Why Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Paul Wesley Was ‘Relieved’ To Finally Play The Real James T. Kirk
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Warning! The following contains SPOILERS for the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Lost In Translation." Read at your own risk!
Paul Wesley has had a few appearances as James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, but there was something entirely different about this latest adventure, "Lost In Translation." For the first time since the series started, Wesley had a full adventure on the Enterprise, and it all happened within the canon. One would imagine such stakes would create more pressure on the actor, knowing he was working within the Prime Timeline, but Wesley confessed to CinemaBlend it was actually a relief.
I had a chance to speak to Paul Wesley ahead of the start of the SAG-AFTRA strike and talked about his latest appearances in Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. After talking about how this adventure felt like his biggest moment yet in the series, I asked if there were any nerves or pressure he felt filming the episode, only to learn it wasn't like that at all:
Actually, I felt a little bit of relief, frankly, knowing that I was playing within established parameters. Whereas when you're doing all universe, all timeline, it's sort of ambiguous and open to your interpretation. You're playing with different personality traits and, ‘Well, this didn't happen to him so he can do this and that,’ you know, whatever. And so I honestly was able to just sort of let loose. I had a really good time shooting Episode 3 with [Christina Chong]. And honestly, I didn't want to lose that curiosity and that fun, and that boyishness, and I wanted that to continue.
Paul Wesley felt comfortable being able to play the real James T. Kirk, and not some variant from another universe who was born on a spaceship named the USS Iowa. The actor got to play the actual Kirk who will one day take command of the Enterprise under Starfleet, though not while Pike is still the captain. That was a freeing feeling for the actor, and probably why he's so gung-ho about wanting to play Kirk long-term for the franchise.
While he was the actual James T. Kirk, Paul Wesley added that it was important that the character still feel connected to the one we saw in "Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow." Doing so helped carry over the story from that episode and, as he mentioned, added more emotion to La'an's ongoing storyline:
I also wanted him to be that sort of similar to the Kirk in Episode 3 because it makes it so much more heartbreaking for La’an when she sees him. She's like, 'Oh, wait, that's the guy that I just spent an entire, lifetime with essentially in this other episode and he doesn't remember me.'
La'an still remembers all she went through with the alternate timeline Kirk, who was killed in the past. The introverted and lonely La'an clearly wants to try and rekindle that relationship with the Prime Kirk, but seeing as she's a complete stranger to him, she struggled to interact with him.
James T. Kirk had another big meeting that Star Trek fans undoubtedly appreciated. "Lost In Translation" marked the first time that Kirk crossed paths with Uhura, who later introduced him to Spock. Paul Wesley talked about creating that moment and how episode director Dan Liu gave some helpful advice to make the moment as organic as possible:
Obviously, I met Spock for the first time and Uhura for the first time. Dan [Liu], the director was like, 'Be casual, because you don't know what this is going to evolve into.' Kirk doesn't know what it's going to evolve into. He's just like meeting these random people, and he's drawn to them, you know? Frankly, it was less intimidating.
As casual as it was, I couldn't help but wonder if it wasn't the beginning of an eventual TOS reboot for Paramount+ subscrbers at some point in the future. For now, we can just continue to praise Star Trek: Strange New Worlds for its sophomore run, which is only getting more exciting. We still have the Lower Decks crossover to get through next week, and based on what CinemaBlend learned from Ethan Peck, we're not ready for "Spoimler."
Catch new episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds on Thursdays on Paramount+. We're officially past the mid-point of Season 2, so be sure to catch up to see the exciting final weeks alongside other fans!
