Who played the character Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

Brent Spiner played the character Data in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Spiner portrayed the android throughout the series and returned to the role in the four TNG feature films, as well as later Star Trek productions.

Spiner was born in Houston, Texas, and had already worked in theater and television before joining The Next Generation in 1987. His performance balanced Data's precise, literal speech with a sincere curiosity about human life. That combination helped turn what could have been a purely comic robot character into one of the series' emotional and philosophical centers.

Spiner also played several related characters in the franchise, including Data's android brothers Lore and B-4, and multiple members of the Soong family. Those roles can cause confusion, but the actor behind Data remains Spiner. He appeared as Data in nearly all of TNG's 178 episodes and reprised the character in Star Trek: Generations, First Contact, Insurrection, and Nemesis. He later returned to the franchise in Star Trek: Picard.