Nurse Chapel has a new look on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds but why?
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has taken a few characters in a slightly different direction from their Original Series counterparts. One of the most obvious is Nurse Chapel, which was originally played by Majel Barrett and is now played by Jess Bush.
Bush is playing a younger, more fleshed-out version of the character, as Nurse Chapel did very little in the original series as compared to the newer version on Strange New Worlds. With the new increase in workload, the produces had a unique question for Bush.
Tunic or jumpsuit?
Apparently, the producers wanted Bush’s take on what her version of Chapel would wear, and she explained why she picked the jumpsuit, telling Vanity Fair;
"I said absolutely jumpsuit. This iteration of Nurse Chapel is all about agility. She’s active and gets stuff done."
More freedom is a staple of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
There’s clearly a lot that Strange New Worlds can’t do with the cast and crew. They’re directly tied to the history of Star Trek: The original series. They have to abide by what came before, and technically, what will come after in regards to the plot of the franchise. So they can’t deviate too much from the plot; so to speak.
That said, there seems to be a lot of allowances given to the talent on the series. Not just did Bush get to pick her outfit, but Celia Rose Gooding was also given a lot of creative input on how this younger version of Uhura looked.
Apparently, the choice to keep her hair nice and tight was specifically left up to Gooding, who preferred to keep her hair how it was when she auditioned. So the producers let her bring her own look into the show.
That isn’t the only time producers deferred to the talent, just a notable example.