(written from a Production point of view)
Lukas Behnken (born 9 September 1979; age 41) is an actor who appeared as a Valiant sciences cadet in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sixth season episode "Valiant". As a background actor Behnken received no credit for his appearance.
Born in Landsberg, Bavaria, West Germany, Behnken studied acting under coaches such as Tracy Robert, Kris Kryer, and Scott Sedita. Among his first television appearances beside Deep Space Nine were episodes of ER (1998, with Felecia M. Bell), Early Edition (2000), MTV's Undressed (2000), Titans (2000, with Mark L. Taylor and Clement von Franckenstein), Gilmore Girls (2001, with John Balma), and Grounded for Life (2001, with Richard Riehle and Lee Arenberg).
In 2001 he shot his first feature film, the horror film Fangs alongside Corbin Bernsen and Mark L. Taylor. Furth film credits include the action drama Inferno (2001, with Dean Stockwell), the short television film Taylor's Wall (2001), the comedy Not Another Teen Movie (2001, with Ed Lauter, Jeanette Miller, Michael Ensign, Sean Smith, and James Read), and the drama Local Boys (2002, with Wade Andrew Williams).
The following years, Behnken had guest and recurring roles in the television series Touched By an Angel (2002), Do Over (2002), Presidio Med (2002, with Mark Moses, Andrew Robinson, and John Rubinstein), Dawson's Creek (2003, starring Joshua Jackson), Boston Public (2003, with Jeri Ryan and Andreana Weiner), Fillmore! (2002-2003, featuring the voices of Kurtwood Smith and John Rhys-Davies), Run of the House (2003, with Joel Brooks), Cold Case (2004, with Joseph Campanella and John Marzilli), 7th Heaven (2004, starring Catherine Hicks and Stephen Collins and with Christopher Michael), and Grey's Anatomy (2005).
Other film credits include the comedy The Challenge (2003), the crime thriller John Hustle (2004, with Hank Harris and Raymond Cruz), the thriller Confession (2005, starring Chris Pine, Kate Vernon, Bruce Davison, and Robert Pine), and the drama Bella (2006).
In 2005 Behnken portrayed the recurring character Topher Cole in six episodes of the drama series Everwood where he appeared alongside Trek performers Stephanie Niznik, Jimmy Bennett, Tom Virtue, Freda Foh Shen, Patrick Fabian, Brenda Strong, and John Savage.
More recently, Behnken had guest roles in Journeyman (2007), Without a Trace (2008, with Enrique Murciano, John Marzilli, and Gilbert B. Combs), and Saving Grace (2009, with Leon Rippy, Steven Culp, Mark L. Taylor, and Philip Boyd) and was featured in the short drama When the Body Speaks (2008), the short western Mouth of Caddo (2008), the short thriller Conscience Divided (2009) on which he also worked as associate producer, the drama Devil's Night (2009), and the western Legend of Hell's Gate (2009).
