The shortest segment of the Star Trek Universe at San Diego Comic-Con was for the upcomingStar Trek: Starfleet Academyseries. In addition to announcing four legacy stars added to the cast, the executive producers offered some insights into how this is a different kind of Star Trek show.
Hunter hype and crying Giamatti
Showrunners Alex Kurtzman and Noga Landau were the sole participants for the Starfleet Academy series, which they confirmed would begin filming in August. Kurtzman said, “We start shooting very soon, and everybody’s now starting to arrive in Toronto.” He also kicked things off by highlighting the two big stars attached to the show, starting with hyping Holly Hunter as the Academy chancellor
Alex Kurtzman: Holly Hunter will be joining us as the chancellor of the school… Holly is unbelievable… For those of you who haven’t seen Raising Arizona, you need to leave here and go see her right away. For those of you who haven’t seen The Piano, she won an Oscar for it. I could go on and on, she is just incredible. And she’s going to be a very different kind of Chancellor and Captain.
Noga Landau at San Diego Comic-Con 2024 (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+)
The pair then told the story of how Paul Giamatti was cast as the season 1 villain:
Alex Kurtzman: So this happened because he was doing press for The Holdovers, and when he was asked about the part that he would most want to play, he said, “I want to play a Klingon on Star Trek.”… So we called his agent and said, “Was that a thing he just said, was that a bit?”… And she called back and she said, “He’d love to sit down with you. We got on a Zoom with him and he cried. He was so excited at the prospect of playing in the world of Star Trek and he was talking about how meaningful it was him… It was just one of those moments where you’re like, “Oh, one of the greatest actors in the world, and he really wants to come join us.” So that was pretty amazing.
Noga Landau: He also chose which role he wanted to play. We came to him and we said, “You could be this guy or that guy, or that guy.” And he thought about it and he came back and told us that the part he plays is the one he wanted.
Alex Kurtzman:We thought it was going to be like one episode because his schedule is so busy, and he was like, “No, I want to play the villain.” We’re like, “That’s the whole season.” He was like, “Great, let’s do it!”
TrekMovie first reported that Giamatti expressed an interest in joining Star Trek back in 2011. He specifically said he wanted to play a Klingon, something he brought up again in an interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2019, this time saying he was flexible and was open to playing a different alien. Earlier this year, friend of TrekMovie and Danish movie journalist Johan Albrechtsen used part of his The Holdovers junket interview with Giamatti to get him to do an “audition” for Star Trek, by having him recreate his famous “I am not drinking any f###ing Merlot!” moment from the 2004 wine-themed film Sideways in Klingon. It appears that got Alex Kurtzman’s notice. Here again, is that fun video from Moovy TV…
A “hybrid” format
The executive producer explained how they are approaching the show with a different format:
Alex Kurtzman: It’s a really exciting show for us, because, well I won’t give away too much about the show, but I do think that we’re kind of finding a new format which is interesting… Kind of a hybrid format, which I’m very excited about.
The panel also unveiled a video showing the young actors being cast as cadets, with Kurtzman revealing they only have one more part to fill. He also offered some insight into how they are shaping these cadet characters:
Alex Kurtzman: How long have we been talking about what it must be like in those hallowed halls. Who are the captains before they become captains? And who are the people who don’t become captains and the mistakes they can make and the vulnerabilities that they have that you don’t always see from people who are militarized and already in Starfleet? It’s a really pivotal point in everyone’s lives.
In case you missed it, here is that casting video for the new cadets…
Full Star Trek Universe panel video
Paramount+ has also released the full San Diego Comic-Con Hall H panel on Youtube…
More Star Trek SDCC 2024
Check out our SDCC category for more Star Trek news and updates coming out of San Diego Comic-Con for Strange New Worlds, Lower Decks, Section 31, Prodigy, and more.
Keep up with news about theStar Trek Universe at TrekMovie.com.
