Posted in: CBS, Star Trek, streaming, TV | Tagged: michelle hurd, patrick stewart, Raffi Musiker, star trek, Star Trek Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation

Star Trek: Picard Star Michelle Hurd Teases Raffi's Season 3 Journey

Michelle Hurd is the only new original cast member from season one of Star Trek: Picard confirmed to return for its final season. She plays Raffaela "Raffi" Musiker, a Starfleet engineer who Jean Luc (Patrick Stewart) trusted to help organize the Romulan rescue from Romulus, which was destroyed during the events of 2009's J.J. Abrams soft reboot of Star Trek. After unraveling the Romulan Tal Shiar plot to cull all Synths in season one, she also joined him to save the future by stopping the formation of the Confederation in season two. Hurd spoke to Trek Movie about what fans can expect to see about Raffi's future and sharing the screen with Next Generation cast in Picard's third and final season.

When asked about co-star Gates McFadden praising Hurd's stunt choreography, "It's interesting because when she said that, I literally was like, 'Gulp!'" She said. "Because I don't know if we're allowed to talk about any of that. But I will say, what Gates was referring to is a true event that happened while we were filming. I think that's all I can say." The actress also thrives on doing her own action scenes. "Not only on Star Trek but in general, I enjoy doing my own stunts. I'm a black belt in martial arts, and I love stunt stuff. And you know, at a certain point, you won't be able to do it anymore, so I do them as much as I can. So I pretty much do all my stunts."

From what little we see of Hurd's character, it seems like Raffi's made a darker turn and a new direction. "Evolution. Absolutely, not reinvention [of my character] because she's still Rafi," she said. "But what Raffi gets to explore, and where she is in season 3 is really exciting. And it was all about Terry [Matalas]. We talked about it in season 2. He pitched me this fantastic idea, and literally, as soon as it came out of his mouth, I was like, 'I am one hundred percent!' I think fans are going to be really excited about it. She's still Raffi, but she's got some amazing adventures to explore."

As far as acclimating to the TNG cast and if it feels like a different show, "Oh, no, it's still absolutely 'Picard.' I mean, I have to say that what I found during the three seasons is that our three seasons are almost standalone seasons," Hurd said. "And they're very much dictated by our showrunners. The first season was Michael Chabon, who's a novelist. So it was almost like reading a really rich book. The second season is Akiva Goldsman, who you know won an Oscar for 'A Beautiful Mind,' so it's all sort of cerebral stuff and time travel. The third season is Terry Matalas, who is an OG Trekkie. I mean, he was a PA on the set for Jeri Ryan's first day as Seven of Nine on 'Voyager'! And now he's a showrunner for the last season of 'Star Trek: Picard.' So it's literally a love letter to our fans and our family. I think everybody's going to be really happy about it."

Star Trek: Picard also stars Jonathan Frakes, Marina Sirtis, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Ryan, McFadden, and Brent Spiner, with season three premiering on February 16th on Paramount+.

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