Posted in: Audio Dramas, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: star trek, Star Trek: Khan

Star Trek: Khan Star Tim Russ: Franchise Should Embrace Audio Dramas

Star Trek: Khan star Tim Russ discussed being protective of Tuvok, audio dramas being a viable option for the franchise's future, and more.

With Paramount receiving more pitches for new shows than they're willing to greenlight from creatives, one project that shows definite potential is the audio drama, since the studio wouldn't need to commit nearly as many resources on the production side of things compared to committing to a full TV series or feature film. The first project of its kind, Star Trek: Khan taps into veteran creatives Nicholas Meyer, who directed two of the The Original Series films; writer and executive producer Kirsten Beyer, who's had a hand creatively in every Paramount+ live-action Star Trek series, and director Fred Greenhalgh, who's also worked on podcast series Undertow: Simpson Falls (2022), Overleaper (2022), and ElfQuest: Journey to Sorrow's End. The series bookends the events of TOS season one episode "Space Seed" to Meyer's 1982 film The Wrath of Khan that sees Khan Noonien Singh (voice of Naveen Andrews) trying to colonize and settle Ceti Alpha V alongside exiled mutineer Lt. Marla McGivers (voice of Wrenn Schmidt) and his band of Augments after Kirk tasked them to live in "paradise." Tim Russ, who reprises his role as Voyager fan favorite Tuvok, spoke to Bleeding Cool about how protective he's had to be of the Vulcan, suggesting any script changes, how the Star Trek franchise would benefit from embracing more projects for the audio drama format, and entertaining future ideas.

Star Trek: Khan Star Tim Russ on Protecting Tuvok, Using His Voiceover Experience Creatively, and Why the Star Trek Franchise Should Embrace Audio Dramas for More Storytelling Opportunities.

While you're working with Fred Greenhalgh, the director, and Kirsten Beyer on the script? Did you have any changes back and forth creatively, because I imagine, given how long you've been involved with the franchise as Tuvok and how protective you might be of the character, that you might have had a line or two changed?

Yeah, once in a while, if I'm playing in general with voiceover characters, there are moments in there where there might be something in the script that's written and the phrasing is either awkward, not as smooth, nor efficient. I'll ask about changing a line of dialogue, a word, or switching around the way a couple of words are written. I'll do that occasionally. It depends on the line. Sometimes, if the dialog has a problem, it's technical. Most of the time, it may be the way in which I might ask, "If Tuvok is speaking this way, it might sound a little better if we do it this way." Or in the case of [Star Trek: Khan], there was not that much of it, because they went over that dialogue very carefully and thoroughly

The audio drama format is something that's unique right now, considering these projects with TV shows and films or whatever coming out and everything. Did do you feel Khan opens the door as far as narrative possibilities that we might not otherwise see on screen? There are all these pitches with all different projects for these shows (like Year One, Legacy, and United) that we don't know where they're going with Paramount Skydance. Is this format here to stay in Trek, or would this be experimental?

I think this format is brilliant, in fact. I've done audiobooks in the past, and I did another project that was similar to this in terms of being presented like a radio play, which is just remarkable. They're wonderful not only to perform in, but the final project, when you get it done with all this, the music, sound effects, and the multiple actors doing voices, you can't beat this format in terms of presenting a story.

I can tell you firsthand that people I know personally listen to [Khan]. Boy, I got a reaction last night from a friend of mine who watched who was listening, and she told me she got goosebumps at one point in time, and this is just the audio version of a story, which is really amazing. There you are, you close your eyes, you imagine everything can be imagined in your head as to what everything looks like, what the actors are doing, what the characters are doing, and it just comes to life! There's tremendous potential for this medium to continue. Right alongside anything that's visual. I don't see any issue with this whatsoever, and I think they should continue doing these stories.

Well, Tim, I want to thank you for your time. I love your performance in the series, and one thing I hope they may explore in the future, in some form or some fashion, is after you made that cameo on Star Trek: Picard, I'm hoping to see a Captain Tuvok series and the possibilities of that in the future, potentially as an audio drama.

Yeah, man, thank you very much, but it's entirely out of my hands. It's up to the people [at Paramount] who make all those decisions. They call me, ask me, and that's how that works. We'll see what happens.

If you come back for Spaceballs 2, I look forward to seeing that, too.

We'll have to see about that. Who knows? They're just getting started.

Fingers crossed, man.

Fingers crossed. If I were a betting man, I'd say it was a very good bet.

Star Trek: Khan, which also stars Olli Haaskivi, Maury Sterling, Mercy Malick, and Zuri Washington, is now available with new episodes on Mondays through November 3rd.

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