by Gill Pringle in LA
The Star Trek franchise is boldly going where no film or television series has gone before – back to school.
In Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, Oscar-winning actress Holly Hunter assumes the role of both Chancellor of the Starfleet Academy and the Captain of the U.S.S. Athena.
Here, she must tackle something far more deadly than the franchise’s usual extra-terrestrial lifeforms – teenagers – as this new chapter introduces a young group of cadets as they navigate friendships, rivalries, first loves and a new enemy that threatens both the Academy and the Federation itself.
It’s been 125 years since the galaxy-wide cataclysmic event known as The Burn had every active warp core explode. The event caused widespread death and destruction and led to the near-collapse of the United Federation of Planets.
But, since then, the Academy has been reopened, and the first class is now assembled as the ship lands on earth, in 32nd century San Francisco.
Starfleet isn’t your typical glossy, hero-driven sci-fi story. Instead, it uses its futuristic setting as a backdrop for something much more human: leadership under pressure, moral compromise, and the emotional cost of responsibility.
The cast of generally unknown actors features a few familiar faces including Robert Picardo, reprising his role as The Doctor he originated in Star Trek: Discovery, while Paul Giamatti plays Nus Braka, part Klingon, part Tellarite, as the guest villain in the initial season.
Helmed by filmmaker Alex Kurtzman – as both showrunner and director – the Starfleet cadets are portrayed by Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins and Bella Shepard, plus Zoë Steiner and Tig Notaro.
If it seems like a departure for Holly Hunter, best known for her roles in dramas The Piano, Broadcast News and The Firm, then the original Star Trek shows hold a special place in her heart.
“Star Trek does begin in a place of nostalgia for so many people, and it can start at the beginning of your life or in your actual childhood, when you are surrounded by your home, your family and the television set. Or the sofa that smelled a particular way to you when you were a kid,” says the actress who plays Chancellor Nahla Ake.
“I would drink grape juice when I was watching Star Trek with my father, with crushed ice that he crushed for me. So, all these visceral things that come back to you, I think, with the two words, ‘Star Trek’,” she adds.
“So even though I’m not a Star Trek afficionado, it still makes me feel kind of like a child. And I think that’s one of the reasons why a lot of people will watch Star Trek, because it gives you a sense of wonder,” she adds.
With the venerable franchise now celebrating its 60th anniversary, there’s something familiar but also new about Starfleet, which Hunter was eager to explore. “I think that these stories are always about conflict. And the world is always in flux. And often, we write stories about broken worlds and how we are going to evolve from that. And I think that Starfleet Academy, but also Star Trek, is constantly examining that flux.
“And we start with the Federation and Starfleet Academy which is in a real state of transition. And the transition is a rough one from The Burn 125 years ago. They’ve got to evolve to this new world. This is the beginning of the exploration of that story, of that conflict.”
Giamatti agrees. “Science fiction in general is about change and growth and the future and inheriting the future – so it’s always gonna be about, hopefully, trying to improve your lot now, trying to make things better.
“But the Federation is in a transitional state here, which is exciting and different and new. And also troubling. The Federation’s not supposed to be in trouble. The Federation is the vanguard that’s making sure everything okay, so it’s interesting,” says The Holdovers star.
As a self-avowed Trekkie in real life, Giamatti says, “I can’t lay claim to being some kind of encyclopaedic expert but I love it, and I’ve grown up with it. I love science fiction in general. It’s a youthful genre and keeps you kinda young and I grew up reading a lot of it, so there’s a nostalgia that takes you back to remind you of being young. It’s always new ideas, new perspectives and exciting, imaginative worlds,” he says of the iconic franchise.
Among the many Star Trek themes that still resonate with him today are the crew’s core principals. “I always enjoyed the emphasis on empathy and openness to everybody, including other cultures. That seems to me like a bedrock value that is instilled in people. You know, the prime directive is to not mess with things, but to be open to them, although that is a complicated notion in itself. Should you have boundaries, or should you try to interfere in things? I don’t know. But empathy to me feels like a really basic value,” he says.
Likewise, Hunter says: “I also think Star Trek is about discussion and communication – communication across the galaxy with planets who speak different languages or have different political beliefs. But I think Star Trek is all about conversation and people continuing to discuss. And be open with each other. To get to negotiations, and then to solutions for the community.”
If some actors might be deterred by inheriting the Star Trek legacy, then Hunter is only excited. “It’s so cool because this is the first Star Trek iteration that has focused exclusively on the Academy, which I think is just a fresh, new thing for the entirety of the legacy of the series.
“And then you bring in all these fresh new actors into the mix. It’s chaotic and spontaneous and joyful and relaxed and tragic. And they bring their own drama to the show, so it’s a big playground,” says the actress.
When it came to portraying a school chancellor, she had no interest in playing stereotypes. “There’s this whole idea of rigidity or discipline or punishment and all those things. And sometimes, when I’m creating a character, I think of what I don’t wanna be.
“I wanted to play the opposite of those things and definitely be looser and easygoing with change. And children and youth are all about change. They’re changing all the time, and they don’t care about change. They don’t mind change. As you get older, you start minding change more and you want things to be the way that they were.
“I wanted to play the opposite of that. And even though – in the series – I am 422 years old, I still wanted to be youthful. I choose youth,” she says.
For Giamatti, every day on set where he sat in the make-up chair to transform into Nus Braka was a pinch-me moment. “I’m a space pirate. I mean, I’m a half-Klingon, half-Tellarite space pirate! It’s like I’ve been all over the galaxy. I probably time-travelled. Who knows?” he exclaims with sheer delight.
“And it’s a huge open door to your imagination. Everything about it is just like a crazy drug to get your imagination going, so that’s been fantastic. But then within that, you’re dealing with these very human dilemmas where you figure out why he’s so ticked off at the world.
“He’s got very human dimensions and he’s complicated, like a deeply troubled child inside – and then it’s got the fantastical thing that takes you in all directions. It’s been wonderful,” he enthuses.
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy is streaming now on Paramount+
