Akiva Goldsman has had many highs and many lows in his Hollywood screenwriting career. The scribe won an Academy Award in 2001 for writing "A Beautiful Mind," but he had previously been nominated for Razzies (honoring the worst in filmmaking) for writing the screenplays to "A Time to Kill" and the atrocious "Batman & Robin." He's been deeply involved in major blockbusters and media franchises, writing "The Da Vinci Code," 1998's "Lost in Space," and "The Divergent Series: Insurgent." He also penned "I, Robot," "I Am Legend," and most recently, "The Dark Tower."

Since 2017, Goldsman has fallen in with the head honchos at "Star Trek," serving as one of the franchise's executive producers and writing multiple episodes of "Star Trek: Discovery," "Star Trek: Picard," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." He has also directed five episodes, embracing his new place atop the "Trek" heap. Goldsman is also working on other projects -- he created the 2023 series "The Crowded Room" -- but "Star Trek" seems to take up the bulk of his time.

Goldsman has long been a Trekkie, so joining the new wave of Paramount+-era shows was likely a dream come true for him. It was also, it so happens, not the first time the screenwriter got to play around in the "Star Trek" sandbox. In 2009, Goldsman finagled with director J.J. Abrams -- a friend of his -- to have a cameo appearance in his 2009 "Star Trek" film. Look closely at the image below, and scan the faces of the two Vulcan tribunal members looking down on the young Spock (Zachary Quinto). The one just to the right of the central judge is none other than Akiva Goldsman in a wig.