TrekMovie is Star Trek: Strange New World Ahead of the imminent Season 2 debut, Anson Mount (Captain Christopher Pike) and Rebecca Romijn (First Mate Una Chin Riley, aka “Number One”) will discuss the show’s new features, characters, and We talked about what was important. lower deck crossover episode.
Note: Interview contains some content minor spoilers and Edited for brevity and clarity.
Una and Pike are free to be dad and mom on the USS Enterprise
Some of the questions focused on differences between individual characters, most notably Pyke’s encounter with his alternate future self in the season 1 finale and Una’s arrest for hiding a general engineering past. There was also a question about the aftermath of time.
Anson, Pike went through a specific arc tied to his vision of the future, ending with an encounter with an alternate future self. Will this change his perspective or your performance in Season 2?
Anson Mount: That is of A problem we had to deal with in Episode 101. Not to get over it, but mostly to put Pike back on duty and survive an existential crisis. I don’t want to forget it entirely because it leaves out a very important aspect of the character that makes him brave in a different way than any captain we’ve seen so far. I think.But you want to stop staring at your navel [laughs]. So we did. And it was always that aspect of the character that his challenge continues, and I hope it continues for a while, that reminds me that the journey is the destination. not the other way around. And I think the introduction of the relationship with Captain Battelle was a very important part of that.
Rebecca, were there certain aspects of your character that you were excited to explore in Season 2?
Rebecca Roman: We tackled Episode 2 and watched as Una finally freed herself after years of living in disguise. I think it would be a great transformation for this character to release herself from there and move on and let her crew and everyone know who she really is. It will be fun to move on from there.
How do you feel about leaders like Una and Pike using their own weaknesses and vulnerabilities to nurture and support their crew?
Anson Mount: We talked earlier about our feelings about our relationship and the corners you draw within yourself as an actor. And we’ve been friends since Academy. And I believe that Una will be a friend and confidante to Pyke and that I can actually show him what I consider to be my weakness that is constantly self-critical and swirling in my head. If you turn it inside out, you’ll find that it’s actually a strength. But you can’t stick to it. must be active. That’s why she’s so important to him as captain.
Rebecca Roman: I think that the level of family is reflected in the staff. I think we have developed a family dynamic. In a way, I think we are mothers and fathers. There is a deep sense of support and trust in their relationship, and I think that permeates the rest of the crew.
With less pressure in Season 2, did you get to explore different aspects of how you play your character and take more risks?
Rebecca Roman: I speak for myself. I think after episode 2, Una is truly set free and no longer hiding and living ashamed of this embarrassing secret she’s been hiding for years. So from now on, I think she’s going to change a lot for her.
Anson Mount: When you work with smart writers like us, really cool things happen around season two of a TV show. You will notice that they are starting to get closer to you little by little. Because the sense of character you have from the inside is what they are trying to reach from the outside. Conversations about Ark often lead to very useful ideas. And they were very proactive in doing that with us.
Anson Mount as Pike in Season 2 strange new world
It grows a lot in season 2…especially episode 9
The duo also addressed recent comments about genre expansion and more, and also talked about some of the new features for Season 2.
How much pressure did you take off in Season 2?
Rebecca Roman: Sometimes it takes a little more pressure. We’ve seen shows where the second season doesn’t compare to the first season. So we wanted Season 2 to be even bigger and better than Season 1. And then we took some real chances, made big changes genre-wise, and tried a lot. I look forward to sharing it with all of you.
Anson Mount: Well, we’ve really benefitted from a network that showrunners have learned to trust when they want to make big changes. And just as we continue to build this ship, so do their investments. Therefore, there is a great deal of support from the network.
What do you think will surprise viewers the most in Season 2?
Rebecca Roman: i took some very Season 2 sees a major shift in genre.A few more episodes are planned [in the second half of the season] that is TRUE there. So we are very proud of them. we are very excited Anson mentioned earlier that with Episode 9 nearing the end of the season, everyone can get tired. Everyone is almost ready to go home. They brought us something very new. So we had to work on weekends. And we were excited about it too. It was like having the extra wind behind the sails that we needed at that point in the season.
Anson Mount: I think it’s the brevity that the network has given us now. There were some episodes in the first season that they weren’t too sure about. And both of those episodes came to mind for us. So the showrunners were free to work with the genre.Akiba [Goldsmith]’s motto is still “Star Trek can do a lot”. So you’re not just playing around with the message that’s being conveyed, but you’re playing around with how you get there within the episodic structure. And genre is a fun way to talk to writers about what we’re not doing and want to do, and it keeps everyone excited to be there. I think this is often an undervalued currency in filmmaking, especially the level of excitement on television.
Ethan Peck as Spock and Rebecca Romijn in Season 2 strange new world
why lower deck Need a crossover Jonathan Frakes
One of the most talked about elements of the upcoming season is Star Trek: Lower Deck Two characters crossover from animated adult comedy to live action. Crossover (episode 7) was directed by Jonathan Frakes.
What was it like doing comedy in a Tony Newsom and Jack Quaid crossover episode?
Rebecca Roman: ridiculously fun. It is very fun.
Anson Mount: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a guest star participate in the material with so much ownership.
Rebecca Roman: They both had very good backgrounds in improvisation and never did the same thing twice. they did something different. They took it off the page and played with it in every take. It was so fun. And having Jonathan Frakes there was very important in blending the two worlds in a kind of massage. They’re from this animated show and now they’re on the Enterprise, which is a very, very different tone. It was really important that he was there to blend those tones.
Anson Mount: I don’t think anyone else could have directed this episode. it was fun.
Rebecca Roman: It was just awesome.
Tawny Newsom as Mariner and Jack Quaid as Boilerer in Season 2 strange new world
and in the future
Stay tuned for more interviews from the press junkets to come. Season 2 premieres Thursday, June 15 on Paramount+ in the US, UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Season 2 will also stream on Paramount+ in South Korea, with a premiere date to be announced at a later date. A new episode of the 10-episode season will air every Thursday after the premiere.
season 1 of Star Trek: Strange New World is currently streaming exclusively on Paramount+ in the US, UK, Latin America, Australia, South Korea, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. The production will air on Bell Media’s CTV SF channel and will be streamed on Crave in Canada and SkyShowtime in Northern Europe, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Central and Eastern Europe.
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