Paul Wesley wants to make James Kirk a ‘cool nerd’ on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds star Paul Wesley is trying to make James Kirk a cool nerd.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds has really a lot of work to bring in James Kirk over the last few episodes. Ever since the end of season one, Kirk, played by Paul Wesley, has appeared in three episodes. He’s also expected back a few more times this season alone.

Each time we see Kirk on screen, as played by Wesley, we see what is supposed to be a younger, less sure of himself version of Kirk. This version of Kirk isn’t as well explored and that’s something that Wesley is trying to do; figure out who this Kirk is.

Speaking with CBR, Wesley revealed that one of the things he wants to do is explore the more cerebral aspect of Kirk, and that includes Kirk’s love of science. Saying to CBR;

"I wanted to explore the brainier side of Kirk. I hate to use the word nerd, but in some ways, he’s a cool nerd. I drew from certain resources that allowed me to delve into that aspect. I didn’t want him to be this jock guy. I wanted him to be this charming, intellectual goofball in many ways. Not to say, that he can’t have acts of courageousness and pure heroism. I wanted that to still exist. But, I just wanted to layer it a little bit."

Paul Wesley’s James Kirk has been well-received

James Kirk’s debut on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was met with some trepidation, even by us, but so far everything we’ve been seeing has been excellent. What’s unique so far about Wesley’s Kirk, is that we’ve only seen the real Kirk, the one William Shatner would go on to portray in the Original Series, just once so far.

The other two times we saw Kirk, Kirk was a  different version, from an alternate timeline. So Wesley is really doing a good job exploring the character and his many different forms.