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Star Trek: Melissa Navia Discusses SNW, Season 2, Galaxy Quest & More

As we loom closer to the May 5th premiere of The Original Series prequel Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, anticipation builds for the classic storytelling fans have been longing for since the franchise's revival on Paramount+. Melissa Navia, who plays the U.S.S. Enterprise's helmsman Lt. Erica Ortegas is well aware of fan anticipation and she's more than happy to meet those expectations head-on. I spoke with the actress about how she dealt with the hype from within her own loved ones, the faith Paramount placed on the series for its season two renewal, and how she compared her initial experience on the bridge to the film Galaxy Quest.

Bleeding Cool: Following the reception for current Star Trek shows in "Discovery" and "Picard," what kind of pressure have you felt for "Strange New Worlds"?

Melissa Navia: I'll say there's immense pressure, but I love it. One story I like to tell is one of my brothers-in-law is a Trekkie. When he found out I had booked Star Trek, my sister was very much like, 'Don't bother her with any questions.' One night he texted me and he was like, 'I just need to know. Is it Strange New Worlds?' I'm like, 'Yeah' and he's like, 'This is the one we have all been waiting for.' That was when I was kind of like, 'Oh my goodness!' I'm like, 'I can't tell you how many times I've heard that or how many times people have told me that Captain Pike is in their top three of favorite captains.' I'm just kind of like I'm like, 'You guys have seen nothing yet!' What I like to keep telling everybody is that 'The show is in such fantastic hands and it's being run really by people who love the franchise.' So I keep telling everybody. You even get the sense from the fans on social media where they're just like, 'I want this to be so good.' I don't even know how to contain the excitement. I kind of just want to reach out and I'll be like, 'It's going to be okay. Just trust me. It's going to be great. You're going to get a kick out of it.' So that's why the cast is as equally as excited as the fan base for May 5th to come because we really want to share with everyone what we've been working on. Also, the fact that we're already deep into season two is just wild. [Ed. Note: good to know!]

BC: Did you have to shoot the seasons back-to-back?

Navia: As an actor, you're always excited to hear that your show has been renewed. I think we've all as actors been in situations, it's always kind of up in the air. I think there was just so much excitement from CBS and the producers and just everyone behind the scenes when they were starting to see episodes that I think that maybe in the fall. I don't know, the pandemic has made time all kind of just one big, massive confusion. Somewhere in the fall, we got the word that we were being picked up for season two and we'd be back to filming without season one, even airing. That's always exciting, because we're back to it, we're back to work, but it's also this kind of this strange thing we're living in where we're working on a second season. You guys still haven't seen what we're doing for season one. It's strange, but I would not I would not trade it for anything. It's a wild ride and I'm enjoying it.

BC: What was your biggest struggle going in on set? Did it get any easier?

Navia: One question that we were all asked, we've all been asked a lot is, 'What was it like stepping onto the bridge for the first time?' My friends have all said, 'It was wonderful. It was amazing. It was surreal.' For me, I talk about 'Galaxy Quest', obviously forever ago. I saw it because Sam Rockwell was in it and I am a big fan. I always remember that scene with the pilot [Daryl Mitchell as Tommy Webber] and you have the Thermians. The crew needs to pull the ship out of the dock and everyone's looking at the pilot like he actually has to fly the ship out. I remember one time I was on the bridge and I'm sitting at the console. Anson [Mount] is sitting behind me in the captain's chair and is like, 'Melissa, have you ever seen 'Galaxy Quest'?' I'm like, 'Yes, I think about it every day!'

You see a lot of interactions among crew members that you might not expect. While I'm on the bridge, there was a lot of me being like, 'What's the right way to fly a starship?' What I learned is that it's not just the right way. It's the 'How do I do it?' In a way that pays homage to the helmsman who have come before me, but also makes it my own in a way that fans are going to be excited about and they're going to be really looking forward to watching every week. The more things progressed, I think the more confident we all became in our place in this world. It's a testament to the crew, the writers, the producers, and my cast members that everyone just kind of made you feel that you could not only be yourself but then also grow your character.

Before you knew it, we felt really confident in turbo lifts, space battles, and seeing things that aren't necessarily there. We got to play a lot in ARwall, which was cool and new. It's like a new type of green screen. So the ARwall was great because you actually are in the world as the audience will see it. As an actor, that's really great and was my first day on the ARwall. I was like, 'This is freaky.' Like the screens move and you think you're moving and the cameras are moving in you but after a while, it all just kind of becomes your new norm. Once it did, it all worked. I think you guys are really going to see just how much the cast gets along and how much that really comes across. That'll come across in the characters and stories and the adventures that we go on, on a weekly basis.

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