‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Reveals the Vulnerable Moment That Changes Kirk and Spock [Exclusive]

Editor’s Note: This interview contains spoilers for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4, Episode 3, “Human Best Friend.”

After delivering a perfectly classic Star Trek episode with its season opener, followed by a twisted horror episode, Strange New Worlds has delivered its first comedy episode of the season. In “Human Best Friend,” the crew of the USS Enterprise takes some much-needed shore leave on a wild pleasure planet where even the atmosphere itself is intoxicating. While Scotty (Martin Quinn) and Ortegas (Melissa Navia) take center stage for the episode in a bid to become the Geordi and Data of Strange New Worlds, Spock (Ethan Peck), La’an (Christina Chong), and a very real Kirk (Paul Wesley) take turns stealing the show with their laugh-out-loud performances.

I recently caught up with Peck, Chong, and Wesley to unpack their jump into comedy this week. During our conversation, Peck and Wesley spoke about how this intimate experience between Spock and Kirk lays the groundwork for their friendship in the original series​​​​​​. They also discussed filming the slap at the end of the episode when Kirk is trying to prove to Spock that he’s not a hallucination. Chong spoke about getting to learn new fight choreography and letting La’an indulge in her sillier side while processing her pent-up anger. Finally, the trio all shared their reaction to Rebecca Romijn’s Klingon rendition of “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” You can watch the interview in the player above or read the full transcript of our conversation below.

Ethan Peck and Paul Wesley Unpack Kirk and Spock’s Newfound Intimacy

“I just love the idea of that being one of the catalysts for this great friendship that we all know so well.”

Image via Jan Thijs/Paramount+

COLLIDER: This is one of my favorite episodes of the season that I’ve seen so far, and I love the reveal that Kirk was really there the whole time.

CHRISTINA CHONG: So funny, it’s so funny.

It’s so good. Ethan and Paul, how would you say that the relationship between Kirk and Spock has shifted after such a vulnerable experience on Spock’s end?

ETHAN PECK: Yeah, there might be a bit of reticence and withdrawal from Spock because he’s been so exposed in this episode. And then Kirk, you know, is so warm and welcoming of him. So that’s what I anticipate.

PAUL WESLEY: Yeah, it’s really cool. It becomes a part of canon, right? It’s like we sort of, like, begin to understand why these two have such a connection. And it’s because they shared these, like, intimate moments together, revealing, you know, things about one another. Or maybe it was just you revealing things to me, and I didn’t say anything.

PECK: It was mostly just me revealing things to you.

WESLEY: I was like your therapist. No, it’s great. And, you know, I just love the idea of that being one of the catalysts for this great friendship that we all know so well.

Besides 3D chess, what board games do you think they might have played?

WESLEY: Twister!

PECK: Definitely Twister.

I love that. Christina, what do you think it says about La’an that her “journey” on this planet is essentially to teach a gang of thieves to stand up for themselves? Especially on the heels of an episode where she’s so scared of becoming a monster.

CHONG: Yeah, I think for La’an, because she is, you know, ultimately, she’s a security officer. Her job is to look after her family and keep them safe and so on the planet, that’s kind of the gang becomes her family on that planet. And because she’s dealing with a lot of anger right now, I think that’s why that comes out with the drug exposure. And yeah, it’s something she’s working through throughout the season.

I like that; that’s a good tease. At the end of the episode, Kirk slaps Spock to prove that he’s there. And I have to give you both kudos, because that’s a great, well-acted slap. How hard was it to nail that moment?

PECK: I remember it so well because you, Paul, you were like, is this funny? Like, does this work? Because you don’t often do things like that. It’s, you know, it’s like Three Stooges-ish. And, you know, we don’t work in that sort of clownish way too often. And, I actually, I saw this; I thought it was awesome, and it worked so well, and you were so funny. It can be difficult to find the groove of comedy in some of these episodes because we’re so serious — well, I am so serious so often as this character, and it can be quite a challenge to like, still be him while being a bit clownish.

WESLEY: I actually didn’t see that. So I—

PECK: I think you’ll like it.

WESLEY: I can’t wait.

CHONG: It’s very funny.

WESLEY: Really? Okay, good.

CHONG: Very funny.

WESLEY: Did I get close to slapping you in real life?

PECK: It looks like you slapped…Did you— Did you actually slap me? I don’t know, I guess you didn’t. Because it looks like it does look real.

It absolutely does.

Jumping Genres Is as Rewarding as It Is Challenging for the Cast of ‘Strange New Worlds’

“You just never know what you’re going to get.”

Christina, speaking of being so serious and then getting to play fall camp, this episode really sort of lets you lean into La’an’s sillier side like, screaming, “Avenge me!” as she’s dragged out of the bingo hall. For you, what was the most exciting part of showing that more funny side for her?

CHONG: I think for me it was the stick, learning that stick fight routine, the fact that she goes over and completely gets the guy on the floor with the stick and then comes back and she’s like, “Yeah!” [and sort of] becomes the leader of the gang. That was a really cool element of that episode for me. And yeah, just going full on rage. You know, she’s never really gotten to do that before.

PECK: I remember the table read being really funny with your performance, hearing that for the first time, yeah, and being like, “That’s awesome.”

For all of you, sort of building off of that, Strange New Worlds takes such big genre shifts between episodes. I’m curious what’s the most rewarding part for jumping between those, like, different tones? You have a horror episode right back to back with this really silly, fun episode. So what’s the most rewarding part and the most challenging part of that as an actor?

CHONG: I think it’s the variety, that it doesn’t get boring. You know, you’re doing horror, and then we’re preparing for a classic Trek episode, and then we’re going on to a — I’m not sure what I can say here, but, puppet episode — so, you know, it’s just the variety that’s fun for me.

WESLEY: Yeah. I mean, as an actor, that’s all you want to do, and I, you know, I’ll say that the original series, if you watch the original series, it also, you just never know what you’re going to get. I mean, there’s like, really like, it’s like you get classic Trek and then you get kind of goofy or kind of, you know, Tribbles and like, that’s what I love about the show. It’s deeply imaginative, and we take it even further, you know, and, yeah, as an actor, you’re just constantly wanting to flex your muscles. And so this show allows you to do that.

PECK: The challenge is the different genres. I mean, that’s right there. And if I’m being frank, what’s great about it is finishing those different genres, because every time I’m like, “I don’t know how this is going to work. I don’t know how I’m going to do this.” And I find it to be quite intimidating and frightening. And so a successfully completed episode is a wonderful relief and reward, you know?

Absolutely. I have to ask, did you get to watch Rebecca do “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon, and how hard was it to keep a straight face?

CHONG: Yeah. She, I mean, that was [incredible]; I can’t believe she did that in such a short amount of time. I think they gave her a few days with the lyrics or something, and I just remember her being so proud of herself for doing that, and rightly so. And she let us listen to the recording pretty much straight after she’d done [it; it was] super impressive.

WESLEY: I just remember Akiva blasting it on the San Diego Comic-Con bus. I don’t know if you guys were there; he was like blasting it. He was like, she was singing “Total Eclipse of the Heart” in Klingon. It was awesome. Over and over, too.

New episodes of Strange New Worlds arrive weekly on Paramount+ every Thursday. Stay tuned at Collider for more.

Release Date

2022 – 2027-00-00

Network

Paramount+

Showrunner

Henry Alonso Myers, Akiva Goldsman

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