, like, 'I hate you,' I'm, like, 'Great, I did what I was supposed to do. I made you feel something.'"

New episodes of "The Pitt" stream Thursdays at 9pm ET on Max.