Move Over Shatner! Paul Wesley Is Back as Captain Kirk

Paul Wesley, The Vampire Diaries and Tell Me a Story actor, 40, returns in his recurring role as James T. Kirk in the second season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (June 15 on Paramount+). The twist is that Wesley’s version of Kirk is still a lieutenant in the current storyline, but in an interesting time-travel episode, we also see him as captain. Beam us up!

Parade sat down with Wesley to chat about joining such a massive franchise in such an iconic role.

Walter Scott: With William Shatner so ingrained in people's minds, did you have any trepidation about taking the role of Kirk? 

Paul Wesley: Of course, but at the end of the day you need to take challenges in life. There was a momentary trepidation, but I was like, “The whole point of doing what I do for a living is to try to experience new things.” I was very relieved that the showrunners basically told me to do my own spin, my own version of Kirk, and not to do an imitation of any kind.

You have met Shatner and he gave his approval to your taking over the role. How did that happen? 

I've met Bill a couple times and most recently introduced him at a handprint ceremony at San Diego Comic-Con. He’s one of these guys that I'm not going to ask straight-up for advice, but my sense is that you can tell if he likes you or not. I hope that he does like me as much as I think he does.

He gave me his approval on Twitter, which meant a lot because a lot of people really admire the work that he's done and the character he's created. He, obviously, originated this character. He is Captain Kirk and it’s so important to have his blessing. He went on Twitter and gave me some words of encouragement.

What are Captain Kirk’s qualities in the original series that you wanted to bring to your character? 

The most important qualities are his unwavering loyalty and commitment to his ship and his crew. He’s got this moral compass where he can have a sense of bravado or it looks as if he's headstrong, but at the end of the day, it's really in the best interest of his ship and crew. I think that’s the guiding light, the pillar, of what is important when creating this character: he really loves his ship and his crew.

Now, I have not played Captain Kirk yet. I've only really been Lieutenant Kirk. When we do see me as the captain, it's time travel of some sort in an alternate timeline. I’ve always been this young Kirk who is slowly stepping into those shoes, but I think [viewers will get a] glimpse of the moral justice and a deep unwavering commitment to his crew and ship that are really the prime embodiment of his character.

What will we learn about Kirk’s younger brother Samuel? 

His great relationship with his brother has not been explored at all in the original series, and so we're really creating this legendary part of what will now be a part of the Star Trek canon. Kirk has this interesting, competitive sibling rivalry with Samuel. It’s light and it's jovial and it doesn't take itself too seriously, but it does exist. They’re polar opposites. Sam is more logic oriented, always does the right thing, and doesn't break the rules. Kirk is more of a rebel and somehow Kirk ends up ahead always, and it drives Sam insane.

Related: Binge Long and Prosper! How to Watch Every 'Star Trek' Movie in Order—And in Some Cases, What to Watch Instead

What was it like the first time you put on the Captain uniform and sat in it the chair? 

It took me a minute to feel fully comfortable. It was like this combination of feeling incredibly overwhelmed and also just feeling very honored to be sitting in that position. Luckily, when we do see Kirk in the captain’s chair, it's an alternate timeline so I was able to justify any feelings of intimidation that I was feeling as an actor.

There's something about the tone of this series that takes us back to the original. Would you agree? 

A lot of people say that. There's a playfulness and, I think, it takes itself seriously to a degree but not too much. There's like a light space adventure playfulness that maybe got lost a little bit in other renditions.

Were you a fan of the original? 

I was a fan of the original series. I didn’t grow up in the ‘60s—I was born in ’82—so I watched reruns. This was what people watched to escape [Wesley’s family is from Poland and he spent four months a year there until he was 16] and Captain Kirk was the American hero that we all followed. As an actor, going back to that time and place, it’s like watching any movie from that time period, like a James Dean movie or a Marlon Brando movie, to see how explosive or different it was during that time. I feel that same way about the original series. When I watched, I went, “Wow! This is so imaginative.” There was nothing like it on television. It just didn’t exist. I remember watching it as a young actor thinking to myself that it was crazy that they were able to do all this in the 1960s. Obviously, some of the effects when we look at it now, we go, “Gosh, we have such better VFX,” but for the time, it was quite it was quite different.

Do you have a favorite episode? 

There are a few, but if I really narrow it down to one, it’s a flashback episode, “The City on the Edge of Forever.” I love that one. I remember when we were shooting episode three of season two, because Kirk and La’an (Christina Chong) go down to earth, and they're fish out of water. In this version of Kirk, he’s never been to earth. He wasn't born in Iowa, he was born in space, so again an alternate timeline. I had a lot of fun watching “The City on the Edge of Forever,” and seeing how out of place Kirk and Spock were when they went down to earth.

Related: How to Watch 'Star Trek' Shows In Chronological Order

If someone offered you a ride into outer space, would that be something that you would consider or are you somebody who wants to stay comfortably on earth? 

I thought about it and there are companies that aren’t going into deep space [but into suborbital space to experience zero gravity] and they give you a worldview. You get a real glimpse of earth. You see it as this round planet. When you're on a plane, you don't get that perspective. You're not high enough and there is a part of me that wants to see that because you see how trivial our worries are when you see the earth as a whole. You can see how it’s a small little part of the universe and space. You go, “Gosh, look at all these wars that are being fought, all these things that are happening, and all of my worries.”

I remember when William Shatner went up in space. Afterwards, he was being interviewed and he cried. I would imagine that I would have the same feeling, so I imagine I would go. Although, I would be scared sh—tless.

What do you think when you look back at your first big series, The Vampire Diaries?

I would say my regret is not enjoying it more. I was there for about 8 years, and I took it very seriously to the point of exhaustion. I had a friend who was on a long-running TV show, and he said, “Remember, it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.” I was, “Yeah, yeah. Got it.” But, no, I didn't listen to that. I looked at it as a sprint and by the end of season two or three I was just dead and kind of limped to the end.

When you're doing 22 episodes a year, you’ve really got to just take a deep breath and go, OK. We’ve got a long season to go and I’m really going to try to pace myself and enjoy my time. I just didn't. I was working, and I never took a step back to go, OK. This is great. We've accomplished something awesome here and I'm going to enjoy it now.

What are you passionate about besides acting? 

I’m thinking it’s either animal rights or bourbon. Both of those for sure. Bourbon is a big part of my life and not just drinking, but really creating a company [Brother’s Bond Bourbon with Vampire Diaries costar Ian Somerhalder] from the ground up during COVID and watching it grow, working with my team, with my employees, and trying to grow the company. It’s not just about making it more successful monetarily but also giving it as many accolades as possible, and really creating a bourbon that people love different versions of. It's been a real learning process. It's been ups and downs but a lot of ups and a lot of successes, and a lot of fun frankly. I've never really done that. I've always been less entrepreneurial and more artist-driven and now I'm really enjoying that aspect of things.

Obviously, I'm a huge animal rights activist. My dog [Gregory] is like my son. I rescued him. And I have a production company [Citizen Media]. I love creating TV shows and working on projects. I have a few really fun things that I'm working on right now. I’m a big nature guy as well.

You still have a lot of years ahead of you. Is there a plan for them? 

Star Trek has been awesome, and I hope to do it as long as I can. I've made that pretty clear to the showrunners if they keep inviting me back, I'll keep coming back. I love the character. I think I have one more big show in me after that, you know, maybe a few more, but, for sure, I'd like to do one more big show and, hopefully, just keep expanding the Bourbon company and eventually have kids. I’d like to have kids. I'm getting up there, so I’ve got to get going.

Related: Paul Wesley Documents His New Relationship on Social Media, With Help From Nina Dobrev

Is History of Evil next for you? What’s that about? 

It's a really inventive horror-thriller movie set in the near future when there's a war in America, similar to the Civil War in many ways in the sense that America is divided. There's a new regime in place—not a good regime—and they are taking people out who don't adhere to a deep nationalism, throwing immigrants out, and pushing into Canada, pushing into Mexico, etc. It’s a bleak future. I play the husband of a big rebel activist who wrote a book that really was incendiary in not a good way towards the regime, so we're escaping a political prison and going to an asylum, which is like a safe house. Long story short, the safe house is a very dark place where there's a history of evil, hence the title. It will be out on Shudder, the AMC streaming service.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 premieres on June 15, only on Paramount+. 

Next, 'Star Trek: Strange New Worlds' Sets Season 2 Premiere Date! Check Out the New Trailer!