Bruce Horak (born August 5, 1974) is a Canadian artist[1] and television and stage[2] actor, known for portraying Hemmer on . Horak is the first legally blind actor to portray a character in the Star Trek franchise.[3] [4]
Horak was born in Calgary, Alberta. At age 18 months, he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, which caused him to lose his right eye and over 90% of the vision in his left eye. Horak's father, Karl Horak, was also visually impaired, having lost his left eye to disease.[5] Horak developed an interest in writing and theater in third grade, when a theater company came to his school and put on a play.
Horak attended at Mount Royal University, where he studied theater. He also trained at the Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary.
One of Horak's earliest plays was What You Can't See, in 1999, about a boy who hides his visual impairment. In 2001, he co-created The Canada Show, a comedic attempt to distill the history of Canada into a one-hour space. In 2005, he co-created the one-man show This is Cancer, described as a dark comedy. Horak also stars as Cancer in the play.[6] He appeared in the role of Jake in a production of Evil Dead: The Musical in 2009.[7] In 2019, he co-created Goblin: Macbeth, a play which imagines goblins finding the works of Shakespeare, and attempting to act out a play without fully understanding what they are doing.[8]
On Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Horak plays Hemmer, the Aenar chief engineer aboard the Enterprise. The Aenar are a blind race in Star Trek, closely related to the Andorians, and the producers wanted a visually impaired actor to play the role of Hemmer.[9] Horak, who describes himself as a Star Trek fan, eagerly auditioned for the role and won it. When Horak accepted the role, he was told Hemmer's character would have a limited run in Strange New Worlds. He appeared as Hemmer in six of the ten episodes of Season 1. He later appeared in one Season 2 episode in both a pre-recorded/flashback scene with Uhura and as an illusory Hemmer. In addition to Hemmer, Horak also played the Klingon commander General Garkog in Season 2's "Subspace Rhapsody".[10]
Horak has painted hundreds of portraits, and has an aim to paint one thousand of them. In one of his plays, "Assassinating Thomson", he paints a portrait of the audience during the play.[11] His paintings have been showcased at several Canadian galleries.
Horak has also recorded an album with Canadian artist Onalea Gilbertson under the name The Rail Birds. The album, called Intensive Care, was made available online in 2020.[12]
Horak was married to Rebecca Northan, who he met while at Mount Royal. They did not remain married, but she has been his co-collaborator on many of his plays.
As of 2022, he resides in Stratford.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Warehouse 13 | Philo Farnsworth | 1 episode | |
| 2022 | In the Dark | Brendan | 2 episodes | |
| 2022–23 | Hemmer, Additional Roles | 8 episodes | ||
| 2023 | Transplant | Adam Viri | 2 episodes | |
| 2023 | Family History Mysteries: Buried Past | Clark | Television movie |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Gitch | Gitch | Short | |
| 2023 | Hemmer (voice) | 2 episodes |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Outstanding New Play | What You Can't See / Quest Theatre | Nominated[13] | ||
| 2007 | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical | Won | |||
| 2009 | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical | Evil Dead – The Musical / Ground Zero Theatre / Hit and Myth Productions | Won | ||
| 2011 | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Comedy or Musical | Nominated | |||
| 2014 | Outstanding New Play | Legend Has It / Rebecca Northan, with Renee Amber, Bruce Horak, Mark Meer, Jamie Northan, and Sean Bowie | Nominated | ||
| 2019 | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama | Assassinating Thomson / Lunchbox Theatre and Inside Out Theatre | Nominated | ||
| 2022 | Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Drama | Richard III / The Shakespeare Company and Hit and Myth | Won |