Richard William "Wil" Wheaton, born July 29, 1972, is an American actor, voice actor, and writer. He rose to fame at a young age for his role as Gordie Lachance in the coming-of-age film *Stand by Me* (1986). His career is inextricably linked to the character of Wesley Crusher in the television series *Star Trek: The Next Generation*, a role he played from 1987 to 1994 and later reprised in *Star Trek: Picard*. After establishing himself as a geek culture icon, he began a prolific career as a voice actor, voicing characters such as Aqualad in *Teen Titans*. He is also widely known for portraying a fictionalized version of himself in the sitcom *The Big Bang Theory*. As the creator and host of the web series *TableTop*, he helped popularize modern tabletop games, receiving several awards for the project, including a Diana Jones Award. He is also the author of several books, including the memoir *Just a Geek*.