Here's Tyler Perry's Star Trek 2009 character Admiral Barnett explained. Since making his debut in 2005's Diary Of A Mad Black Woman, Tyler Perry has become something of a one-man industry. He acts, directs and produces most of his own work. His most famous character is tough grandmother Madea, who he played in a long-running series of movies like Boo! A Madea Halloween and Madea Goes To Jail; he retired the character following A Madea Family Funeral.

Tyler Perry has also directed movies like Why Did I Get Married?, The Single Moms Club and I Can Do Bad All By Myself. If that wasn't enough, he's behind TV series like Too Close To Home, House Of Payne and For Better Or Worse, a spinoff of the Why Did I Get Married? duology. Perry occasionally acts outside of his own projects and played supporting roles in David Fincher's Gone Girl and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out Of The Shadows. He also played the title character in tepid thriller Alex Cross.

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The franchise is looking healthy now thanks to Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard, but following the box-office failure of Star Trek: Nemesis in 2003, its future was looking bleak. J.J. Abrams revived the movie side of things with 2009's Star Trek, which focused on the crew of the original series but split them off on a divergent timeline. The film was a resounding success and it received positive reviews for assembling a great cast. One performer who raised eyebrows when his casting was announced was Tyler Perry as Admiral Richard Barnett since Star Trek marked the first movie he appeared in that he didn't write or direct.

It turns out Tyler Perry wasn't any kind of Trekkie before appearing in Star Trek and took the role to work with J.J. Abrams. Perry's part is ultimately quite small, with Admiral Barnett first being seen at a Starfleet Academy disciplinary hearing for Kirk when he "cheats" during his Kobayashi Maru test. Kirk is accused by Spock of altering the test which is against the rules, and Barnett presides over the two arguing the merits of the unwinnable simulation. Perry's Barnett reappears again at the end of the film when Kirk is promoted to Enterprise Captain following the crew's victory over villain Nero.

While some critics claimed it was too distracting to have Tyler Perry - the star of the Madea series - appearing in a serious Star Trek role, he does a fine job with his two scenes. Even if he hadn't, Admiral Barnett is such a small role that it wouldn't have made much difference.

Next: Star Trek: Picard's Riker Appearance Breaks a Star Trek Actor Record