American actress who played the Bajoran officer Ro Laren on The Next Generation, a role that helped inspire Deep Space Nine's Kira Nerys.
Michelle Forbes, an American actress born in 1965, played Ro Laren, the Bajoran ensign whose resentment of authority made her a pointed presence aboard the Enterprise-D. Introduced in Ensign Ro, she recurred through the fifth and seventh seasons, and in Preemptive Strike Ro defected to the Maquis. Earlier she had appeared as Dara, daughter of the scientist Timicin, in Half a Life.
Forbes declined to take Ro into Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, and the planned role evolved into Kira Nerys, but she returned as Ro in the third season of Star Trek: Picard. Her other work includes Battlestar Galactica, True Blood and Homicide: Life on the Street.