Leonard Nimoy was third choice for Star Trek's Spock as role was offered to his co-star

The legacy of Star Trek has woven its way into popular culture and will forever be regarded as one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time. After the TV show premiered on September 8th, 1966, the programme made almost immediate stars of its main cast members like William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Leonard, who died in February 2015 at the age of 83, played the role of Spock in the original series and in further projects such as the animated series and the 1984 films Star Trek III: The Search for Spock and 1986’s Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. However, only dedicated Star Trek fans would know that Leonard was not actually the first choice to play the fictional character.

Screenwriter Gene Roddenberry originally had cast Leonard as the lead actor for Spock, but then was told to give other actors a chance to audition.

Two actors were offered the role before it was eventually given to Leonard Nimoy. Co-star DeForest Kelley, who would eventually play Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, and Martin Landau were individually offered the chance to play the character.

In an extract of William Shatner's book, Star Trek Memories, he wrote about Gene speaking to DeForest, who accidentally confessed that he was offered the role of Spock first.

After having done the television pilot, DeForest wasn't wholly keen on the idea of playing an alien with pointy ears, eventually saying, "No way! Forget it!"

One fan on Reddit said in a forum about the other Spock candidates, "They had also considered Martin Landau who would have been great, I think - but really, Nimoy just owned it so well I doubt the role would have been as memorable played by anyone else."

Another similarly said, "So what you're saying is that Deforest Kelly thought it would never do to be a green-blooded pointy-eared hobgoblin in space? I think he was born to play Bones."

A third also typed, " He plays such a good grumpy doctor I couldn't imagine him playing Spock."