Do you really think they would have decided to hire one actor for all three roles? And yeah, it kind of is a criticism because the point is she had that much range as an actress, playing multiple iconic characters which people have no problem keeping separate in their minds rather despite all being played by one person.
It wouldn’t have to take a dozen actors to replace Jeffrey Combs either… but good luck finding one actor to replace all of his roles.
This isn’t a criticism of Majel Barrett, but it didn’t “take” 3 actresses to play her roles, those were just hiring decisions.
Do you really think they would have decided to hire one actor for all three roles? And yeah, it kind of is a criticism because the point is she had that much range as an actress, playing multiple iconic characters which people have no problem keeping separate in their minds rather despite all being played by one person.
It wouldn’t have to take a dozen actors to replace Jeffrey Combs either… but good luck finding one actor to replace all of his roles.