Jonathan Frakes Shoots Down Longstanding Star Trek Movie Rumor 30 Years Later

Published Oct 5, 2026, 6:30 AM EDT John Orquiola is a New & Classic TV Editor, Senior Writer, and Interviewer with a special focus on Star Trek. John has over 5,000 published articles at SR, and he has interviewed the biggest names in Star Trek on the red carpet and VIP events, among other beloved shows, movies, and franchises. Sign in to your ScreenRant account 30 years after Star Trek: First Contact premiered, director Jonathan Frakes shoots down a longstanding rumor about one of the film's most famous lines uttered by Lt. Commander Worf (Michael Dorn). 1996's Star Trek: First Contact is hailed as the best of the Star Trek: The Next Generation feature films. One of First Contact's most memorable sequences was its spacewalk, where Worf, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart), and Mr. Hawk (Neal McDonough) don space suits and battle the Borg on the USS Enterprise-E's deflector. Worf quips, "Assimilate this!" before blasting the Borg's device to signal the rest of the Collective in the Delta Quadrant. On The Nacelle Company's Instagram promoting The Center Seat II: 60 Years of Star Trek, Jonathan Frakes says Worf's "Assimilate this!" was always scripted and not improvised. "Never. Never happened," Frakes confirmed. Agreeing that "It's a great line," Star Trek: First Contact's director asserted that "Improvisation was not something that was ever part of Star Trek. We were never allowed to improvise. They were really, really strict." Watch the post below: Now that Worf's "Assimilate this" is confirmed to be scripted dialogue, credit for the line goes to Ronald D. Moore and Brannon Braga. Perhaps the most celebrated writers of Rick Berman's Star Trek era, Moore and Braga were also responsible for scripting Star Trek: The Next Generation's series finale, "All Good Things..." and Star Trek Generations, among numerous teleplays for TNG, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine by Moore, and Star Trek: Voyager and Star Trek: Enterprise by Braga. Jonathan Frakes and his fellow actors from 1990s and early 2000s Star Trek have often recounted how they had to be "word-perfect" with dialogue. Star Trek actors in the TV series executive-produced by Rick Berman could not change any dialogue and had to ask the producers for permission for even minor alterations. As Frakes recounted, actors' improvisation was strictly forbidden. Frakes was subsequently stunned when he directed Star Trek: Strange New Worlds season 2's comedic crossover with Star Trek: Lower Decks. When guest stars Tawny Newsome and Jack Quaid went off-script and improvised their banter, Frakes was delighted when the producers not only said it was fine but encouraged it. Jonathan often discusses the differences of how Paramount+ era Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation-era shows were produced on his podcast with Brent Spiner, Dropping Names with Brent and Johnny. Starting with Star Trek: Discovery, Frakes is widely considered the 'favorite director' of the casts of Paramount+'s Star Trek shows. Star Trek: First Contact will always be the gold standard of Star Trek: The Next Generation's movies and ranks high among fans' lists of the best Star Trek movies ever. Every unforgettable line of dialogue was scripted according to its director, and is still quoted by fans 30 years later. Star Trek: First Contact is streaming on Paramount+ The Center Seat II: 60 Years of Star Trek is streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, Apple TV, and Nacelle’s YouTube page. Release Date November 22, 1996 Runtime 111 minutes Director Jonathan Frakes Cast Commander William T. Riker Writers Brannon Braga, Ronald D. Moore Producers Rick Berman, Peter Lauritson Franchise(s) Star Trek