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Karim Diané

Karim Diané is an American actor and singer known for playing Jay-Den Kraag in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Kris Greene in One of Us Is Lying.

Biography

Karim Diané brings a quieter kind of Klingon to Star Trek: Starfleet Academy as Jay-Den Kraag, a science-minded cadet who hopes to become a medical officer.

Before joining Star Trek, Diané moved from music and reality television into recurring roles in StartUp and One of Us Is Lying.

Known for

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy

He plays Klingon medical-sciences cadet Jay-Den Kraag.[1]

One of Us Is Lying

He played college student Kris Greene in the Peacock mystery drama.[3]

StartUp

He appeared in an earlier recurring television role as Blue.[6]

Career highlights

  1. Music And X Factor

    Music came before screen acting

    Diané sang from a young age and appeared on The X Factor USA before turning his attention toward acting.[10][6]

  2. Early Acting Work

    Smaller roles opened a television path

    An acting audition led to representation and early work that included a recurring role in StartUp.[1][6]

  3. One Of Us Is Lying

    Kris Greene became his first substantial recurring role

    Diané played Kris Greene across both seasons of Peacock's mystery drama One of Us Is Lying.[3][2]

  4. Becoming Jay Den

    Star Trek required a physical transformation

    He played Jay-Den through Klingon prosthetics and sought advice from franchise performers Michael Dorn and Doug Jones.[11]

  5. Current Starfleet Role

    Jay-Den anchors his current screen profile

    Starfleet Academy premiered in 2026, and a completed second and final season remains forthcoming.[12][13]

Good to know

Jay-Den is Star Trek's first openly gay Klingon

The distinction belongs to the fictional character and should not be used to infer anything about the actor's private life.[2][10]

The Klingon transformation became faster

Diané said the prosthetic process fell from about five hours to roughly two by the end of the first season.[11]

The second season will be the last

The second season had completed filming when Paramount and CBS confirmed the series would end with it.[13]

Washington roots

Karim Diané is from Washington, D.C., and has Guinean and Congolese family roots.[2][6]

His birthday is April 26

Diané was born in Washington, D.C., and celebrates his birthday on April 26.[7][6][14][4]