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

Starfleet Academy Stars Hunter & Giamatti on Ake-Braka, Caleb & More

Starfleet Academy stars Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti discussed locking horns as Nahla Ake and Nus Braka, Star Trek's legacy, and more.

There's always something to be said about how much of an institution Star Trek has become, still going on strong after 60 years since the premiere of The Original Series on NBC, and it speaks to its relevance when it attracts powerhouses like Holly Hunter to play the lead Captain Nahla Ake for its latest series Starfleet Academy and Paul Giamatti play opposite her as the Klingon-Tellarite villain Nus Braka to chew scenes in a recurring role. The series follows the half-Lathanite who returns to the Federation to become captain of the USS Athena and chancellor of Starfleet Academy after reconnecting with a youth, Caleb (Sandro Rosta), whom she failed once before, but on a mutual mission to help find his mother (Tatiana Maslany) as long as he agrees to join the institution as part of the cadet class in the 32nd century in a post-Burn galaxy. Hunter and Giamatti spoke to Bleeding Cool about their characters' rivalry, whether they felt a shared sense of responsibility as Star Trek fans, and how Hunter worked with Rosta's Caleb to build their dynamic and the potential Ake sees in him.

Starfleet Academy Stars Holly Hunter and Paul Giamatti on Ake-Braka Rivalry, Building on the Star Trek Legacy, Ake-Caleb & More

What do you enjoy most about sparring off with each other during your scenes?

Giamatti: Everything. There's nothing I didn't like, seriously. Everything was great. I mean, getting the ball hit back at me, nice and hard like that. I mean, I always knew that it was going to be exciting and fun.

Hunter: Paul is a great partner. He is a great opponent and such a great team player. It was fun. You look like you're in outer space right now, too.

Giamatti: Definitely is.

When the opportunity came to do Star Trek for you guys, did you guys approach this a little differently as far as having the weight of a 60-year-old franchise on your shoulders, or did you approach it like any other project?

Giamatti: Well, I don't think I felt like it was any old project, but it definitely had a scope and a size to it. I didn't feel a great burden of the legacy of having to live up to something. Not really, I didn't feel like anybody was sort of standing over me, making sure I did something this way or that way. I didn't feel a burden was being put on me. I felt, if anything, excited to be doing and being a part of a mythic thing, then we were free to do whatever the piece itself just demanded of us. We had the script in front of us that was the thing we had to do, and that's what we did. The fact that it was this wonderful thing as well was kind of a cherry on top sort of thing.

Hunter: Yeah, I felt like we had real liberty to shape this thing as we wanted because, listen, the shape was also very inherent in the script. The guardrails were there. We weren't going off the cliff, and Alex Kurtzman is somebody whom I really trust. He gave us infinite freedom.

Giamatti: Yeah

Hunter: We could totally…I never heard, "No." It was all, "Yeah! Go! Do! Great idea! Let's check it out!" That's what made this so much fun, and also, it wasn't ruled by fear.

Giamatti: No.

Hunter: I don't think that you could do science fiction ruled by fair. I think it would end up being deadly.

Holly, what did you like about working with Sandro and his character, Caleb, Ake becoming that North Star in his life, and how Ake found that purpose in Starfleet, going back and starting to lead him?

Hunter: I loved working with Sandro. I felt a connection with him, and an ease. There was an immediate ease with Sandro. I don't really know how to describe it, but I felt it on screen, that it's there, in the writing and in the playing between us. I felt a connection with him that was effortless, and I think he's wonderful. It brings this very soulful vulnerability to the screen. At the same time, he's extremely strong, obviously. He's physically quite daunting, but he's a beautiful creature and a beautiful soul. I feel so lucky that we found Sandro to do this part.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, which also stars George Hawkins, Kerrice Brooks, Gina Yashere, Oded Fehr, Robert Picardo, Zoë Steiner, Bella Shepard, Karim Diane, Tig Notaro, Stephen Colbert, and Rebecca Quin, premieres with its first two episodes on January 15th on Paramount+.

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