LeVar Burton auditioned for the role in 1986. He had previously appeared in "Roots" and other major network shows. He stated that "years ago I was doing a TV movie called "Emergency Room" and it was a fairly miserable experience. But there was a producer on that show, a man named Bob Justman... six, seven years later, I get this call from Bob Justman and he’s working at Paramount on this new Star Trek series and he said I remember your love of the show, we’ve got this character, would you be interested in coming in and seeing us? And I said was creator Gene Roddenberry involved? He said he is. And I said I’ll be right there." Roddenberry was very pleased with Burton at his first audition. Among the other actors considered for the role were Wesley Snipes, Reggie Jackson, Kevin Peter Hall, Clarence Gilyard, and Tim Russ, who would later play Tuvok on "".