Kirk Thatcher

Kirk R. Thatcher was an associate producer of, and played the part of the music-blasting punk on the bus in that film. He asked Leonard Nimoy to play the role as he had experience with punk fashion, and once cast changed his wardrobe and costume. He filmed his scene on location on Saturday. He was also the voice of the Vulcan computer and the writer of its questions, lending his own name to Kiri-kin-tha.

Thatcher actually composed the song "I Hate You" which plays on his boombox in the movie.

Beyond the realm of Star Trek, Thatcher has worked as a puppeteer, writer and director in many projects for Jim Henson's "Muppets". In one such project, the 4 January 1998 episode of Muppets Tonight, a plot element revolved around the Muppet Beaker going on a Star Trek fan cruise, with George Takei as featured guest. Thatcher, who co-wrote the episode, appeared on-camera as a fan dressed as a Klingon, urging "Sulu" to take the bridge when the ship runs into trouble. Other episodes of Muppets Tonight involved cameos by William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from TOS, as well as guest stars from other series incarnations, including Whoopi Goldberg and Jason Alexander.

Thatcher began his career as a sculptor and model maker at Industrial Light & Magic in 1981, at the age of 19. He worked on such films as Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, E.T.:The Extra-Terrestrial and Poltergeist. He also worked on and. He played a punk with a boombox again in a cameo as a homeless man in 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming.