Robert Duncan McNeill (born November 9, 1964) is an American film director, producer, actor, and political candidate. As an actor, he is best known for his role as Lieutenant Tom Paris on the television series Star Trek: Voyager. He has also served as an executive producer and frequent director of the television series Chuck, Resident Alien, The Gifted, and Turner & Hooch.

Career Acting McNeill grew up in Atlanta and began his career acting in local and regional productions before becoming a student at Juilliard School in New York City. He enjoyed early success as a professional actor, winning the role of Charlie Brent on All My Children and starring in the feature film Masters of the Universe alongside Courteney Cox. He starred in "A Message from Charity", an episode of the 1980s version of The Twilight Zone.

He appeared with Stockard Channing in the Broadway production of Six Degrees of Separation. McNeill played the role of Jack in the national touring company of Into the Woods, Stephen Sondheim's Tony Award–winning musical, before returning to Los Angeles to pursue roles on television. He also featured in guest roles on several TV series, including L.A. Law, Quantum Leap, and Murder, She Wrote. He was a featured cast member on the short-lived 1992 series Going to Extremes. Another guest role that same year was in "The First Duty", an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which he played Nick Locarno, a Starfleet Academy cadet and squad leader who pressures fellow cadets (including Wesley Crusher) into covering up their wrongdoings. In 1995, he became a Trek regular on Star Trek: Voyager, in which he played Tom Paris, a Starfleet officer with a backstory similar to Locarno's. In 2023, he reprised the role of Nick Locarno in Star Trek: Lower Decks season four.

His other credits include Zebulun in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Paper Mill Playhouse.

Directing

McNeill began his directing career with four episodes of Voyager. He then wrote, produced, and directed two award-winning short films, The Battery starring Joshua Jackson and 9mm of Love, and began to direct other episodic television shows. While he has since performed as a guest star on television shows such as The Outer Limits and Crossing Jordan, McNeill is now focusing on his directing career, helming episodes of Dawson's Creek, Everwood, Star Trek: Enterprise, Dead Like Me, The O.C., One Tree Hill, Las Vegas, Summerland, and Supernatural. His directing credits for 2006–2007 included episodes of Desperate Housewives, Medium, Standoff, The Nine, The Knights of Prosperity, In Case of Emergency, What About Brian, and My Boys. In 2007, he directed the season-five premiere of Las Vegas, the pilot of Samantha Who?, and then signed on as a producer-director of the NBC show Chuck, helming numerous episodes, including the first episode of a television show to be broadcast entirely in three dimensional style. From 2010 through 2015, McNeill directed episodes of V, Smash, White Collar, Breaking In, The Mentalist, Blue Bloods, Suburgatory, Warehouse 13, Mind Games, and Red Band Society. In 2013, McNeill became an executive producer and director of Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce for all 5 seasons. As of 2019, he has directed episodes of the Fox series The Orville, as well as episodes of A Million Little Things, The Resident, and Suits, as well as executive produced and directed The Gifted. In 2021, McNeill executive produced and directed several episodes of the Disney+ series Turner & Hooch. In 2019, he became the producer-director on SYFY's Resident Alien, now in its 4th season. From 2022 to 2024, McNeill directed episodes of So Help Me Todd, True Lies, and Alert: Missing Persons Unit.

Podcast In May 2020, McNeill and Voyager co-star Garrett Wang started the podcast The Delta Flyers, wherein they discuss episodes of Voyager. The show has been successful enough that it has progressed to episodes of Deep Space Nine, with Armin Shimerman and Terry Farrell as regular hosts.

Politics On September 1, 2026, McNeill registered to run as a Democratic candidate for the Wasatch County Council, replacing the former nominee Patrick Saucier.

Personal life McNeill and his first wife, Carol, had three children together before their 2015 divorce.

In 2005, McNeill directed his then-teenaged daughter, Taylor, when she had a small role in the episode "The Pleiades" of the series Summerland.

His son Kyle is a singer-songwriter.

McNeill married Rebecca Jayne McNeill in Vancouver, Canada, on March 7, 2021.

Filmography

Films Year Title Credit Role Notes 1981 Sharky's Machine Teen on bus Uncredited role 1987 Masters of the Universe Kevin Corrigan 1997 Trekkies Himself 1998 The Battery Director and Executive Producer Short film 2000 9mm of Love Director, Writer, and Executive Producer 2002 Infested Eric 2011 FedCon XX: The SciFi Experience Himself Documentary

Television Year Title Credit Role Notes1985 Ein Fenster in Manhattan Eric TV movie The Twilight Zone Peter Wood "A Message from Charity" ABC Weekend Specials Erik Mason Season 9, Episode 2 1985–1988 All My Children Charlie Brent 1989 Mothers, Daughters and Lovers Actor TV movie1990 CBS Schoolbreak Special Richard Season 7, Episode 2 Quantum Leap Greg Truesdale "Good Night, Dear Heart" Lucky Chances Craven Richmond miniseries 1991 L.A. Law Mike Riley Season 6, Episode 21992 Star Trek: The Next Generation Cadet First Class Nicholas Locarno "The First Duty" Homefront Bill Caswell 4 episodes 1992–1993 Going to Extremes Colin Midford 17 episodes 1993 Spies Sam the coast guard TV movie1994 Murder, She Wrote Danny Kinkaid Season 11, Episode 4 Sisters Andrew Simms Season 5, Episode 4 Wild Oats Actor Season 1, Episode 1 One More Mountain Milt Eliot TV movie Second Chances Pete Dyson 3 episodes 1995–2001 Star Trek: Voyager Tom Paris 172 episodes; also directed 4 episodes1999 Monster! Co-Producer TV movie Early Edition Police Chief Joe Frawley Season 3, Episode 21 2000 The Journey of Allen Strange Director Season 3, Episode 13 2001–2003 Dawson's Creek 7 episodes 2001–2004 Star Trek: Enterprise 4 episodes as director2002 Crossing Jordan Matt Season 2, Episode 1 The Outer Limits Commander Ellis Ward "The Human Factor" Everwood Director Season 1, Episode 102003–2004 One Tree Hill 2 episodes Dead Like Me 2 episodes 2004 The Days 2 episodes 2004–2005 Summerland 4 episodes 2004–2007 Las Vegas 4 episodes2005–2006 The O.C. 2 episodes Desperate Housewives 2 episodes 2005–2013 Supernatural 2 episodes2005 Eyes Season 1, Episode 5 Medium Season 2, Episode 92006 Standoff Season 1, Episode 9 My Boys Season 1, Episode 5 The Danny Comden Project TV movie Jump 2007 Samantha Who? Season 1, Episode 1 The Knights of Prosperity 2 episodes The Nine Season 1, Episode 12 What About Brian Director and Producer 7 episodes as director, 3 episodes as producer In Case of Emergency Director Season 1, Episode 2 2007–2012 Chuck Executive Producer (2010–2012)Co-Executive Producer (2010)Supervising Producer (2008–2009)Producer (2007–2008)Director (2007–2012) Operative (#5.13) 73 episodes 2010 V Director Season 1, Episode 122012 Smash Season 1, Episode 14 Breaking In Season 2, Episode 6 White Collar Season 4, Episode 4 2012–2013 666 Park Avenue Director and Co-Executive Producer 3 episodes as director, 19 episodes as co-executive producer 2013 The Mentalist Director 3 episodes 2013–2018 Blue Bloods 2 episodes2014–2018 Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce Director and Executive Producer 14 episodes as director, 19 episodes as executive producer2014 Suburgatory Director 1 episode 2014 Warehouse 13 1 episode 2014 Mind Games 1 episode2015 Red Band Society 1 episode2016 Heartbeat Director and Executive Producer Directed "Pilot", 10 episodes as executive producer2017 Salvation Director 1 episode2017–2019 The Orville 2 episodes2018–2019 The Gifted Director and Executive Producer 3 episodes as director, 16 episodes as executive producer 2019 The Resident Director 1 episode 2019 A Million Little Things 1 episode2019SuitsDirector1 episode 2021–2025 Resident Alien Director, Executive Producer and Writer 6 episodes as director, 25 episodes as executive producer, 1 episode as writer 2021 Turner & Hooch Director and Co-Executive Producer 4 episodes2021–2023 Star Trek: Lower Decks Tom Paris, Nicholas Locarno 3 episodes 2022 So Help Me Todd Director Episode: "Second Second Chance" 2023 True Lies Episode: "Public Secrets" 2024 Alert: Missing Persons Unit Episode: "Gemma & Isabel" 2026 Stuart Fails to Save the Universe 2 episodes

Video games Year Title Role Notes 2000 Star Trek: Voyager – Elite Force Tom Paris Voice role 2015 Star Trek Online 2026 Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown

References

External links