Did you know Tom Morello has made multiple appearances on Star Trek? As a hardcore trekkie, Morello’s dreams came true when he cameoed in the Insurrection film and landed a speaking role opposite Captain Janeway on Star Trek: Voyager.

“It began with Gene Roddenberry’s vision,” Morello begins. “The smarts, the humanity and the sci-fi geekiness are three things that I love a lot. I didn’t really grow up on Star Trek, I discovered it while unemployed living in Hollywood in the mid-‘80s.”

In this Metalhead’s Guide to Star Trek, Morello also praises the series for being socially progressive for its time. “The original Star Trek series was a social experiment on film. It had the first inter-racial kiss in the history of television. At the time, the Cold War was raging, and yet there was someone from Russia and someone from the United States. It was a harmonious picture of what the world could be.”

“There’s times [when] you’re the most nervous you’ve ever been in your life about an anticipatory moment. Certainly, where I’m about to say words in Star Trek was one of them,” the Rage Against the Machine axeman recalls. “Captain Janeway was very gentle with me and sort of helped me through the scene. It convinced me that, on the one hand, I may not want to quit my day job as a guitar player, but I feel honored to be a part of the Star Trek pantheon.”

Watch Tom Morello geek out about Star Trek in the video above and click here to grab the musician’s new album with Atlas Underground.

Top 90 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1990s

More From 96.3 The Blaze