"I'm not prejudiced in this in any way," laughs J.G. Hertzler, a.k.a. General Martok, in a recent interview for STAR TREK:CONTINUUM, "but I think the Klingons are the most attractive aliens. They exist at the outer reaches of emotional behavior. Sadness is magnified, rage, everything. I think the Klingons allow the audience to vicariously participate with these emotionally outrageous and understandable beings and it's a relief in a way because the world is so complex for us now. For the Klingons, things are clear -- this is what I hate, this is what I like. It works best, of course, when you have those arrogantly subtle Romulans nearby for contrast, so you can see the other side of the coin."

Portraying the Klingon leader General Martok since debuting in 1995 in the fourth season episode, "Way of the Warrior: Part 1," entitles the actor to make some sweeping pronouncements about the nature of Klingons. Rarely does a television actor expect to spend so much with one character. Hertzler certainly never dreamed Martok would live on past "Apocalypse Rising" when it was revealed that the General was actually a changeling. "At the end of it, though, (Executive Producer) Ira Behr was speaking with me...cryptically...in the halflight of backstage," says Hertzler, "saying since this was a changeling, maybe Martok could still be around. That was my first inkling."

Back in 1995, J.G. Hertzler was originally called into the Star Trek offices to read for the part of a Cardassian. Instead, Casting Director Ron Surma asked Hertzler to read Martok. Something obviously clicked and Hertzler zeroed in very quickly on the essence of this new character which he used in his audition. "I think I threw a chair across the room. I couldn't eat it, so I decided to throw it."

As Martok became a staple of Star Trek:Deep Space Nine, he also became a new kind of Klingon standard especially for Worf. Martok became a father figure, an adoptive parent, a drinking buddy all while doing his job as an ally loyal to the Federation. With so much to sink his teeth into, Hertzler has found a great joy in portraying the larger-the-life Martok. "I'm contemplating writing a book called Linebacker to Klingon in Five Easy Steps. Being a Klingon is like bullfighting in a way -- if you win, you win. If you lose, you're dead."

Hertzler gives great credit to what the ST:DS9 writers and producers have done with Martok during his duty shift. "He's evolved," says Hertzler, "but he's still very, very passionate, an almost inflexible soldier." One of the actor's favorite episodes is "Once More Into The Breach" in which the venerated Kor returns and dies. "To have the amount of profound artistry inherent in John Colicos and Neil Vipond working around you," says Hertzler with unabashed awe, "is what you live for. When you get that much experience on stage that still has the juice -- that's what made that episode." Hertzler pauses and then adds in his characteristic (and very Martok) sort of way -- "Plus I had two beautiful Klingon females on either side of me. That didn't hurt!"

Obviously Hertzler spent a lot of time with resident Klingon Worf, played by Michael Dorn. Hertzler says Dorn helped him as an actor not so much by direct help but more as an example. "When you're dealing in the very heightened world of Star Trek, you have to make everything credible and real. Michael walks an amazingly fine line with Worf of having emotion but showing no emotion. I'm more prone to show large amounts of emotion, sometimes too much for people to accept! Michael works in a very subtle way so that the camera can pick up the fine little things he does. Patrick Stewart does the same thing. The mind and the voice can be all over the universe, but the body must be very still. It's a very important technique to be so physically still but so emotionally engaged."

Of the end of ST:DS9, Hertzler says "I'm looking for a way to express the depth of my sadness. This has been so intense because you get to share so much of your life together during those 16-hour days. I've had a wonderful time and made a tremendous amount of friends. Bobby O'Reilly (Gowron) and I recently did a convention in Germany, for example, and we had a fabulous time. None of it would have been possible if Gene Roddenberry had not put fingers to keyboard years ago. I owe a profound debt to that writer and the others who have helped develop the Star Trek universe. I hope these writers and producers go on to do something else in the science fiction vein and I hope they come and get me!"

Deborah Fisher is a contributing writer for STAR TREK: CONTINUUM. Deborah also writes for the official Star Trek fan club magazine, the Star Trek Communicator.