Starfleet Academy casts its second Emmy winner in a recurring role

Starfleet Academy, the next major project in the Star Trek franchise, has added another Emmy winner to its roster of stars for the new series. Paul Giamatti, who won an Emmy for his role in the mini-series John Adams and was nominated for an Academy Award for The Holdovers and Cinderella Man, will be joining the cast as the main villain, according to Variety. Giamatti's character will have some sort of nefarious connection to the past of one of the cadets who has yet to be cast.

Downton Abbey fans will remember Giamatti from his guest-starring role as Harold Levinson, the brother of series star Elizabeth McGovern's character, Lady Crawley. Giamatti reprises his role in the third Downton Abbey movie which is now in production.

Giamatti joins Academy Award and Emmy Award winner Holly Hunter as part of the starstudded cast of Starfleet Academy, and Alex Kurtzman, who oversees the Star Trek franchise, called Giamatti "one of the greatest actors alive" and was thrilled to discover he was also a huge Star Trek fan.

"Sometimes you’re lucky enough to discover that one of the greatest actors alive is also a huge ‘Star Trek’ fan, and meeting Paul was one of those miraculous moments for us. The sheer delight with which he dove in on ‘Starfleet Academy’ is only surpassed by the gratitude we feel about him joining our incredible cast."

- Alex Kurtzman

It's evident that the studio and producers are expecting great things from the youth-oriented series as these types of stars don't come cheaply. It seems like money is no object when it comes to the show as the set being constructed is the "largest contiguous set" ever built for a Star Trek. It will include a two-story atrium for academics along with the classrooms, an ampitheater, a mess hall, and to resemble the Academy we've previously seen on Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager, there will be tree-lined walkways.