All language subtitles for Star.Trek.Strange.New.Worlds.S00E01.720p.CBS.WEB-DL.x264-TEPES

And now for something strange and new,

my next guests are part of the upcoming,

highly anticipated Star Trek series,

Strange New Worlds,

which continues the adventures

of Captain Pike, Spock, and Number One,

aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise,

coming soon to CBS
All Access in the U.S.

Now, it is my honor to welcome our cast

and creatives together
for the first time ever

to talk about the series.

We have Anson Mount, Ethan
Peck and Rebecca Romijn

and we also have executive producers.

Akiva Goldsman and Henry Alonso Myers,

as well as co-EPs and writers,
Akela Cooper and Davy Perez.

Let's start in on some questions.

This one is for Akiva and Henry.

When did you decide
that Strange New Worlds

would actually become a reality?

Since I know there was a
huge fan push for the show

to even get made before
it was announced.

I, uh, uh... came into, uh,

Season 1 of Disco

because our partner,

Alex Kurtzman, was away
and asked me if I could come

and sort of hang around
the show a little while,

it was just forming.

And I didn't know what
the show was about.

I'm a huge Star Trek
fan, but all I knew was

what was on the Internet, and
what was on the Internet was,

it was a show about Captain
Pike and Number One.

So I came rushing to the first meeting,

ready to talk about Captain
Pike and Number One,

only to discover that not only
were they not in the show,

but from that moment on,
became my singular cause

of trying to get that era

of Enterprise storytelling
onto the screen.

My favorite thing I've
read about this show

has been that if you
think of "The Cage",

the original pilot as
being the actual pilot,

that this is the longest pilot to

series pickup in the
history of television.

I can't take credit for it,
but I'll say it anyway.

For Akiva and Henry, Akela and Davy,

I know you can't say much yet,

but what can you tell us
about what the show is about?

Well, one of the most
exciting things about

this was coming into the room

and interviewing all the
writers and basically saying,

"Hey, we wanna really do Star Trek,

like we wanna do Star
Trek in the classic mode".

Star Trek in the way that Star
Trek was always, you know,

the stories were always
told, that it's a ship

and it's traveling to
strange new worlds,

and we're gonna tell big ideas,
science fiction adventures,

you know, in an episodic
mode, so we have room

to kind of meet new
aliens, see new ships,

visit new cultures.

And, you know, while
still maintaining...

audiences are sophisticated,

and so, if Kirk falls in love
and the love of his life

dies one week, the next
week, he's gonna still feel it.

And that's the thing that we really
wanted to kind of carry over,

is to bring a modern
character sensibility

to the kind of classic
episodic storytelling.

For Anson, Ethan and
Rebecca, after Season 2

of Discovery, we didn't know

if we'd actually ever see
your characters again,

and for each of you,

can you guys describe the
moment you got that call

that Strange New Worlds was happening?

How and when did you hear about it?

How did you feel?

When we finished Season 2,

Alex had already started
talking to us about

doing some Short Treks

'cause we had built this huge,

very expensive bridge.

I remember

calling Alex because I was
a little concerned about

what are we actually giving them other

than just three scenes?

Is there some way that we
could give this closure?

And he said, "That's a good
point. Let me think about that".

And so, he calls me two days later,

and I remember him sort of
nonchalantly eating an apple

on the phone, and he goes,

"Hey, so I think we got a show".

"A what?"

Only man I know who can go
and sell a show in two days.

But what I found out later,
apparently, that Akiva

had been pitching this for a while.

And I was like, "I'm so glad
you didn't tell me that"

when I was working on Discovery,

'cause I don't think I could
have handled the pressure...

I got a phone call also
from Alex, very nonchalant.

It wasn't eating an apple,

but led in with a bunch of questions.

Like, "How are you doing?"

What've you been up to?

So, uh...

Your show's going...

And I was like,

"Are you serious?"

Asking the most serious
man in the world, right?

And he was like, "Uh-huh".

And I went for a walk, like in shock.

And went to the grocery store,

and like stood in and
stared at cold beverages

for 20 minutes, and I
called Anson and I was like,

"Dude, this is crazy".

And then the three of us got
into a call at some point.

I was gonna say, we've been sitting

on this information for a while.

Like we've been sitting on it
for, I mean over a year, guys?

Is that right?

We didn't get an actual
green light, green light.

- Right.
- It was a long process.

But it felt like there...

It also felt like when we were on set,

something had clicked.

We were really hoping that
this would manifest, and it did.

It just took a while for us to
be able to share the news.

Yeah, there is definitely
a ton of moments on set

where we were all like, "This is great.

We get along wonderfully".

For Akela and Davy,

can you guys talk a little bit about

how you'll be developing
the central trio?

Not just as colleagues, but as
friends as they clearly are,

which is heartwarming.

I think it's just like
building off of the dynamic

that Disco like so wonderfully built.

And then for us, the
fun thing in the room

has been coming up with
cool and unique situations

and scenarios to put them in,

that will bring out certain aspects

of their personalities
that we can play with

and see how they would
bounce off of each other,

complement each but also
contrasts against each other

and just see how
those puzzle pieces fit.

Like that's been the most fun for us.

Yeah, no, echoing all of that

and I'll just add one little thing

that we did have conversations
about Pike and Number One,

sort of being almost like
parental figures to the ship

and in specific, Spock, 'cause
Spock is a younger Spock,

he's not the wise old Spock
from the original series.

This is the young guy who's
just out of Starfleet Academy

and still finding himself
and what kind of Spock

will he become?

And so, you have great
mentor relationships,

mentee relationships, and
often times you can learn

from your own kids just
as much as you teach.

So there's a lot of interesting
relationship dynamics

that's played in there.

Anson, we saw in Discovery

what a born leader Captain Pike is,

but he also know harbors the
knowledge of his tragic future.

Can you kind of talk about this
unique side of the character

and how you'll inform your
performance, if at all?

The most honest thing I can say

is I'm still figuring it out,

and it's gonna... I think
more of that weight

is gonna come down on the
shoulders of the writers, but.

Pike didn't just learn how he dies,

he learns in what circumstances.

So we do know that at some point

he's going to be presented

with a promotion opportunity
to Fleet Captain,

and he has to accept that

in order for the fate
to come into existence.

So what is it that's going to allow him,

both in terms of
circumstance and emotion,

to accept that promotion.

It's a tough question,

but I think we'll
figure it out together.

I know that I'm excited to
watch you figure it out,

so I'm sure all the fans are as well.

Ethan, in the final scene
of Discovery Season 2,

we finally saw the Spock that
fans are pretty familiar with

from the original series.

So are you excited to explore
more of that iconic side

of the character post
the Discovery encounter?

Yeah, I'm very thrilled to...

to find the balance in Spock, right?

He's between two worlds of...

uh, logic and control

and sort of emotional volatility
that we all struggle with.

And so,

it's gonna be an enormous challenge

and there are plenty of scenarios

in which we could
sort of play with that,

and I'm very excited to see
what the writers come up with

and I'm just gonna throw
myself in, I can't wait.

Awesome.

And for Rebecca, of the
three main characters,

Number One is by far the most enigmatic.

So for you, what are you
most interested to learn

about your character moving forward?

Yeah, well, I mean, like "The Cage"

being such an old pilot,

the writers have this
very unique opportunity

where they've had this
character that's existed

since the beginning of the canon;

She's never been written.

I can't wait to find out, you
know, how vast her skillset is,

what are the arrows in her quiver?

My number one question is

what's her backstory,

and I had a delightful meeting

with the writers' room
a couple months ago,

and they floated an idea
for Number One's backstory

that I'm not gonna share right now

'cause it is... it blew my
mind when they said it,

but that's all I can say.

Well, if you're excited,

I know everyone else will be excited.

So man, now I just really
want the show to come out.

For Akiva and for Henry,

how will this show set itself apart

from previous Star Trek series?

Well, I think as Henry said earlier,

we're returning to a more episodic model

so that the storytelling
is more contained

with episodic values,
while the character arcs

are stretched in some
more serialized continuity.

But in addition to that,

I think that what you heard is that

this is a love child, right?

There's this fundamental
opportunity to feel

like you're part of a thing

you've always wanted to be part of.

That we do for a living,

a thing that we would
do for free, right?

I mean, none of us didn't
play Star Trek, right?

And here we are playing Star Trek,

but somebody's giving
us sets and costumes

and, occasionally, even a check.

And so, we are situated
not just in the context

of all our own affection for the object,

we're also situated in the
history of the object, right?

We, unlike the new shows,
Discovery or Picard,

this exists in its own space,

in a space where it is both imagined

generally by those who came before us,

but never has actually been
delved into specifically.

That it's the opportunity of dreams

that a lot of people
have already dreamt.

And so now we're going to find our way

through that and work not to be...

sentimental.

We get to dream other people's
dreams by dreaming our own,

and that's kind of insane.

It's a space that other people
are already holding dear,

that we now have to be the custodian.

I have this reminder every day

'cause I have a 10-year-old
and a 13-year-old.

And I have been... as I've been
watching a lot of old Trek,

I've been introducing them to the show

and much to sort of my... I
guess, not really a surprise

but it's been a real
joy... is that my kids

have become the biggest Trekkies

that you can possibly imagine.

Yeah, this has been the great surprise

and fun of this job is that they...

this is maybe the first
show I've worked on,

where they are really
excited to see the show.

And what's been fun is,

everyone here has told a
story about their childhood

and how Trek came into it.

And here, I feel like we're... as
we create this next chapter,

it's been 20 years since.

Voyager ended, and Voyager

was a kind of an episodic
model, and here we are doing it

for a new generation.

And like I have... it's
nice to have that vision

right in front of you to
see that new generation

excited about it.

Henry and Akiva kind of touched

on this question a little bit before,

but Akela and Davy, I
kind of want you guys

to delve in a little bit more
on how much you guys

will be balancing the
episodic storylines

with the more serialized style

of the newer Star Trek shows

when breaking into Strange New Worlds.

Well, we'll have like
individual, one-off plots.

The character arcs are
what's going to carry us

through in a more
serialized fashion. Though,

I will say there's
probably one plot point

that we will be sprinkling
through the series

until we actually get to the episode,

and that's all I can say about that.

And what's really cool.

And we've all touched on
it, is that we sort of look

at each episode is what
is the thing we're saying?

And what is the audience
gonna experience?

And so, that's the fun of going
back to an episodic style.

It's like, what cool type
of episode will this be?

What kind of a thing will
we walk away from it,

in a close-ended kind of way?

And that's the episode of the week.

But these are the characters
that... Pike and Number One

and Spock, they're the trio

that we're gonna fall in love with

and they're gonna have their
character emotional things.

And we're gonna, they're gonna grow

and devolve and evolve and
come back and enjoy all of that.

For Rebecca, little change of pace here.

Your husband, Jerry,
is also a number one

on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

So how much do you guys
talk about Star Trek,

watch Star Trek together?

I know you said that you
watch it with your kids,

like how is Star Trek in the household?

It is nonstop competition at our house.

We are continually... we can't
stop letting each other know

that we are the best
number... that I am,

that I let him know over and over again

that I am the best number one.

He has brought it to my attention

that number one means
you're second in command,

which I've explained to him,

I am second in command
to our cat, ironically,

whose name is Captain.

He's the only one that
I'm second in command to.

Oh my goodness, this could
be its own miniseries,

honestly, like you guys

are setting up something amazing here.

I am the better number
one. I've let him know.

We'll let you have that
crown today, 100%.

In our house! Because
I don't wanna, listen,

I don't wanna tick
off Jonathan Frakes...

there are other people that I,

this is in our own household, like in...

in the world of number ones,

I don't know.

If I have to call Jonathan

and tell him your crown has
been taken away today, I will.

I will give it to you, it's okay.

You are the superior number one.

You're brave. Thank you.

I do wanna be clear

without violating any
confidentiality agreements,

that I have already begun agitating

for the crossover episode.

- Oh.
- Oh.

- Oh.
- Wait, with Lower Decks or...

So like a live action, a
live action, animated...?

- Roger Rabbit?
- Okay.

I was about to say,

is this some sort of Who
Framed Roger Rabbit?

Like, I'm into it.

I love it.

- Fun.
- Oh man, we're getting

a bunch of exclusives, let's,

that... panel over,
that's the best news.

In space, anything can happen, you guys.

One dimension could be animated

and they find a portal to it.

- We're writing an episode right now.
- We've never seen subspace.

Oh man, I love this.

For Anson and Ethan and Rebecca,

what kind of research did you guys do

to prepare for these roles?

And are you rewatching
more Star Trek now

that Strange New Worlds is happening,

if that's even possible?

I mean, you guys do
watch a lot of Star Trek.

I've just been rewatching
the original series.

I've got, like I said,
I've got it on my DVR.

There are things these days

that wake me up in the wee hours,

maybe other people are going
through that these days,

and watching the original series

at two in the morning
sometimes helps. It's soothing.

It's nice to have around.

I just, you know, I went back and I...
obviously, I rewatched "The Cage"

and "The Menagerie", and
I read what I could find

in canon online, but.

I think most of my preparation

as an actor usually is just
a way to calm my nerves.

I had to come in and discover the Pike

that was in a different part of his life

then he had been in those episodes.

So, luckily I had the
support of great writers

and a team that made
sure that those writers

were present on the set
during their episodes

when they're being shot,

and I depended upon them most of all.

Yeah, I spent a lot of time
with the original series

with Leonard Nimoy and his Spock.

I read I Am Not Spock and I Am Spock

that... he wrote both.

And I read a book called The
Nature of... The Order of Time

by Carlo Rovelli, which is
a theoretical physics book

that I thought really connected to

what they were sort of tapping
into on the Discovery ship.

And yeah, as I go forward,

I'm probably gonna rewatch
the episodes I watched

of the original series,
watch it all over again.

And I'm actually getting
into some older philosophy.

'Cause I realized this is
such a virtuous person,

and so I want to kind of explore

what people have been thinking about

over the millennia
basically, 'cause I feel

like that's what Spock would do.

So I picked up some Aristotle
and some Kant and Confucius

and we'll start there
and see how it goes.

I love it, some deep Method work there.

For Akiva and Henry, as
we move closer and closer

to the original series era,

will we start to see
more of that aesthetic

reflected in Strange New Worlds?

One of the great joys
of this job has been...

We meet weekly with our
incredibly talented production

and design team, and we look
over these incredible sets.

For us, I think the fun of
it has been figuring out

how to keep continuity with the past,

how to keep some of the
amazing design elements

from the '60s that were
incorporated in the first one

and update it for a modern audience.

The Enterprise is sexy
is all I got to say,

it's a sexy, sexy ship.

I think everybody loves their own ship,

but I gotta agree with you,
it is, it is a pretty sexy ship.

For the creative team, Akiva,
Henry, Akela and Davy,

as the title suggests, this show

will clearly be introducing
new planets and alien species.

But given the time period
the show is set in,

there seems to be plenty of
opportunities for references

to legacy material as well.

Obviously, without any spoilers,

is there something you guys are
talking about in the writers' room

you can give us a little taste of?

The storytelling itself is using sci-fi

to say something about
the world around us

and that in and of
itself is, like, a way

to touch upon the legacy.

We're obviously gonna be, like, mining

as much as we can of
the original series,

and if we can reach
into Next Gen some way,

but a lot of us...

and the conversations we're having...

are like, those original series episodes

and that TNG era and Deep Space Nine,

were using episodic television

to say something really introspective

or really important about
the world around us

and about ourselves as human species

and what we could be in the future,

and that kind of legacy storytelling

is how we're sort of gonna
really look at each episode

as we move forward.

I think they wanted spoilers.

I know, I wanna say it, but I can't.

It's understandable.

And finally, since we're
all here for Star Trek Day,

what does it mean to
all of you to be a part

of this legacy as Star Trek,

since you guys aren't just fans,

but now you're in it, like you said,

you get paid to play Star Trek.

Star Trek is important to
us for the same reason

that we'd like to think it's important.

Star Trek is not value neutral.

Star Trek is the future we want.

It is a galaxy that is
multicultural, multiethnic,

multigendered; It is a galaxy
where empathy prevails.

It is a galaxy where goodness resonates

and kindness and compassion

and the ability to build bridges,

and those are the
grammar of exploration.

And Star Trek has always been of value

because it's a carnival
mirror on our time.

It lets us look at the world around us,

by looking at an imagined
world, and we need that.

We need hope, we need those
values, we need optimism,

certainly as sorely as
any time before us.

Maybe we're tied for when
the original series came out.

So, on Star Trek Day, we
hope to make Star Trek

so that every day has the
values that Star Trek prefers.

And we mean it.

Building on what Akiva just said.

It's, I mean, it's never felt
like a more important time

to be telling stories based
on these themes of optimism

and a bright future, and I can't wait

to start telling those stories

because I think we've all
been having a hard time.

And actually, I just started...

the world has become
overwhelming lately.

And I mean, I just broke
down in tears the other day

about the post office.

I mean, it's just everything,

and I know everyone's going through it.

And I actually just
started feeling envious

of the writers' room

that they get to channel these
themes right now of optimism.

And the thing is, what
we... what these stories

that we're telling...
they are imaginary,

we're making it up, but
those themes are not.

Those themes of
optimism and bright future

need to be inspired and manifested

and the writers get to
be living that right now,

and I can't wait to start
telling those stories.

It's just, it's an honor to
be a part of it, obviously,

it's such an incredible
family to be a part of,

but especially now I wanna
start telling these stories.

So thank you, writers.

I'm jealous that
you're already living it.

Come on over. Come on in.

I think one possible
definition of the human being

is the cross section of
curiosity and creativity,

as manifested by that need

we have to walk past...

walk away from the circle of firelight

and into the darkness
to see what's out there,

is an incredibly beautiful
thing about our species.

And I think that.

Star Trek fully realizes that.

When you think about
our current endeavors,

we're pouring billions
of dollars and man hours

and ingenuity into
getting people to Mars,

and pretty much everybody is going,

"Yeah, that makes sense".

But when you do step back
and think about it, it's crazy,

but there's something in
us that needs to do that,

to expand, and Star
Trek, it just reflects

what's best about us in that sense.

Yeah, I believe that Star Trek

has never been afraid to
shine light where it is dark,

and I'm incredibly proud to
be one of those torchbearers.

And I hope that it will inspire,

not just those that see
it, but in the future,

people that see it. It's
inspired me, certainly,

and makes me wanna be a better person.

I think it's all about
graduating ourselves

to sort of greater unity and
acceptance and curiosity.

Reflecting on what Star Trek means to me

as a black woman,

watching Uhura and Sisko,

it was black people
made it to the future.

And in a lot of science fiction,

you don't actually see
people of color in the future,

especially in the '70s and '80s.

And so, for me, that
was a symbol of like,

you are here, like, you made it.

And as Akiva pointed out,

like when the original series came out,

it was a time of turmoil and upheaval.

And we're in that now,

but in the history of Star Trek,

they also went through a
lot of turmoil and upheaval

and they made it through.

And I think that's like the
best message for Star Trek,

especially now, is that
there is a way through,

and there is hope, and
there is a positive future

and we will all get there.

And being a writer on the
show, it's also, it's like,

I saw "you are here"
in the black characters

in the future, and now
I'm in the writers' room,

and I am here. And it hits me sometimes

that like, I grew up watching this

with my parents my whole life,

and now I'm writing on
a show that they love,

and that I love, and I am
here, and it's wonderful.

Yeah, I'm having a moment too.

I'm trying not to, like, choke up

because... Why did I say that?
Now I'm gonna choke up!

Oh no...

My, my... You know, I'm a son
of an immigrant, and my father,

he came to this country, and
he would look to the stars,

like he wanted to go to space

and he didn't make it to space,

but Star Trek was close
enough for him, you know?

And so, he put a love
of that exploration

and that curiosity inside of me.

And now, here I am,
I get to go to space.

I get to go to this place in the future

full of what we could become
and what is the best of us.

So yeah, it means a lot.

It's a very personal and a
fantastic and overwhelming thing,

and I'm not going to choke up!

You keep saying it...

I know, I know.

Ah shoot, sorry.

Anyway, Star Trek means
a lot to me and my family

and Star Trek Day is just,

it's a great way to
celebrate all of that.

I think one of the greatest
things about Star Trek

is that it is an ensemble.

It is made up of people
from all different races

and planets and creeds.

And I think that the... doing
the show is the same thing,

and I'm incredibly grateful
to, on Star Trek Day,

to be here working with this team

and all of their
incredible personal stories

that they have brought
and gifted to the show.

So, I wanna end by saying,

just to say thank you to everyone.

Now that we're all
emotional and teary-eyed

and really feeling connected,

I just wanna thank you guys so much

for joining me for this chat.

This was beautiful and inspirational.

And just seeing your love
and passion for Star Trek.

I know in my heart and
know that all the fans

in their hearts that Strange New Worlds

is going to be just, just mind-blowing.

Thanks so much for
joining me for this chat.

I cannot wait to see what's
coming on Strange New Worlds.

Again, for those watching at home,

we'll be coming soon to CBS All
Access in the United States.

And again, today on Star Trek Day,

you too can pitch in and support

our Star Trek United Campaign.

For every person that tweets the hashtag

#StarTrekUnitedGives, CBS
All Access will donate $1

to organizations who
do the real world work

of championing equality, social justice,

and the pursuit of
scientific advancements.

So thank you guys so much,
and take care everybody.

Get those tissues.

- Bye, happy Star Trek Day!
- Happy Star Trek Day!

Happy Star Trek Day!

Live long and prosper.

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