Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: star trek, Starfleet Academy

Starfleet Academy: Brooks, Hawkins & Rosta on SAM, Darem/Caleb Rivalry

Starfleet Academy stars Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins & Sandro Rosta previewed the Star Trek series, their characters' journeys, and more.

With Strange New Worlds wrapping production on its fifth and final season as fans anticipate the fourth season, that leaves Starfleet Academy as the only active live-action Star Trek series for the foreseeable future as Paramount rolls out the final seasons of SNW, and that puts incredible pressure on the latest crop of cadets, which includes the Kasqian, SAM (Kerrice Brooks); the Khionian, Darem Reymi (George Hawkins); and resilient human orphan, Caleb Mir (Sandro Rosta). They're certainly not alone. Along with their peers from the far reaches of the galaxy, they also have invaluable guidance from the faculty at Starfleet Academy, led by Chancellor and Captain, Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), who is brought back into the Federation fold in part, thanks to her second chance with Caleb and their mutual quest to find his mother (Tatiana Maslany). Brooks, Hawkins, and Rosta spoke to Bleeding Cool about how Caleb finds himself in an unfamiliar position, having to trust others when he's been independent his entire life, how he and Darem contrast each other in their rivalry, and how Brooks found her voice as Star Trek's second live-action featured major hologram character and learning under Robert Picardo, who's reprising his Voyager role as The Doctor.

Starfleet Academy Stars Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, and Sandro Rosta on Leading Star Trek's Newest Generation

Sandro, when we first enter the series, we watch it through Caleb's eyes. I was wondering how you break down his protective nature, particularly in his relationship with Ake, Tarima, and the trust he has in his peers.

Rosta: Yeah, so I think that Caleb's had such a deficit. He has such a definite love and care in his life, and as soon as he receives that, he needs more of it automatically. His system is in desperate need of it, and it's an unstoppable process that begins to break down his walls, yeah.

Hawkins: Break down the rules.

Rosta: Yeah, man.

Kerrice, how challenging was it for you to play a hologram? Was this something you had to rewire your brain for that character as an actor? Did you lean with Bob Picardo for guidance?

Brooks: We actually didn't talk about anything photonic, weirdly enough, but we had a lot of like…I don't even want to call it "relationship building" because that sounds so intentional, but we ended up building a relationship through how much we hung out. [Bob] took me in from day one, because the first day I met him, I started crying. [Sighs] Yeah, that happens. It's always with me, but yeah, with Bob, we got right into it because he's so open-armed and open-hearted.

It was just like, "I can allow myself to fall into you." With (my character) Sam, it was really fun to get a step into his shoes because I felt like someone that I had always…it felt like my inner child, literally, getting to play. When I was younger, my nickname was "Reese Cup," and so every day before a set, I'd be like, "All right, Reese Cup, let's go! This is your world, go ahead and play. I'm going to put my trauma to the back, and you go ahead and do your thing." It was Reese Cup's world, and I did a lot of yoga to open up different channels and open my hips, because you store trauma in the hips, and I was just like, "She can't come in with any trauma," so I did a lot of, like, releasing of the physical.

George, Sandro, what's it like building that rivalry between Darem and Caleb? Was it as competitive on set as it was as you were filming your scenes?

Hawkins: It's like the exact same relationship…no, it's not. We are very close friends. I love Sandro to bits. He teaches me so much spiritually and physically as a man, what it means to be a good leader and a good friend to other people. He's also a good actor, a good storyteller. When it comes to action, you've got to put that aside, and those two conflicting origins create friction because there's a resentment of each other. They are these opposites that they didn't have in their own lives, so I think something that Darem finds infuriating, he's jealous of, and there's envy, because he wants to take it away from Caleb, is the freedom of choice. He's not necessarily joyful, but Darem is jealous of the freedom in [Caleb's] life, "You can go wherever you want. You're running to the far corners of the world," and I think Darem feels quite trapped in it, and he's not.

Rosta: He's not tied down.

Hawkins: The pressure.

Rosta: Yeah. I think that we couldn't have done it if it weren't that way. George, from the moment that we met, has just been so open, kind, and truthful. He's really bared his soul, not just to me, but to everyone around him, and that makes having to be mad at him, like, hard, but also easy. I can convince myself that, like, "Damn, this guy has everything that a dude needs to have and he's just annoying because of it," so it is what it is.

Hawkins: It is what it is, man.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which also stars Bella Shepard, Karim Diane, Gina Yashere, Zoë Steiner, Oded Fehr, Tig Notaro, Rebecca Quin, and Paul Giamatti, premieres with its first two episodes on January 15th on Paramount+.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!

Stay up-to-date and support the site by following Bleeding Cool on Google News today!