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Posted in: Paramount+, Star Trek, TV | Tagged: star trek, Starfleet Academy
Starfleet Academy: Paul Giamatti on "Over-the-Top" Villain, Nus Braka
Star Trek: Starfleet Academy star Paul Giamatti on villainous Klingon-Tellarite Nas Braka, his motivations and backstory, and more.
Article Summary
- Paul Giamatti dives into his over-the-top villainous role as Nus Braka in Starfleet Academy.
- Giamatti reveals challenges in playing a half-Klingon, half-Tellarite hybrid with unique traits.
- Nus Braka is a dangerous pirate and criminal mastermind with a personal vendetta against Starfleet.
- Get insights into Nus Braka's backstory, motivations, and his intense rivalry with Captain Nahla Ake.
An actor of Paul Giamatti's caliber deserves nothing but the best challenges as an actor. It's difficult enough as an actor to tackle one of Star Trek's most storied cultures like the Klingons, but to also play a hybrid as half-Tellarite, presents its own set of challenges as a featured villain, Nus Braka, in the upcoming Paramount+ series Starfleet Academy. The two-time Oscar nominee appeared at CCXP to break down what was needed out of him.
Starfleet Academy: Paul Giamatti Teases at What Makes Nus Braka Tick
With Giamatti's history of playing over-the-top villains, it almost seemed elementary. "You're supposed to have more fun playing a bad guy. And they came to me and said they wanted me to be really over the top, and I'm playing a half Klingon, half Tellarite," the Sideways (2004) star told the crowd (via TrekMovie.com). "And those are really, really aggressive aliens. So I said, I'm going to be REALLY over the top, are you okay with that? And they said, sure. So I'm really over the top. I had a lot of fun."
Giamatti described how he achieved balance in his role, "They said to me, you can't be a full Klingon, because we have a full Klingon. So you're going be half. So one thing I really remember… they talked about how Klingons have no sense of personal space. So I was always too close to everybody. I would get way too close to everybody all the time. That was the big Klingon move that I wanted to have. And the Tellarites are incredibly argumentative, so there was that. But he's interesting because he's not entirely either one of those things, and he's his own sort of aggressive hybrid. So I was free to actually make up a lot of what I was doing."
In the clip, it's revealed that Nus has a history with USS Athena Captain Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), as evidenced by his intimidating display. "Well, he's a pirate, kind of. He's a little bit of a pirate. He's a kind of he's got his finger in every kind of criminal activity. He's a smuggler. He's a trafficker, of all kinds," Giamatti explained. "And he leads a group called the V'Nari Raal [sp?], who are pirates, basically. So he's been all over the galaxy. And he's a lowlife. And he's a nobody who thinks he's a somebody. And he likes to clown around and play the fool and stuff. But he's a very dangerous psychopath underneath it all."
For more on Giamatti describing Nus' attitudes toward the Starfleet cadets, obsession with Ake, his look, and more, you can check out the whole interview. Starfleet Academy, which also stars Sandro Rosta, Karim Diané, Kerrice Brooks, George Hawkins, Bella Shepard, Zoë Steiner, and Rebecca Quin, premieres January 15th on Paramount+.
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