Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’ Anson Mount has been studying William Shatner.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds releases its second season on Paramount+ in just a matter of days. The show became an overnight success last year, with the first season being touted as among the best content that Star Trek ever produced. While the show may be a bit valuable on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, it is a show that has earned the praise it’s gotten. And a lot of that has to do with Anson Mount.
Mount plays the show’s captain, Christopher Pike, the predecessor to James T. Kirk, who William Shatner made famous nearly 60 years ago. While Pike and Strange New Worlds serve as the original Star Trek’s predecessor, it’s the original series and Shatner who have influenced Pike and the show.
Speaking to CinemaBlend (via Yahoo), Pike revealed that he’s been watching old episodes of Star Trek to study Shatner’s take on James Kirk.
"I saw this thing from Shatner that he used to do, which is really smart actually. When he would sit in the command chair, and he would have his elbow up on the armrest like this, right? Which is very smart because what he’s doing is getting his hand into the frame. While you’re remaining focused, and a decision has not yet been made, your hand can kind of subtly reveal what’s going on inside."
The nuances in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and the other parts of the franchise are huge
When you think about Kirk in the original series, I don’t think many people saw his iconic posture and stance and thought “Wow, that’s great for the camera”. Yet, it is, and it helped establish the show’s iconic look and feel. The way the captain sits in the chair, or positions themselves, is among the more iconic elements of the franchise.
It sounds so simple to do but yet, I don’t know how many Star Trek fans knew that’s why Shatner sat the way he did.