"Star Trek: Strange New Words" Is a Top-Notch Addition to An Iconic Franchise

For me the main reason is the tone which strongly resembles that of the original series According to executive producer Akiva Goldsman that resemblance is not accidental quotWe tried to harken back to some of the values and styles of the original series the one that for those of us who are a little older ignited our Trek journeysquot he explained recently while promoting the seriesquotWe have tried to look back and interpolate some parts of the original series that might not have made it to the screen sincequot he continued quotSome things that might have happened just before Capt Kirk took over the Enterprise and as such some familiar faces are finding new lifequotBeyond Pike two familiar characters from the original series include Science Officer Spock Ethan Peck pictured above and Cadet Nyota Uhura Celia Rose Gooding characters originally brought to life by Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols respectively To say that reimagining an iconic popculture character like Spock doesn39t come easy is an understatement quotThere are a lot of challengesquot Peck said of the role quotThe ears are burdensome in many ways but I would say in our series it39s finding the balance between his human and emotional sides human and Vulcan sides and between his deeper emotional sides and his deeper logical sides We go much more into his inner life and world and it feels as though we39re treading new ground So it39s a very delicate dance I39m attempting with the wonderful cast and crew we havequotStill there is a box and limitationsquot he added quotBut the more you zoom into the box the infinitely larger it becomes In a way there are boundaries to playing him but as we zoom in on him and his past life and experiences we haven39t yet seen we39re unfolding our kind of infinite possibilities of him and his life A lot of it is done in the writing I get a new script and I39m faced with something totally unfamiliar to me in my work as Spock So the sky is kind of the limit in my opinion but there are rulesquotThe importance of reimagining Uhura one of television39s truly groundbreaking characters when it comes to diversity and inclusion is not lost on Gooding pictured above quotI think there are so many incredible things that Nichelle brought to this characterquot she shared quotShe brought a level of brilliance and grace and I think that39s what made her character so iconic She was one of the first Black women in television not playing a role of service or servitude and she was just effortlessly brilliant capable and powerful I was very excited to have an opportunity as a young Black woman constantly looking for representation of herself in media to bring thatquotI39m also excited to sort of introduce a side of unsureness and uncertainty to her especially for this first seasonquot she continued quotI think something Nichelle had with the original Uhura was a level of understanding and clarity Having an opportunity to represent such an iconic character in a multifaceted way is an honor for me as an actor It39s also exciting to hear what other people think of it and to see the other sides of Uhura that we didn39t see because of the limitations for Black women in film in the 3960squotMount is no stranger to the world of genre entertainment having appeared in both the Marvel Dr Strange and Star Trek universes However sitting in the USS Enterprise captain39s chair was beyond his wildest dreams quotThere was something about Star Trek that was far off the radar for mequot he said quotIt wasn39t even on my bucket list and I never thought I39d end up captaining the Enterprise Every single day I39m on set it39s both disbelief and a feeling of tremendous gratitude I think having a healthy dose of humility and appreciation are also the greatest qualities in Captain Pike If I can live up to him at all it39s through my appreciation of being a part of this universequotBeing accepted by the legion of Star Trek fans doesn39t hurt either quotThe fan reaction has been unlike anything I39ve experienced in my careerquot he smiled in closing quotIt39s like being an actor and trying to judge your own work and it39s impossible to judge sometimes Getting that kind of feedback is both surprising and deeply encouragingquotStar Trek Strange New Worlds is available to stream on Paramount with new episodes dropping weeklyClick the social buttons to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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"Star Trek: Strange New Words" Is a Top-Notch Addition to An Iconic Franchise

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Steve Gidlow

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"Star Trek: Strange New Words" Is a Top-Notch Addition to An Iconic Franchise

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