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

Starfleet Academy: Yashere on FMJ Influence; Picardo on Doctor-SAM

Starfleet Academy stars Robert Picardo and Gina Yashere spoke with us about the Doctor's 32nd-century evolution and Lura Thok inspiration.

For Gina Yashere, it was a bold new frontier playing the first female Jem'Hadar in Star Trek as Lura Thok, the Jem'Hadar-Klingon first officer of the USS Athena and cadet master at Starfleet Academy. For Robert Picardo, it's not only returning to the role for the first time in live-action in nearly a quarter-century as The Doctor from Voyager, but also keeping him fresh as an actor and balancing him as a 900-year-old character. Both star in Starfleet Academy, Star Trek's first dedicated series to the famed institution, but the major twist, as it's set in the very much uncharted territory of the 32nd century, is that much of the franchise's history was built in the 23rd and 24th centuries. The series follows Nahla Ake (Holly Hunter), who comes back to Starfleet in a post-Burn Federation to not only serve as captain of the Athena, but is also tasked to act as Starfleet Academy's chancellor, taking on the latest recruits while rebuilding the Federation's message of hope throughout the galaxy. Picardo and Yashere spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the Voyager and Prodigy star faced his challenges to put on a uniform again, the changes to his character, the reaction from his adult children, the Doctor's reluctance to take on a protégé, and how Yashere tapped a certain Stanley Kubrick film for her audition as Lura and her growth.

Star Trek: Starfleet Academy Stars Robert Picardo and Gina Yashere on Their Journies as The Doctor and Lura Thok

Bob, so you've been playing the Doctor now for your ninth season on TV, and it's your first time in live action in almost 25 years. I was wondering, what's the biggest challenge for playing him at 900 years? Is there a challenge as far as a certain amount of emotional detachment that your character might have? Is it something you also discussed with Holly Hunter about playing a character that's also hundreds of years old?

Picardo: Well, because her character is 420 years old, it gives us something in common that we sometimes complain about the burden of infinity, "infinitude," whatever the right word is. Certain challenges…I'm 30 years older, fitting in the uniform is a challenge, but I really pledged to myself that I would keep the same pace that I had as the character 30 years ago, even if I were to look different, because of the aging program that I've added to my matrix. I tried to speak with the same pace and clarity that I did 30 years ago, and that makes it fun, and to move. My kids came last night, they're in their 30s, and they said, "Hey, Dad, they really made you run. How did they do that?" [Both laugh]

Gina, I can only imagine how long it took to be in that make-up chair to play Lura Thok. Aside from the script, is there anything that helped you get that mindset of those Jem'Hadar and Klingon parts?

Yashere: I did a little research. I went back and watched DS9 to get the essence of Jem'Hadar. My younger brother is a mad Trekkie and gave me all the history of the Klingons and the Jem'Hadar, so that was good. I got to research some, but when I first auditioned, I didn't even know it was Star Trek. They'd taken out all Star Trek references in the script, and I just played it as a Full Metal Jacket(1987)-type drill sergeant screaming at the kids. It wasn't that far off, to be fair, so all I've done is add a little bit of twist to her, add my own essence to her, and over the course of the season, you'll see her softening up a little bit, becoming a little more empathetic. You see that she cares deeply about these cadets, even though you don't see it in the first episode. So yeah, I'm enjoying playing her and watching her grow.

Bob, obviously, you're not alone in playing the synthetic with Kerrice [Brooks] now, as she is playing Sam. How do you approach that? Do you treat the characters like a young synthetic hologram lifeform? Do you treat it like a mentor type thing? Does it follow the usual channels?

Picardo: When he first meets [SAM], there's a combination of fascination and revulsion, I think. The fascination is that she comes from an entire culture of holograms, where all the organics that created them died in some terrible plague, and then they're left there alone and must form their own society with no one to serve now but each other. Also, when she comes on so strong, like a huge fan of The Voyager Doctor, having read about him, it's a little off-putting. You can see that he's almost afraid of her desire to make him a mentor, and that's a theme overarching the first season, with a big surprise that comes up late in the season.

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

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