Ricardo Montalban was 61 years old when he filmed his iconic performance in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, a fact made all the more notable by his obvious physical prowess. He removes his outer cape during his introductory scene to reveal a chiseled, muscular chest, which is on display for the rest of the film and an indispensable part of the character’s iconic look. And that made for a unique challenge when it came to filling out his supporting cast.
Khan commands a band of followers who help him first to hijack the U.S.S. Reliant and launch an ambitious plan of revenge against Admiral Kirk. They’re played almost entirely by actors far younger than he, and with Montalban in exceedingly good shape, it behooved his supporting cast to match suit. So much so, they even called in a former Chippendales dancer for help.
Khan is an Augment, genetically engineered for physical and intellectual superiority during the Eugenics Wars of the late 20th Century. Details of the Wars are deliberately vague to avoid conflicting with actual history — the suggestion of a covert or shadow war makes the most sense — but dialogue in The Wrath of Khan states that Khan and his followers departed Earth in the S.S. Botany Bay in 1996. They were subsequently revived in the original series Season 1, Episode 24, “Space Seed,” only to be marooned on Ceti Alpha V by Captain Kirk following their failed attempt to take over the Enterprise.
All of which is a roundabout way of saying that neither Khan nor his followers were scrawny. That dovetailed into Montalban’s outstanding physical condition, which was on full display in the film. In his commentary for the film’s DVD release, director Nicholas Meyer squashed early rumors that Montalban work a prosthetic chest in order to appear more muscular. He cited the actor’s rigorous workout regimen and called Montalban “one strong cookie.” Add to that the characters’ extreme circumstances and genetic enhancement, and a certain physical prowess was all but demanded for every marooned Augment.
That included Khan’s primary henchman Joachim, played by actor Judson Scott, who similarly bared his chest during the performance. Scott served as the spokesperson for Khan’s followers and the only one who shared any dialogue with him. That also made him the only member of the band who needed to speak. The rest needed to do their jobs with physical presence, reflected in their backgrounds. Most were stunt performers, which let them get knocked around during the movie’s combat sequences without having to switch performers. According to IMDB, the minion holding Captain Terrell during the initial confrontation with Khan is Tim Culbertson, who previously worked as a stuntman, as did Fletcher Bryant and Ann Chatterton, who both appeared on the bridge of the hijacked Reliant. Nanci Rogers had a similar background and received a follow-up part dressed in a truly strange cocktail waitress’s outfit in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
The costume designer provided a little extra cover for Montalban’s supporting cast, especially after they take control of the Reliant. A number of them sport appropriated Starfleet tunics over bare arms and shoulders. Even so, their comparative youth and scruffy clothes demanded an aesthetic to match their leader, which is why they often appear leaning on banisters and in similar poses to better show of their musculature and sell the idea that these are genetically upgraded human beings.
The most famous extra among the cast, though, was likely Deney Terrio, former Chippendale’s dancer and host of the 1980s variety series Dance Fever. The show was on the air during Wrath of Khan’s production, but ironically, he didn’t appear among Khan’s crew, where his body would be on more prominent display, but on the Enterprise. Regardless, with Montalban’s impressive features front and center, Starfleet was likely intimidated by the impressive specimens acting as thorns in their sides.
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